User:Frankshi99/Undiagnosed Diseases Network

The Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) is a research study that is funded by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund. Its purpose is to bring together clinical and research experts from across the United States to solve the most challenging medical mysteries using advanced technologies.

History
In 2008, the National Institute of Health (NIH) established the Undiagnosed Diseases Program (UDP), with the intent to provide medical care to patients with rare diseases seeking a diagnosis and to discover new pathways and mechanisms involved in disease [1], [2], [3]. At the time, ongoing genomic research and advances in DNA sequencing strengthened the potential for successes in precision medicine, providing a stimulus to the objectives of the UDP [4]. The UDP, initially founded within the NIH Intramural Research Program, has now evolved into the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) and is funded by the NIH Common Fund. Upon its launch, the UDN consisted of the UDP, six additional clinical sites around the nation, a coordinating center, two DNA sequencing cores, a model organisms screening center, a metabolomics core, and a central biorepository.

The UDN functions under a common IRB protocol is largely it is modeled after the UDP."The purpose of this cooperative research Network is to establish a national network added to and building upon the NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program (NIH UDP). The objectives of this program are to: 1) improve the level of diagnosis and care for patients with undiagnosed diseases through the development of common protocols designed by a community of investigators; 2) facilitate research into the etiology of undiagnosed diseases, by collecting and sharing standardized, high-quality clinical and laboratory data including genotyping, phenotyping, and documentation of environmental exposures; and 3) create an integrated and collaborative research community across multiple CSs and among laboratory and clinical investigators prepared to investigate the pathophysiology of these new and rare diseases and share this understanding to identify improved options for optimal patient management."

Locations
The Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) consists of 12 Clinical Sites (CSs), a Coordinating Center (CC), a Sequencing Core (SC), a Model Organisms Screening Center, a Metabolomics Core (MC), and a Central Biorepository.[manuscript]

Locations of Clinical Sites
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (with University of Pennsylvania) in Philadelphia, PA

Duke University Medical Center (with Columbia University Medical Center), Durham, NC

Harvard Teaching Hospitals (including Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital), Boston, MA

National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD

Stanford Medicine, Palo Alto, CA

University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

University of Miami, Miami, FL

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

University of Washington (with Seattle Children’s Hospital), Seattle, WA

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Sequencing Core
Baylor College of Medicine in Houston TX

Model Organisms Screening Center
Baylor College of Medicine (with University of Oregon), Houston, TX

Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Metabolomics Core
Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Central Biorepository
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN