by professor Homa Tajsharghi, professor of biomedicine
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In what ways is your team multidisciplinary?
Our team adopts a multidisciplinary approach, bringing together expertise from different fields to address the complex challenges posed by rare diseases.
- Data scientists and bioinformaticians work behind the scenes, making sense of large amounts of biological data to find genetic variants associated with the diseases and to find patterns that might point to new treatments or interventions.
- Geneticists and molecular biologists focus on finding the underlying causes of these conditions and developing new therapies/treatment that can make a real difference in patients' lives.
- Meanwhile, clinicians and healthcare professionals contribute their hands-on experience, ensuring that our research stays connected to real patient care. They help us keep the patient's well-being at the center of everything we do. Importantly, we are guided by patient representatives who remind us every day why this work matters. Their personal experiences—both as patients and caregivers—ensure that our research and advocacy remain deeply connected to the real-world challenges that rare disease patients face.
-Communications with Policy experts and advocates also play a key role, shaping healthcare policies that consider the unique needs of rare disease patients and fighting for their rights and access to care. By bringing together these different skills and perspectives, we’re able to tackle rare diseases from multiple/all sides. This holistic, collaborative approach helps us move toward meaningful, long-term solutions that can improve the lives of those affected by these rare conditions.