CNC-UC holds special event with debate and dance to celebrate Rare Disease Day

'Less Rare: Debunking Rare Diseases' is the event organised by the Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra (CNC-UC) to mark Rare Disease Day on the 29th of February 2024. The event, which will take place at Exploratório - Centro Ciência Viva - University of Coimbra, from 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m., will include a round table with researchers and professionals from various fields, and will conclude with the performance of O cérebro a caminho da perfeição (The brain on the road to perfection) by the Rita Grade Dance School, which aims to "express through art the experiences and difficulties of living with a rare disease". Entrance is free.

Machado Joseph disease. Gaucher's disease. Leigh syndrome. You may have heard of one of them, but probably not what they are. These are just three of the 7,000 rare diseases identified, that deserve everyone's attention - not just researchers, but society as a whole.

According to the organisers, the initiative aims to 'shed light on rare diseases and to highlight with hope the research being carried out to find cures'.

Luís Pereira de Almeida, president of the CNC-UC, Director of the recently established GeneT and a researcher at the Centre for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology and at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra, will take part in the round table, designed to provide 'a platform for an insightful dialogue'. Other participants include Joaquim Brites from the Portuguese Neuromuscular Association, José Vilhena from the DOCE Association and Célia Salema Costa from the Portuguese Association of Hereditary Ataxias. The debate will be moderated by Catarina Ribeiro, from the University of Coimbra.

This event is organised as part of a project funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the Portuguese Society for Neuroscience.