At Synteract, our mission of Bringing Clinical Trials to Life™ it’s a way of life ingrained into our culture that can be seen throughout all our departments and all aspects of our work. It represents Synteract’s commitment to engage with drug developers, patients, investigators, and regulatory experts, to bring insights to action and make better therapies a reality.

We understand that our work has the power to bring new medicines to market that will make a difference in the lives of patients around the world, often including our own family members and loved ones. Many of us came to do this work because we know and care about someone who has been impacted by some type of illness or disease, particularly rare diseases. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there are between 25-30 million Americans living with a rare disease.

To recognize Rare Disease Day on February 28, we wanted to raise awareness about these diseases and their impact on patients’ lives and the lives of their loved ones. So, we asked our employees around the globe to share their personal stories about how a rare disease impacted the life of someone they know. The response we received from our staff was overwhelming; we collected numerous rare disease stories that we have been sharing with each other and with you for the past few weeks.

The stories covered newborns to adults. While some stories have had positive endings, others, sadly, did not. These powerful, moving stories show that rare diseases can affect anyone at any time and further emphasize the reasons we are committed to serving areas with the highest unmet needs.

View a sampling of our employees’ rare disease stories at the following links:

• Grant Wojtczak’s Journey with Gliamatosis Cerebri
• Our Personal Experience With Alopecia Universalis & Our Warrior With This Rare Disease
• Rare Disease: It Affects Families Everywhere

As a CRO that has the ability and experience of conducting studies that have never been done before, we felt compelled to create a Center of Development in Rare and Orphan Diseases, so we can bring medicines to market for patients whose diseases place them alone in a crowd.

Contact us today if you’re interested in learning how our Center of Development in Rare and Orphan Diseases can bring your next clinical trial to life.