At the Genetic and Rare Diseases (GARD) Information Center, our mission is to support people living with a rare disease and their families by providing free access to reliable, easy-to-understand information in English and Spanish. Improving access to information on rare diseases will help GARD deliver the most up-to-date research and resources to more people faster.

Established by the Rare Diseases Act of 2002, GARD is a public health resource managed by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Federal government agency responsible for biomedical research. GARD emphasizes translational science, or the field of science dedicated to turning observations in laboratories, clinics, and the community into innovations to improve public health. Learn more about NCATS and translational science.