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On February 27, 2003, ORDR in response to the Rare Diseases Act of 2002, P.L. 107-280, released a Request for Applications (RFA) for a Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network together with the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) and in collaboration with other NIH Institutes. ORDR, NCRR, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), all components of the NIH, funded ten rare diseases clinical research consortia and one Data and Technology Coordinating Center.
On February 8, 2009, the ORDR, in collaboration with 10 NIH Institutes, released two RFAs for the recompetition of the RDCRN. In collaboration with NICHD, NINDS, NIAMS, NIDDK, NHLBI, National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), ORDR issued an RFA for the recompetition of funding for individual consortia. In collaboration with NINDS, ORDR released an RFA for the recompetition of funding for the data management center. On October 5, 2009, the NIH announced that ORDR, in collaboration with NINDS, NICHD, NHLBI, NIDDK, NIAID, NIDCR, and NIAMS, funded 19 rare diseases clinical research consortia and one Data Management Coordinating Center.
Currently funded:
| Name of Consortium | Principal Investigator/ Project Director |
| Data Management and Coordinating Center (DMCC) | Krischer, Jeffrey P., Ph.D. |
| Name of Consortium | Principal Investigator/ Project Director |
| Clinical Research Consortium for Spinocerebellar Ataxias | Ashizawa, Tetsuo, M.D. |
| Consortium for Clinical Investigation of Neurological Channelopathies (CINCH) | Griggs, Robert C., M.D. |