The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recently awarded $29 million toward the advancement of clinical research and investigation of treatments for rare diseases. This is part of a collaborative effort to expand the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN), lead by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
The fund has helped to establish six new RDCRN consortia to add to the existing sixteen, which provide scientists with data to identify similarities among rare diseases and essentially deliver proper diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment options for patients with these diseases. According to the NIH’s announcement, “scientists at the 22 consortia will conduct a minimum of two multisite clinical studies, including one longitudinal natural history study for at least three related rare diseases.” In total, this award has provided researchers with funding to study over 200 rare diseases.
To learn more, read the NIH’s news release here.