Every color tells a story, and we want to hear yours — the stories that offer fresh perspectives, inspire hope in the community, connect unexpected ideas, or simply resonate with you on a personal level.
For Rare Disease Day this February, you’ll find a curation of those stories here — The Rare Moments. Patients, families, researchers, and those dedicated to advancing rare disease treatments will be using this space to share their rare stories. From past experiences with lysosomal diseases to significant highlights of the 2025 Rare Disease Day, and even hopes for the future, you will find diverse and valuable insights that matter to our community and expand our understanding of what it means to live with and work with rare diseases.
Be sure to check back regularly throughout the month for the latest posts, and don’t forget to submit your colorful Rare Moments!
See what’s been sharedThank you for sharing and reading this curation from our rare disease community!
Hear from Nathan Chadwick, Senior Director and Therapeutic Strategy Lead for Rare Disease.
youtu.beI 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.orgTNBC Day | Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation
TNBC Day, March 3rd, kicks off a month-long, global campaign dedicated to raising both awareness and funds exclusively for triple negative breast cancer. Find out how you can get involved!
tnbcfoundation.orgIn 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!
www.youtube.comJim 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.orgConnecting, 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.org2024 Poster Session – Cure VCP Disease
www.curevcp.orgFall 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.orgThe International Autoimmune Encephalitis Society (IAES) is the only family/patient-centered organization for people with a diagnosis of Autoimmune Encephalitis. The services we provide are all-inclusive, from getting a diagnosis to recovery and the many challenges experienced on that journey. IAES provides science-based information backed by trusted medical experts in the field of autoimmune neurology and relies on the expertise of our Medical Advisory Board. We are an established non-profit organization with a history of supporting Autoimmune Encephalitis Warriors (patients, caregivers, and families) through their journey from diagnosis to recovery.
International Autoimmune Encephalitis Society
What does the future of genomic medicine look like?
Join us for our FREE webinar on February 27th, 1-3 pm ET, as we explore some possible answers to this question. Kelly Athman from the Institute for Genomics Education, Workforce & Leadership at Sarah Lawrence College will guide us through our journey into the future with talks from Amy Gaviglio, Billie Lianoglou, and Derek Ansel. We will discuss newborn screening modernization, cutting-edge therapeutic advancements, and the genomics workforce evolution.
This event is open to all. Please register at the link below.
www.sarahlawrence.edu