The UK Rare Disease Research Platform has been established with a £14 million investment over five years by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). It is made up of a central coordination and administrative hub and eleven specialist nodes based at universities across the UK.
Imperial is leading on the Cardiovascular Rare Disease node with James Ware, Professor of Cardiovascular and Genomic Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial and MRC Investigator at the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences. The node leadership team, who will be leading specific projects for the node are Dr Tom Lumbers (UCL), Dr Kate Thomson (Oxford University) and Professor Cathie Sudlow (BHF Data Science Centre, HDRUK).
The aim of the UK Rare Disease Research platform is to bring together expertise from across the UK rare disease research system to foster new and innovative treatments for those directly and indirectly impacted by rare conditions.