A new Coastal Program for Rare Inflammatory Diseases (Coastal Program) at Vancouver Coastal Health is establishing a network of experts to help patients in desperate need of an effective medication to treat their conditions. Led by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute researcher Dr. Luke Chen, the Coastal Program is part of a broader movement to find cures to the approximately 6,000-8,000 rare diseases around the world.
“Every week, I receive numerous phone calls and emails from physicians across Canada and internationally about patients with rare diseases,” shares Chen. “Often, physicians and their patients feel that they are alone in struggling with a disease that, in fact, is very familiar to me or my collaborators.”
