The primary language of the Eurordis site is English. It is thanks to dedicated individuals who volunteer their time and translating talents that a selection of information on this website is available in five additional languages - French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

At the moment (March 2009), we have enough volunteer translators to cover our needs, and we are not accepting new volunteers. But please check back in the coming months when new needs for translation may arise.

A big "thank you!" to the volunteers who have helped us to reach out further, bringing news, information and hope to a wider group of rare disease organisations, patients and families throughout Europe.

Melania Bertini UK Target language: Italian Melania has a degree in translation and interpretation. She is a member of a UK-based institute of linguists and has translated texts in the finance and agricultural fields. She studies also classical ballet and modern jazz dance.

Jean Boissonnas Belgium Target language: French Dr. Jean Boissonnas studied at Paris University as a geologist. After completing a thesis on the Hoggar region (Central Sahara, Algeria), he worked for the French Geological Survey. He joined the European Commission in 1978, first as scientific administrator of 2 European research programmes on mineral raw materials, and in 1989 as head of a marine science and technology programme. He retired in 1999 and works regularly with Eurordis. He has a nephew with tuberous sclerosis.

Valeria Bonfio Italy Target language: Italian Valeria has a degree in Modern Langs from Padua University and Masters in Translation. She has no previous direct connection with rare diseases, but began translating on a voluntary basis for Eurordis in 2005 because she is interested in "doing something useful for people who need help".

Bárbara Bravo Spain Target language: Spanish Bárbara is a psychologist and works for the Spanish Neurofibromatosis Association. She recently began working with Eurordis on a volunteer basis, translating texts from both English and Portuguese.

Alexandra Burt USA Target language: German Alexandra Burt is a German native who has been living and working in the United States for about 15 years. She is a freelance translator and has translated texts in various fields: legal correspondence, history, tourism... Alexandra believes that “everyone should volunteer whatever it is they know how to do”. She is living with Factor V Leiden Mutation disease.

Conchi Casas Jorde Spain Target language: Spanish Conchi Casas is a founder and President of the Spanish Organisation for Wilson’s Disease (Asociación Española de Familiares y Enfermos de Wilson). She is a former member of the Board of Directors of Eurordis. Conchi has a child with Wilson’s Disease.

Céline Charret UK Target language: French Céline Charret is a native French speaker and now lives in UK where she works in a school as a French language assistant. She has a university degree in English civilisation, literature and translation. Céline is very eager to help others and has worked for Life’s4living, an association that helps terminally ill, disabled children and their carers to improve quality of life.

Rainer Clauss Germany Target languages: German, English Rainer works in the pharmaceutical industry as a Drug Safety Specialist. Bilingual in German and English and fluent in Afrikaans, Rainer applied his language skills at an early stage of his career in the pharmaceutical industry, translating chemical literature from German for colleagues while employed in South Africa (Fine Chemicals Corporation) and the UK (Glaxo Wellcome and The Institute of Cancer Research). He has co-authored a patent which describes a process for the manufacture of L-Baclofen, an orphan drug, which is used in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.

Benedita Ciambelli Oliverii Brazil Target language: Portuguese Benedita is a freelance technical and literary translator since 1983 and translates from German and English into Brazilian Portuguese. Some of the literature books that she has translated have been published. She lives in São Paulo.

Sabine Daby Germany Target language: German Sabine is a board member of the Interessengemeinschaft Epidermolysis bullosa DEBRA e.V., a member of both ACHSE and Eurordis. She is responsible for communication with the international EB forum in Scandinavia. She trained at IHK in Paris and translates for the probate court of Delmenhorst. She has 4 children, aged between 9 and 20.

Lucia Di Gaeta UK Target language: Italian Lucia Di Gaeta has a true passion for translation. She started as a student and worked on many projects. Lucia translates from French and Chinese. She is currently working as an Italian Editor for a web site and would like to volunteer more in associations that take care of sick children.

Martina Di Giacinto Italy Target language: Italian Martina Di Giacinto is a professional translator. She translated from English to Italian the abtracts concerning the disease descriptions for Orphanet. She has volunteered for Eurordis despite a very busy schedule!

