Hawken Miller, features writer —

Hawken graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2019. Before joining BioNews, he wrote for the Washington Post’s video game and esports section, Launcher, where he still contributes as a freelancer. Hawken is also a columnist for BioNews, focusing on his experience with Duchenne muscular dystrophy for Muscular Dystrophy News Today. His work has appeared in Dot Esports, The Orange County Register, KTLA 5, and The Sacramento Bee. He won a Webby for virtual reality journalism at USC.

Articles by Hawken Miller

Double Take, SMA Runway Show, Features Styles With Accessibility

New York Fashion Week is known for its statement dresses and elegant models. But this year, one runway show will be slightly different, featuring people in wheelchairs wearing clothes designed for both fashion and accessibility. Models with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) will drive down the runway on Sept. 8…

Advocates Step Up to Mark SMA Awareness Month in US

For most of his life, Jose Flores avoided interacting with the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) community because he felt out of touch with it. An SMA type 4 patient, Flores didn’t need a wheelchair until he was 22, and found it difficult emotionally to see children who weren’t…

Brothers With Matching Mullets Embrace a Lighter Side of SMA

The video opens with Blake Shofner driving and saying to his younger brother, Nolan, “Dang Nolan, these roads are terrible.” Nolan Shofner, who has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1, replies in a southern accent with a computerized voice: “My bones are bouncing all over the place.” With…

Organizations Rally to Help Ukrainian Rare Disease Patients

A Russian military plane crash near Tetiana Zamorska’s home in Kyiv, Ukraine, was a sign that it was time for her and her family to leave. The treacherous, 34-hour pilgrimage that ultimately brought the group of eight by car to temporary accommodations in neighboring Poland last month was physically and emotionally difficult,…