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People with rare diseases know that the right government policies can make a big difference in the quality of their own lives, and those of their caregivers. But most lawmakers aren’t experts in even one well-known disease — let alone the world’s estimated 7,000 rare disorders. So how does the…

Two scientists will receive a total of $850,000 to advance treatment and diagnostic projects in Rett syndrome and MECP2 Duplication syndrome. Rettsyndrome.org, a leading private funder of Rett syndrome research, will award Jeannie T. Lee, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston a $600,000, two-year…

Cannabidivarin, a non-psychotic compound found in cannabis, fully rescued memory deficits and delayed the appearance of neurological and motor defects in a mouse model of Rett syndrome (RTT), a study found. The results, “Cannabidivarin completely rescues cognitive deficits and delays neurological and…

With 250 rare diseases newly identified every year, scientists can barely keep up — even as the healthcare system fails millions of Americans whose rare diseases have already been diagnosed. That’s the warning from Christopher P. Austin, MD, director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Studies (NCATS) at…

RaDaR, the catchy new name for the U.S. government-run Rare Diseases Registry Program, aims to help patient advocacy groups with limited resources build their own disease registries. The site was developed by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a division of the National Institutes of…