You know those rare moments that give you goosebumps? The ones that provide a new perspective, connect two ideas in a way you’ve never considered before, or just really hit home?
For Rare Disease Day this February, you’ll find a curation of those moments here — The Rare Moments. Patients, families, researchers, and people working to advance rare disease treatments will be using this space to pass on their goosebump moments. From past moments, to the significant highlights of the 2024 Rare Disease Week and Rare Disease Day, and even hopes for the future, here you will find diverse and valuable insights that matter to our community and expand our reader’s understanding of what it means to live with and work with rare diseases.
Be sure to check back regularly throughout the month to catch the latest posts and submit your Rare Moment for consideration!
See what’s been sharedThis feed is no longer active or accepting submissions, but we encourage you to check out the posts below which were submitted during February 2024 in support of Rare Disease Day.
Thank you for sharing and reading this curation from our rare disease community!
I had such a fulfilling experience visiting my members of Congress as part of Rare Disease Week on Capitol Hill. My fellow advocates and I raised our voices to encourage their support of policies that benefit rare disease patients. Hearing everyone’s stories was so inspiring.
We are proud to support and bring awareness to Triple Negative Breast Cancer Day which was yesterday, March 3rd. Individuals in the United States have a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer and TNBC accounts for 10-25% of those breast cancers. Me and many others at Worldwide are excited to take part in the many events occurring throughout March that bring awareness to this disease. Please join us at any of the highlighted events listed below.
tnbcfoundation.org/about-us/our-events/tnbc-day/virtual-events-2024TNBC Day | Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation
Every day in March is TNBC Day! Triple Negative Breast Cancer Day is the only global event dedicated to raising both awareness and funds exclusively for triple negative breast cancer. Find out how you can get involved!
tnbcfoundation.orgCheck out the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field lit up for Rare Disease Day!
In celebration of Rare Disease Day, I am excited to share our most recent draft class from the 2024 Young Investigator Draft! This year we highlighted the significant potential of research in this space when powered by the platform of sports—especially as we surpassed our $1 million in total funding granted. You can watch a recap of the event at the below link!
Jim Geraghty said it best today at the 9th Annual Rare Disease Day Event at the Broad Institute. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” when it comes to rare disease research. Always a science-focused and inspiring event at the Broad!
Connecting, Collaborating, Communicating, Challenges: Sharing experiences navigating family conversations in an n-of-1 investigational treatment setting. Learn more, below!
www.n1collaborative.org/post/connecting-collaborating-communicating-challenges-sharing-experiences-navigating-family-conversaConnecting, Collaborating, Communicating, Challenges: Sharing experiences navigating family conversations in an n-of-1 investigational treatment setting
Monday, March 4, 2024 12:30 pm US ESTFrom an initial email request or conversation at a meeting… to (for some) the possibility of additional assessments… to (for a few) the potential or actual delivery of an n-of-1 treatment to an individual, researchers and clinicians are in contact with patients, families, and caretakers throughout this process. These contact points are crucial for evolving treatment development, but also present challenges on each side. For this webinar, we invite you to join
www.n1collaborative.orgHappening now through 25 Feb – VCP International Conference!! Check out the abstracts from the many researchers who are participating in this meeting. By bridging the gaps between various disciplines, from oncology to neurodegeneration, the Cure VCP conference will drive innovation and coordination in research, accelerating our progress to find a cure for valosin-containing protein (VCP) associate multisystem proteinopathy (MSP).
www.curevcp.org/posterabstractsFall of 2015, I attended my first rare disease advocacy conference. It was Global Genes Patient Advocacy Summit. I was overwhelmed and amazed at how many people were advocating for rare diseases and how many different paths they took. Meeting Bo Bigelow there certainly shaped my path. Although we faced different diagnoses (USP7 for his daughter Tess and Menkes Syndrome for my son Lucas), we had so much in common. Eventually we co-founded The Disorder Channel to stream rare disease films on TV. We collaborated with Global Genes to screen some of these films. And three years ago, I joined the staff at Global Genes to lead an online support community, to encourage others to share their #ZebraTales, to teach them rare disease filmmaking, and to help plan that same conference that started it all for me.
globalgenes.org/world-rare-disease-day/This year for Rare Disease Day the Tatton Brown Rahman Syndrome (TBRS) Community is celebrating our many accomplishments from 2023! We are building on that momentum in 2024 with additional research into TBRS biomarkers and continuing to enroll samples into our TBRS biobank. Read more and celebrate with us here:
Nick Allegretti won his 3rd Super Bowl ring this past weekend as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs! Nick is an advocate for the rare disease community through his work with Uplifting Athletes, where he is currently an active Board Member.