Abstract: An online system and method enabling users to exchange information and establish collaboration in scientific projects on rare diseases is described. The website allows users to create a list of symptoms for a patient with a rare disease who is under their care. The patient's list of symptoms is then used to find other patients sharing a similar list of symptoms. A matching system creates a match report that ranks patients with similar symptoms. Once a list of potential matches is available, the user may take the initiative of contacting other colleagues with similar clinical cases under their care, for the purpose of exchanging information and/or establishing collaboration in scientific projects about a particular rare disease. A database containing information on rare diseases, along with other services, is also provided to the users at the website.