Mindy is an author and a carrier of the C9orf72 genetic expansion for ALS and FTD. She participates in more than a dozen ongoing longitudinal studies of C9orf72 ALS/FTD. For work on her ALS memoir, Last Nerve: A Memoir of Illness and the Endurance of Family, Uhrlaub was awarded residencies at Millay Arts, The Hambidge Center, Joyce Maynard’s Write by The Lake, Litcamp, and Ragdale for the Arts. She’s testified before the FDA and the NIH about pre-symptomatic carriers of ALS’s need for medical treatment.  In February 2023, Mindy was nominated onto a consensus committee at the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to make ALS a livable disease. The report, Living with ALS, was published in June of 2024.

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For co-founding the nonprofit, Genetic ALS&FTD: End the Legacy, Uhrlaub won the 2025 Harvey and Bonny Gaffen Advancements in ALS Award from the Les Turner ALS Foundation. She also won the 2025 ALS TDI Fran Delaney Challenge and Respect Award and the 2025 ALS Network’s Spotlight Award. For Last Nerve: A Memoir of Illness and the Endurance of Family, Mindy won the silver medal from the 2025 Nonfiction Authors Association and was a finalist for the 2026 International Book Awards. She lives with her family in Northern California.