The 3rd conference of the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) will take place February 8-9, 2017 in Paris, France, at the conference center of Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) Sorbonne Universités, Jussieu.Five years have passed since the initial launch of IRDiRC in 2011 and considerable advances have been made in rare diseases research. IRDiRC 2017 conference presents a unique opportunity to reflect upon this progress, confront barriers, and together, form new collaborations to take on challenges posed by rare diseases. Past conferences were held in Dublin, Ireland,  and Shenzhen, China.All stakeholders – investigators, policy makers, opinion leaders, critical thinkers, young researchers, patient advocates and industry members alike – active in the area of rare diseases from across the globe are invited to join us to celebrate achievements in the field, identify future milestones and goals, and work toward bringing diagnoses and therapies to all rare disease patients.