Applying for Funding from the
Hereditary Disease Foundation

The Hereditary Disease Foundation is the premier organization worldwide for recruiting scientists to the study of Huntington's disease.  Since 1968, the Hereditary Disease Foundation has been working to find treatments and cures for Huntington’s disease.   By organizing and leading hundreds of workshops, which have included several thousand investigators, the Hereditary Disease Foundation has galvanized new scientific approaches and collaborations that have advanced research on Huntington's disease as well as developed new paradigms for neurogenetics.  The Hereditary Disease Foundation also organizes and hosts the biennial symposium on HD research, “Changes, Advances, Good News (CAG)_n..”

· ·       The Hereditary Disease Foundation offers opportunities for direct funding of research aimed at understanding the molecular and cellular defects in Huntington’s disease, with a focus on identifying targets for potential HD therapies.

Grant and Postdoctoral Fellowship applications are awarded following review and discussion by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

Among the grants and postdoctoral fellowships that are approved for funding, the SAB also chooses recipients of:

The Basic Research Grants Program  provides funding for promising new directions in HD research. Grants are generally for one year only and are considered seed money. It is hoped that other sources of research support will provide follow-on funding for successful projects.

 The John J. Wasmuth Postdoctoral Fellowship Program provides support for post-graduate training in research relevant to curing HD. Fellowships are generally for two years. The Fellowship Program honors the late John Jacob Wasmuth, an early and essential member of the Huntington’s Disease Collaborative Research Group that identified the HD gene. John was a superb scientist and mentor. It is our hope that those granted fellowships bearing his name will seek the same level of imagination, rigor, creativity and spirit that characterized John.

THE PROCESS OF APPLYING FOR FUNDING FOR EITHER THE BASIC RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM OR THE JOHN J. WASMUTH POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM STARTS WITH SUBMITTING A LETTER OF INTENT - http://www.hdfoundation.org/funding/intent.php

SPECIAL AWARDS CHOSEN BY THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD TO APPROVED GRANTEES OR POSTDOCTORAL FOLLOWS. THESE AWARDS ARE NOT BY APPLICATION:

The Milton Wexler Postdoctoral Fellowship Award: Presented to a post-doctoral fellow whose proposed research is innovative and highly relevant to curing Huntington’s disease. This award, named for the founder of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, was established in 1998 to celebrate the Foundation’s thirtieth anniversary and Milton Wexler’s ninetieth birthday.

The Lieberman Award: Presented to a successful applicant whose research is highly relevant to understanding the cause and treatment of HD. This prestigious award is provided thanks to the generosity of Harry Lieberman, a long-time trustee of the Hereditary Disease Foundation.