Anna Di Landro Italy Target language: Italian Ana works as a Dermatologist at the Bergamo general hospital. Her mother died from ALS (Amiotrofic Lateral sclerosis) in 1994. As a result of her mother’s illness she began working on a volunteer basis for the AISLA (Associazione Italiana Sclerosi laterale Amiotrofica) and is now a member of the national council.

Susana Díaz Rubiales Spain Target languages: Spanish, English Susana is the president and executive manager of ADAC (Association for growth, developmental and lysosomal disorders), a member of Eurordis. She speaks four European languagaes and works as a volunteer translator both for the organisation that she runs and Eurordis.

Melanie Dufourd UK Target language: French Mélanie was born and raised in France. She has been living in the UK since 2005 and is a very active young adult. Besides continuing her studies, working, she is always willing to work as a volunteer translator for Eurordis. Mélanie plans to do a master in translation and specialise in audiovisual translation.

Victor Ferreira Portugal Working languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese Victor is a professional translator. Working with Eurordis is his first contact with the rare disease world. His translation work centres on the areas of Health/Medicine, EU texts and Social Sciences. Contact >

Tiziana Fiorito UK Target language: Italian Tiziana Fiorito has an MA in Literary Translation. She has done some freelance work in the past years - including some voluntary translation. Tiziana has also translated a set of instructions for Progeria Foundation. She works in a library.

Maria Lujan Florentin France Target language: Spanish Lujan lived in London for 15 years and recently moved to Paris to study French, having worked for the Argentine Embassy in London as translator/interpreter and for Scotland Yard as a PA. Lujan holds a degree in Hispanics Studies and Journalism and is preparing a Diploma in Translation and would like to make a contribution by volunteering for Eurordis in order to spread awareness of rare disease issues.

Martine Gérard UK Target language: French Martine Gérard has been working as a language teacher in the UK for the last five years. She worked as a translator on different projects - catalogue, websites - and is keen to work for Eurordis and in the rare disease field.

Adnan Gjota Kosovo Target language: Albanian Adnan is currently studying medicine and psychology at the University of Prishtina. He has worked at the Institute for Mental Health and Recovery of Kosova (IMHRK) as an administrative coordinator; with IOM’s Psychosocial Trauma Response (PTR) Program and the World Health Organization as a translator/interpreter, and with IOM as an English translator in the Kosovo Protection Training (KPCT) translation team. He has worked as Senior Language Assistant with OSCE Mission in Kosovo since June 2006.

Kerstin Haaken Germany Target language: German Kerstin is a university student enrolled in a Translation Studies programme at Bonn University and a foreign language correspondent certified by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce. She is keen to support the rare disease community by volunteering her translation services.

Viviane Henry France Target language: French Viviane is a pharmacist, specialising in the rules governing medicinal products in the European Union (orphan drugs included) and in the evaluation and negociation of healthcare assets and services. She currently works as project manager for the Belgian medicines agency (Federal public services of public health: Directorate general medicines). She translates European level approved documents on a daily basis into the two main Belgian langages (French, Dutch). She plays the violoncello.

Manuel Hermán Spain Target language: Spanish Manuel is a software developer and has translated science articles for the last 4 years; He also donates time on a voluntary basis by helping his translator colleagues on specialised forums and, of course, translating texts for Eurordis!

Maria-Eugenia Hernandez Venezuela Target languages: Spanish, English Maria is a lawyer. She lived in USA for about five years where she did her post-graduate studies and practical training. She also spent six years in France where she lived, studied and worked in Paris. She recently returned to Venezuala to pursue her career.

Laura Ibiapina Parente France Target language: Portuguese Laura is a Brazilian manager and social scientist living in Paris. For many years, she worked in public management in Brazil before coming to Paris to follow her husband who works in a French company. She is currently a sociology PHD student. Between working on her theses, she translates both English, French and Spanish texts into Portuguese for Eurordis.

Ana Cláudia Jorge Portugal Working languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish Ana Cláudia works as a technical translator in the fields of Medicine, Pharmacy (mainly for the Pharmaceutical Industry), In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) and Medical Devices. She has a degree in Biochemistry, a post-graduate diploma in translation in English/German/Portuguese, and a PhD in Translation from the Universidade de Vigo, Spain. Contact >

Ulrich Langenbeck Germany Target language: German After studying medicine and biochemistry, Ulrich worked with H.W. Goedde (maple syrup urine disease) in Freiburg and Hamburg, with J.E. Seegmiller (Lesch-Nyhan syndrome) in La Jolla, Cal., and with P.E. Becker (muscular dystrophy) in Göttingen. He was head of the Institute of Human Genetics at the University Hospital Frankfurt/Main, 1986-2004. He finds working as a translator helps the “retired” to stay mentally fresh!

