When It Comes To the Rarest of Diseases, the Diagnosis Isn't the Answer—It's Just the Starting Point The Conversation - April 20, 2022 Steven Walkley, D.V.M., Ph.D., and Melissa Wasserstein, M.D., write about the science behind rare diseases and the research and clinical care that Einstein and Montefiore experts provide to families of children with uncommon genetic disorders. Dr. Walkley is co-director of the Rose F. Kennedy Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center and professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, of pathology, and in the Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology. Dr. Wasserstein is professor of pediatrics and of genetics at Einstein and chief of the division of pediatric genetic medicine at Einstein and Montefiore.