Myastenia gravis

“Research on rare diseases requires combining the resources and expertise of many countries”, says Dr Sonia Berrih-Aknin, coordinator of the FIGHT-MG research consortium. She is an expert in the autoimmune disease myasthenia gravis.

Dr Berrih-Aknin explains: “Myasthenia gravis is rare, with only 5000 to 6000 patients in France. International collaboration allows us to share facilities, skills and knowledge, thereby enabling us to radically improve the treatment of the disease”.

Thousands of patients

“Genetics needs big numbers”, confirmed Professor Aarno Palotie recently at a brain research conference in Brussels, Belgium. Professor Palotie is involved in the ENGAGE consortium, which has identified many susceptibility genes that influence our health. Watch the video about ENGAGE to learn more.

Many common diseases such as cancer and migraine are caused by a complex combination of genetic and lifestyle factors. Each factor forms a small part of a person’s disease risk. Combining the data from many thousands of patients is needed to identify the tiny risk factors. International collaboration is therefore crucial.

Further reading

Read more about European research on the genetic basis of complex diseases on www.HorizonHealth.eu’s project pages COGS, DDPDGENES, METACARDIS, PRO-NEST and SYSCOL.