About Findacure
Findacure is building the fundamental diseases community to drive research and develop treatments. Findacure follows in the footsteps of William Bateson, the father of modern genetics, who reminded us that we should “treasure our exceptions”.
Findacure works to:
1) Empower patient groups as effective campaigners for change. We organise training workshops and provide mentoring in areas such as fundraising, how to interact with academics, patient identification and recruitment.
2) Facilitate patient groups to drive the development of treatments for fundamental diseases. We are involved in three international research consortia and are setting up a program to repurpose medicines for fundamental diseases using social financing.
3) Campaign for a receptive research environment that recognises the pivotal importance of fundamental diseases. We organise an annual scientific conference, sponsor national conferences, and have an annual essay competition for medical students in the UK.
To overcome the neglect of rare diseases in the research field, Findacure has coined the term of ‘fundamental diseases’ to stress their importance, capturing the concept that rare diseases are gateways to understanding common conditions. For example, alkaptonuria is revealing new insights into the processes of osteoarthritis, a common disease that affects more than 80 million in the UK. Additionally, statins, which are now widely prescribed for high cholesterol, were originally developed through the study of the rare disease homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. By redefining this group of conditions, we hope to unlock new insights and discover potential treatments for conditions which affect millions.