Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institute of Health speaks during a round table discussion on cancer treatment at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland on January 17, 2007. (UPI Photo/Chris Kleponis/POOL)

Called the Undiagnosed Diseases Program, the initiative will focus on the most puzzling medical cases that are referred to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by physicians across the nation.

"A small number of patients suffer from symptoms that do not correspond to known conditions, making their care and treatment extraordinarily difficult," said Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the NIH. "However, the history of biomedical research has taught us that careful study of baffling cases can provide new insights into the mechanisms of disease -- both rare and common.

"The goal of NIH's Undiagnosed Diseases Program is two-pronged: to improve disease management for individual patients and to advance medical knowledge in general," Zerhouni added.

To evaluate each patient enrolled in the new program, NIH said it will enlist the expertise of more than 25 of its senior attending physicians, with specialties including endocrinology, immunology, oncology, dermatology, dentistry, cardiology and genetics.

To be considered for the NIH pilot program, a patient must be referred by a physician. The first patients are to be seen in July.