Helen Lea France Target language: English Helen’s primary activity is theatre, running a small-scale theatre company and working as an actor in both French and English. She has worked as a translator and administrative assistant for many French organisations. Between 2004 and 2006, she worked part-time in Web Communications for Eurordis. She continues to support Eurordis’ work by translating French texts into English.

María Clara Lollini Argentina Target language: Spanish María Clara has a university degree in translation. She loves translating and helping others. "That is the way I am" she says. She has been volunteering for Eurordis since February 2007 and is always willing to help, even for urgent translations!

Michele Luppuci di Paola Italy Target language: Italian Michele Lipucci di Paola served on Eurordis’ Board of Directors for many years. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of Associazione Veneta per la Lotta alla Talassemia, chairperson of the International Relations and Research Development Committee, and a collaborative member of the Thalassaemia International Federation. Michele is a researcher in Agriculture and Biological Science at the University of Pisa. He is actively devoted to assisting rare disease associations in the correct transfer of medical information to patients and their families.

Silvia Manganelli Italy Target language: Italian Silvia Manganelli works as a freelance translator. She has specialised in medical and technical texts. She is interested in non-governmental organisations, likes psychology, English and Spanish literature.

Francisco Martínez Spain Target language: Spanish Francisco is a telecoms engineer. He volunteers as a translator for several non-profit organisations and recently brought his knowledge of English and translation to benefit the RD community. He has no personal connection with rare diseases.

Vitaliy Matyushenko Ukraine Target languages: Ukrainian, Russian Vitaliy has translated the first Eurordis texts to be published in Ukrainian, available at present in print format only. Eurordis is delighted to be able increasingly to offer information to more countries from Central and Eastern Europe.

Dolores Mayán Cendon Spain Target languages: Spanish, English, French Dolores has EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) and is President of the Spanish EDS Association (ASEDH). She works as a nurse and yet still finds time to volunteer as a translator for Eurordis.

Maura Melis UK Target languages: Italian Maura is currently doing her studies in London but she offered to dedicate some of her scarce spare time to do some volunteer translation for Eurordis. Maura has worked in Italy as a freelance translator.

Flavio Minelli Italy Target languages: Italian, Spanish Flavio Minelli is a member of Eurordis Board of Directors. He has a son affected by the rare genetic skin disorder Ichthyosis. An Information and Communication Technology specialist by profession, he is co-founder and President of the Italian Ichthyosis Union and is Vice-President of the Italian Alliance for Rare Disorders, UNIAMO (2003-2005).

Daniel Osório Portugal Target language: Portuguese Daniel has a degree in Biochemistry and is currently an MSc student in Molecular Genetics. He has been working as information scientist for Orphanet Portugal since 2003. He has translated for the Portuguese Biochemistry Portal and the Orphanet website and database, working on the site in general, as well as in the translation of disease names and more than 200 disease abstracts into Portuguese. Despite a busy schedule split between research (MSc thesis) and Orphanet, he is always willing to stretch his time for a Eurordis translation!

Maria Palazzoni UK Target language: Italian Maria Palazzoni first came across rare diseases while researching a text to translate for her MA in bilingual translation. Though she finished her studies, her interest in this area has remained and she volunteered to work for Eurordis. She is now working part-time as a library assistant and is setting herself up as a freelance translator.

Ana B. Pellicer Spain Target language: Spanish Ana is a translation and interpretation student, in the final year of her studies. She has Behcets and hopes to exchange her experiences with others living with this rare disease.

José Luis Plaza Lopez Spain Target language: Spanish José Luis Plaza Lopez is legal representative for the Asociación Española de Angioedema Familiar por Deficit C1 (AEDAF - Spanish Organisation for Familial Angioedema), working as a volunteer. He is Deputy of Madrid region in FEDER (Spanish National Alliance of Rare Diseases). He was also formerly a member of Eurordis’ Board of Directors for two years.

