Who We Are
The RDCRN program is designed to advance medical research on rare diseases by providing support for clinical studies and facilitating collaboration, study enrollment and data sharing. Through the RDCRN consortia, physician scientists and their multidisciplinary teams work together with patient advocacy groups to study nearly 200 rare diseases at sites across the nation.
Learn About Our ConsortiaRare Research Report: January 2023
Each month, we share summaries of recent Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) grant-funded publications. Catch up on the latest RDCRN research.
Senior Researcher Spotlight: Mohamed Kazamel Investigates Autonomic Neuropathy in the Porphyrias
Mohamed Kazamel, MD, is an associate professor of neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He serves as director of the UAB Autonomic Testing Laboratory and assistant director of the Shin J. Oh Muscle and Nerve Histopathology Laboratory. Dr. Kazamel is also the sole neurologist member of the Porphyrias Consortium (PC). His research focuses on investigating the characteristics of autonomic neuropathy in acute hepatic porphyrias (AHPs). Here, he shares his start in rare disease research, exciting discoveries, and future goals.
Rare Research Report: December 2022
Each month, we share summaries of recent Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) grant-funded publications. Catch up on the latest RDCRN research.
Research groups funded
Diseases studied
Patient advocacy partners
Training the Next Generation of Researchers
Our consortia place a high priority on the recruitment, training and support of early career researchers due to the significant need for well-trained clinical researchers in the rare diseases field.
Find OpportunitiesInformation for Patients and Families
Our network focuses on clinical research and does not generally support clinical care outside research activities. View the diseases that we currently study here. To learn about other rare diseases, visit the NIH’s Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center (GARD), which helps the public reliable information about rare and genetic diseases. Contact their specialists at 1-888-205-2311 or email GARDinfo@nih.gov.
Join Our Email List
NIH Funding Institutes, Centers, and Offices
Established by Congress under the Rare Diseases Act in 2002, RDCRN is an initiative of the Division of Rare Diseases Research Innovation at the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. Our network, now in its fourth five-year funding cycle, is a partnership with funding and programmatic support provided by Institutes, Centers and Offices across NIH.