- New initiative to support research where data is scarce


Mavatar, a global specialist in AI- and data-driven precision medicine solutions, today announced the launch of the Mavatar Rare Disease Discovery Award 2026. This global initiative serves to support data-driven exploration of disease biology and drug development.

The awards will be granted quarterly throughout 2026, enabling scientists across disciplines and geographies to apply advanced analytical methods to some of the most challenging and underserved areas in biomedical research.


“Rare disease research is driven by clinical urgency but often limited by access to the right tools,” said Danuta Gawel, Chief Research & Development Officer at Mavatar.

"With this initiative, we want to empower researchers working in low-resource environments with scalable, AI-powered technology that can accelerate discovery even where traditional data is limited.”


The initiative builds on Mavatar’s growing presence in the rare disease space, including a recently announced non-clinical research collaboration with global biopharma company Sobi, focused on exploring IFNγ-related pathways using Mavatar Discovery. This partnership reinforces Mavatar’s commitment to enabling data-driven breakthroughs in complex and underserved disease areas.


Supporting discovery where data is limited

Rare diseases affect more than 300 million people worldwide, yet research efforts are often hindered by fragmented datasets, small patient cohorts, and limited access to advanced tools. Mavatar Discovery addresses these challenges by transforming large-scale transcriptomic data into structured, biologically meaningful insights, supporting hypothesis generation, target discovery, biomarker research, and mechanistic exploration in a reproducible and transparent way.

“Alongside our broader efforts to engage the life science community around data-driven precision medicine, we also want to lower barriers to advanced analytics in areas of high unmet need,” said Danuta Gawel.


“The Rare Disease Discovery Awards are one way we’re helping democratize access to data-driven tools that can drive real-world scientific progress.”

 

What the award includes

Each award recipient will receive:

- A full-access, one-year license to Mavatar Discovery

- Unlimited exploration of disease- and tissue-specific integrated transcriptomic datasets

- Access to analytical tools supporting target discovery, biomarker identification, cross-disease comparisons, and hypothesis generation

- Complimentary onboarding and scientific support from the Mavatar team

The award is open to researchers working in fields such as:

- Genetic and metabolic disorders

- Immunological and inflammatory diseases

- Rare cancers and pediatric conditions

- Other under-researched or low-prevalence diseases

 

How to apply

Researchers can register their interest at: Apply here