International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC)

The International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the US National Institutes of Health, launched in April 2011. IRDiRC aims to foster international collaboration in rare diseases research. It teams up researchers and organisations investing in rare diseases research in order to achieve two main objectives, namely to deliver 200 new therapies for rare diseases and means to diagnose most rare diseases by the year 2020. IRDiRC will be governed by an Executive Committee, three Scientific Committees and a number of working groups. On 29 February 2012, Rare Disease Day, 31 class-leading experts were appointed as members of the Scientific Committees to help guide IRDiRC future research efforts. For further information, please visit IRDiRC homepage.