The Health Research Board (HRB) is participating in the ERDERA Joint Transnational Call 2027 to support researchers in Ireland to engage in transnational collaborative research in the field of rare diseases under the call titled “Catalysing Collaborative Research for Recently Identified Rare Diseases.”
ERDERA is a European Partnership that has been established to further help in coordinating the research efforts of European, Associated and non-European countries in the field of rare diseases and implement the objectives of the International Rare Disease Research Consortium (IRDiRC). These actions follow the five Joint Transnational Calls for rare diseases research projects launched previously by the European Joint Programme on Rare Diseases (EJP RD) since 2019.
The call is expected to launch 01 December 2026 with a closing date in February 2027 for pre-proposals. An information webinar will be held on 14 December 2026, 14.00-16.00 (GMT). Register to participate in the webinar here.
The aim of the call is to address patient-need led challenges in RD and enable scientists to build effective, multinational, interdisciplinary research collaborations based on shared interests and expertise. The expected impact lies in the future translation and use of results for the benefit of patients.
The classification of RD follows the European definition, i.e. a disease affecting not more than five in 10,000 persons.
Over recent decades, sustained investments in rare disease research have led to major advances in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of many conditions. However, a substantial number of RDs receive limited dedicated research attention for multi-factorial reasons. These include the absence of an established scientific community, limited availability of dedicated research funding, and intense competition for research resources. As a result, comparatively more common RDs, or those with a longer history of scientific and clinical recognition, tend to attract a disproportionate share of research activity and funding, leaving many other RDs scientifically underserved.
Recently identified RDs are frequently among the most scientifically underserved conditions. Since the advent of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), the number of newly identified RDs has increased markedly, creating new opportunities for diagnosis while simultaneously revealing substantial gaps in knowledge. Many of these conditions lack the fundamental evidence base required to advance translational research, including data on natural history, disease mechanisms, biomarkers, and relevant disease models. This call aims to accelerate the development of these essential research foundations and foster the emergence of collaborative research communities around scientifically underserved RDs.
Topics List:
The goal of this call is to stimulate research interest and catalyse new collaborative initiatives centred on recently identified RDs that remain scientifically underserved. By advancing the understanding of natural history and disease pathomechanisms, and by fostering the development of relevant disease models, the overarching aim is to generate the foundational knowledge required to accelerate future therapeutic development.
To be eligible, the disease must meet both of the following criteria:
- The disease must have been first reported in the peer-reviewed literature on or after January 1st, 2010, including the association of the disease with a suspected causative mechanism (e.g. gene-disease association). Applicants must provide the primary publication reporting this (PMID or DOI), together with the OMIM and/or MONDO identifier of the disease where available.
- The disease must be registered in Orphanet (or be in the process of registration) at the time of application. For diseases not yet registered, applicants must provide evidence a registration request has been submitted to and acknowledged by Orphanet together with the expected registration timeline.
Proposals may address a single disease or a small group of closely related diseases (e.g. sharing a causative gene family or pathway), provided that each disease addressed meets both criteria.
Research proposals should cover at least one of the following areas:
- Natural history studies and patient registries, including those designed to support clinical trial readiness. Where feasible, these should incorporate the development and application of patient-reported outcome measures. The exploration of standardised health-related surveillance instruments and patient-entered data as means of capturing natural history information is also encouraged;
- Identification and validation of biomarkers of disease pathophysiology or progression, including biomarkers supporting patient stratification, natural history characterisation, or future clinical trial readiness. Biomarker discovery and validation are in scope where they support mechanistic understanding or disease monitoring; development of a biomarker-based test or assay intended for clinical diagnostic use is out of scope (see 4.2);
- Development of in-silico, cellular (including patient-derived iPSC and organoid models) and animal models that adequately recapitulate the human condition, including the generation of new disease models where none currently exist, to be established within the course of the project;
- Elucidation of pathophysiological pathways, including studies aimed at identifying disease mechanisms that may inform future therapeutic strategies.
For further information on the upcoming call, please refer to the ERDERA pre-announcement