The European partnership for rare diseases, uniting more than 170 public and private organisations across 37 countries

Welcome to ERDERA

Learn more about ERDERA

Explore the Virtual Platform!

Access standard-compliant resources, registries, biobanks, and tools ready to advance rare disease research

ERDERA Virtual Platform

Build the skills to shape the future of rare disease research!

visit the ERDERA learning portal

WS Clinical Research Network

Linking Europe’s clinical research community to share data, speed up trials, and prepare the path to advanced therapies

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WS Data Hub

Turning connected, FAIR data and digital tools into actionable insights for rare disease research

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WS Expertise Services

Tailored expert support at every stage of the research journey

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WS Accelerator

Helping promising ideas become investor-ready projects

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WS Training

Building skills for the future of rare disease research, from the lab to leadership and innovation

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WS Funding

Bringing public and private funding together to close knowledge gaps and drive rare disease research forward

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WS International Alignment

Connecting countries and partners worldwide to strengthen collaboration and support underrepresented regions

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Our pledge to the over 30 million people living with a rare disease in Europe

Learn more about our goals
World Orphan Drug Congress USA 2026

ERDERA Survey

Exploring consultancy needs for rare disease research

LATEST

News & Updates

NIHR Children and Young People Health Research Centre (NIHR HRC-PCH)

Children, Young People and Family Involvement and Engagement Strategy 2024-2029

Public Involvement in Research Impact Toolkit (PIRIT)

Public involvement positively shapes research. By sharing their time and personal experiences with researchers, members of the public can influence what research takes place, how it’s carried out, and how the results are shared.

The impact of public involvement in health research: what are we measuring? Why are we measuring it? Should we stop measuring it?

As public involvement in the design, conduct and dissemination of health research has become an expected norm and firmly enshrined in policy, interest in measuring its impact has also grown. Despite a drive to assess the impact of public involvement, and a growing body of studies attempting to do just this, a number of questions have been largely ignored.

Learning as an outcome of involvement in research: what are the implications for practice, reporting and evaluation?

Public involvement in research has evolved over the last two decades in a culture dominated by the principles of evidence-based medicine.

Multimedia

ERDERA interview with Bojana Mirosavljevic, rare disease patient advocate from Serbia and founder and president of Život/Life.

The Health Research Podcast – Ep 6: Rare Disease Research

Victoria Hedley explains the role of National Mirror Groups in the rare disease research ecosystem

Shaping the future of rare disease research: insights from ERDERA

ERDERA

Research Services

Bringing public and private funding together to close knowledge gaps and drive rare disease research forward
Linking Europe’s clinical research community to share data, speed up trials, and prepare the path to advanced therapies
Turning connected, FAIR data and digital tools into actionable insights for rare disease research
Tailored expert support at every stage of the research journey
Helping promising ideas become investor-ready projects
Building skills for the future of rare disease research, from the lab to leadership and innovation
Connecting countries and partners worldwide to strengthen collaboration and support underrepresented regions

our mission

Goals & Impacts

Unify knowledge, resources and expertise

ERDERA brings under one roof a broad range of high-value services, resources and cross-disciplinary expertise to support rare disease research projects across Europe, from planning and design to efficient execution.

Boost clinical research with and for patients

Enabling every consenting patient living with a rare disease to be findable and enrolled in a suitable clinical study that matches their needs and preferences is a core goal in ERDERA. Empowered patients can contribute to the generation of high-quality evidence to improve diagnosis, understanding of diseases and develop treatments.

Spur innovation and EU competitiveness

The partnership aims to make Europe a global leader in rare disease research by increasing investment to spur innovation, aligning regional, national and European research strategies, and fostering collaboration among all stakeholders at global scale.

Upcoming Events

02

01
Mar
Jul

The training responds to the growing need for patient advocates to understand data management, ethical considerations and the role of AI in rare disease research.

hybrid
28

May

The session will introduce the workstream’s activities in data sharing, systematic diagnostic reanalysis, advanced diagnostic pipelines, and genomic and multi-omics innovation.

online
03

04
Jun
Jun

The next ECRD will take place on 3–4 June 2026 in Prague under the title “Rare Diseases in a Changing & Competitive Europe: Shaping policies to address the unmet needs of people living with rare diseases”.

hybrid
09

22
Jun
Jun

More than 280 speakers from industry, regulators, patient organisations, investors and healthcare providers, and aims to showcase new science, technologies and policies that can accelerate orphan drug development and improve access to therapies for people living with rare conditions.

onsite
16

17
Jun
Jun

The two-day event will focus on translating research and policy initiatives into tangible benefits for Rare Disease patients through better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

onsite
26

28
Oct
Oct

The World Orphan Drug Congress is the largest orphan drug & rare disease meeting of its kind across the globe. From cell and gene therapy, genetic testing, and market access, to real world […]

onsite

NEWSLETTER

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