Dr. Dillon Pruett has lived both sides of stuttering: the anxious kid rehearsing every word and the scientist searching DNA for answers. His groundbreaking research, recently published in Nature Genetics, uncovered 57 genetic hotspots tied to stuttering -- proof that our voices carry a biological story as complex as any human trait. In our conversation, Dillon shares how his personal journey shaped his path into research, what the findings reveal about stuttering’s overlap with traits like musicality and sleep, and why the goal isn’t to “fix” stuttering but to demystify it. At its heart, this episode is about turning stigma into science and science back into compassion.

You can read the study here.

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🎟 Get tickets for a community art and film event sponsored by Proud Stutter on October 9 in San Francisco

Read about our latest film update here.

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Big thanks to Proud Stutter's recurring supporters: Jennifer Bolen, Jerry Slaff, Josh Compton, Pablo Meza, Matt Didisheim, Alexandra Mosby, Ingo Helbig, Jonathan Reiss, Jason Smith, Paige McGill, Wayne Engebretson, Swathy Manavalan, and Martha Horrocks.

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Inside the Largest Genetic Study of Stuttering