Annette Poetsch UK Target language: German Annette was born in Germany and is currently living in London. She finished her M.A. in Translation a couple of years ago and has been working in Media ever since. She sees volunteering at EURORDIS as the perfect opportunity for her to do something she enjoys and help others. She translates from English and Spanish.

Andrea Riffo Chile Target languages: Spanish Andrea is a professional translator. She is on a freelance basis and has some experience in medical translation. Though she works on a full time basis, Andrea is very dedicated to the volunteer translation for Eurordis. She has been living since birth with a very rare heart condition.

Marianne Riviere France Target languages: French, German Marianne lives with a rare disease and chairs a rare disease organisation. She is also active in the Alliance Maladies Rares, involved in regional administration of the French national alliance. She is bilingual in French and German and has a good understanding of English.

Silvia Rubeo Italy Target language: Italian Silvia Rubeo graduated in Foreign Languages and Literature (English and French) and I got two diplomas in translation. She is currently working as English and French teacher in High School and as a volunteer translator for an alternative medicine site.

Roberta Ruotolo Italy Target languages : Italian, English, French Roberta is a professional translator with five years experience in the scientific and medical field with a Master’s degree in translation. Her personal involvement in rare diseases started early, spending most of her childhood with her aunt affected by Down syndrome, who taught her to value the small things in life. Until recently and for five years she managed the Italian interface of Orphanet, European database on rare diseases and orphan drugs, as a translator and information scientist. Roberta has translated the Eurordis newsletter into Italian since its inception.

Rosa Sánchez de Vega Spain Target language: Spanish Rosa Sanchez de Vega is a member of the Board of Directors of Eurordis. She lives with congenital aniridia and has devoted herself to promoting research and improving the quality of life of those who suffer from aniridia and rare diseases in general. She created the Spanish Organisation for Aniridia in 1996, and serves as President. She has been working for the Spanish Alliance for Rare Diseases, FEDER, since its creation in 1999.

Elena Sánchez Trigo Spain Target languages: Spanish, French Elena is head of the Department of Translation and Linguistics at the University of Vigo. She has been working with ASEM (Association contre les Maladies Neuromusculaires) translating and checking translated texts since 1997, and recently volunteered her translation services to help further Eurordis’ work.

Petra Schweitzer USA Target Language: German Petra is a native speaker of German. She has a B.A. in English and German Literature and Linguistics, an M.A. in English Literature. She has worked as a translator for a German newsletter and is a member of the American Translators Association and the New England Translators Association.

Carlos Silva Caruba Brazil Target language: Portuguese Carlos has some experience as an interpreter and translator. He just finished college in December 2006 and intends to dedicate some quality time to voluntary work.

Margaret Snowden-Antoine France Target languages: English, French Margaret Snowden-Antoine works as a full time engineer. She is bilingual and has a child with Down Syndrome. She is a very busy mum but still finds some time for Eurordis.

Silvano Sommovigo UK Target languages: Italian Silvano Sommovigo has a B.A.in History, M.A. in History of Science, Medicine in Historical and Philosophical perspective (Birkbeck College London). He has also followed a course in Translation at City University and a course in practical translation at Imperial College London.

Eva Stetter Germany Target languages: German, English Eva is a translator and foreign language correspondent. She currently works in the pharmaceutical industry and has specialized in Regulatory Affairs. She regards the Eurordis project as very important, being aware through her work of the complicated process of drug development and registration and of the special role of orphan diseases and the respective European legislation.

Peggy Strachan Scotland Target languages: German Born in Germany, Peggy Strachan has a degree in technical translation. She married and moved permanently to Scotland in 2001. Peggy works as a freelance translator and has been volunteering for us on a regular basis. Check out her web site!

Cathy van Riel Spain Target languages: Spanish, Dutch Cathy is a Belgian, Dutch-speaking woman who has lived in Spain since 1986. She developed fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome in 1998. She is a co-founder of a local support group. She has translated much documentation about both these diseases for the public as well as the medical profession. She has also written two books and translated another about the diseases, freely available on the Internet.

Justine Vanderheyden Canada Target languages: French Justine is a translator and recently joined the volunteers’ team. She has studied as a nurse and developed a keen interest in medical translation. She lives in Canada and loves to cook, read and travel!

Author: Eurordis
Photo credits: © www.freeimages.co.uk, Eurordis and volunteers.