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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…

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 the…

Pompe disease, an inherited lysosomal storage disorder, is much more common than once thought, say several experts speaking at the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s recent 2019 MDA Clinical and Scientific Conference in Orlando, Florida. For years, the incidence of Pompe was believed to be anywhere from 1 in…

Cumbersome security procedures, rising airfares, and shrinking legroom have made commercial air travel difficult enough these days — even for healthy passengers. Imagine how much harder it is for patients with rare diseases who must get to doctors’ appointments or clinical trials that are hundreds of miles away from home.

Few people have heard of Pompe disease, and even fewer know anything about Joannes Cassianus Pompe — the Dutch pathologist who in 1931 characterized the rare disorder that carries his name, and who just 14 years later was killed by the Nazis for aiding the Allies during World War II.