Research Priorities for Rare Diseases
Eurordis believes that rare disease research needs to be developed at the European level, rather than in isolation within single laboratories scattered throughout the EU. It requires a multidisciplinary approach, coordinating specialist research teams and optimizing knowledge and technology developments. Policies, funding, infrastructures and technological platforms need strategic coordination.
Patients, as the ultimate beneficiaries of research on their diseases and as repository of an expertise which can be instrumental to research, should be accorded a greater role. Research must have a patient-centred approach, emphasizing patient quality of life.
Eurordis identifies six strategic areas needing attention as a matter of priority: epidemiology; genetic and molecular characterisation; pathophysiology; reliability and accessibility of diagnostic performance; therapeutic research; and research in social and human sciences in the field of rare diseases.
This Contribution is one of four specific topics addressed in Eurordis’ response to the European Commission’s Public Consultation for the first Commission Communication on Rare Diseases.