Rare diseases are anything but rare, if you consider the more than 7,000 different types as a whole. Approximately 400,000 people in Austria are affected by such diseases and, in some cases, the cause of the disease is not even known (undiagnosed diseases).
The research focus of LBI RUD will be the decoding of rare haematopoietic, immune system and nervous system disorders – this work will not only form the basis for developing personalized therapeutic approaches for those directly affected but will also provide new, unique insights into human biology. By harnessing the expertise of its partner organizations, LBI RUD aims to establish a coordinated research program that includes and considers not only scientific aspects but also social, ethical and economic aspects.
The Institute is being headed up by Kaan Boztug of the University Department of Paediatrics at MedUni Vienna and researcher at CeMM (Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences): "What I particularly like about the LBG concept is the potential for long-term and focused collaboration between several different institutions. We want to develop tailor-made diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for rare and undiagnosed diseases. In the medium term Vienna is destined to become a hotspot for precision medicine."