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Diagnosing rare diseases sooner
A rare disease can take years to be recognised and diagnosed. We fund the practical work that shortens that wait, from education to clearer referral routes for available treatments.
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A UK health research charity
Some of the most worthwhile health research never finds funding.
Duet Health Foundation CIO provides funding and hands-on expertise to research, education and communication that commercial sponsors and government grants may overlook, particularly by shining a spotlight on rare diseases, making medicines safer to use, and campaigning on neglected health issues.
Registered charity in England & Wales, no. 1217999
3.5 million people
in the UK live with a rare condition
What we fund
Our three pillars
Duet Health strives to advance health and to save lives by addressing tangible knowledge gaps — particularly around rare medical conditions and the safe use of everyday medicines.
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Making everyday medicines safer to use
Medicines only work if people can keep taking them. We support research into side effects and how they can be prevented, spotted and managed.
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Important health messages need to be spread effectively
Good science is wasted if nobody can understand it. We fund communication and education that helps the public, patients and clinicians make sense of the evidence.
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Our story
“You learn very quickly which research projects get funded, and which ones don't.”
Mike and Julie (Jools) Matthews spent twenty-five years founding and running a global drug development company, supporting international pharmaceutical companies to bring many treatments for rare diseases to market. Duet exists to put that experience to charitable use, applying their knowledge of drug development and their understanding of the challenges faced by those working to bring new treatments to patients.
Read The Duet StoryAt a glance
A small charity that stays close to the work
- 3.5 million
- people in the UK live with a rare condition
- 3
- areas of work: rare diseases, medicine safety, and research for public benefit
- 2026
- the year Mike and Julie Matthews set Duet up
- 25 years
- leading a company that works on treatments for rare diseases
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See exactly where your gift goes, step by step
Five plain-English steps: how you give, why your gift reaches us in full, how we choose projects, and how we tell you what your money achieved.
Support Duet
Small charity, practical help
Duet is funded by our Founders and by people who believe useful research should not stall for want of a modest amount of money. Every gift goes into projects.
Latest from Duet
14 July 2026
Duet announces its first two projects
Duet's first two projects are now under way: one raising awareness of rare eye diseases, the other on the safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
2 May 2026
Mike and Julie Matthews: why we started Duet
After twenty-five years in drug development, our Founders explain the questions that kept coming back to them.