Zac’s first experience with Krabbe Disease was in 2000 when his brother, Trevor, was diagnosed at 10 months of age with early infantile Krabbe Disease. Though he was only 6 years old when his brother passed, an advocacy journey was sparked. For the better part of the next 25 years, annual family vacations were spent at medical symposiums learning more about Krabbe Disease, summers were spent hosting “Trevor’s Tournament”, a charity softball tournament raising money for scholarships for those going into the medical field to raise awareness for Krabbe Disease, and any free other free time was mostly spent advocating with state representatives on expanding newborn screening.
Zac’s educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration. After years of service on the Kansas Newborn Screening Advisory Council and a short stint in local public health, Zac took over as the program manager for newborn screening in his home state of Kansas. 3 years later, Zac was presented with an offer to transition as program manager for newborn screening for the state of Iowa and help lead a quad-state collective of screening programs including North Dakota, South Dakota, and Alaska.