Summary
- The Disability Umbrella with Allison Bartlett, Esq
- Prof Sarah Tabrizi Awarded 2023 Arvid Carlsson Award
- CDNF: Can it support brain health in neurodegenerative diseases?
The Disability Umbrella with Allison Bartlett, Esq
In her weekly blog, HDSA’s resident expert on social security disability, Allison Bartlett, Esq, covers helpful tips and educational topics on all things disability in HD. Recently, she completed a series that breaks down the different components of disability in HD, which she calls the disability umbrella. To read more about this and get the disability dish from all of Allison’s blog posts, click here.
Prof Sarah Tabrizi Awarded 2023 Arvid Carlsson Award
Esteemed clinician-researcher and 2022 HDSA Research award recipient, Professor Sarah Tabrizi from University College London, was recently named the 2023 recipient of the Arvid Carlsson Award. This prize, established in 2017, is earned by researchers making novel and exceptional strides toward the treatment of diseases. It’s given in honor of Arvid Carlsson, a pharmacologist and Nobel-Prize recipient from Lund University, Sweden, who made pivotal discoveries that supported development of treatments for Parkinson’s Disease. Professor Tabrizi was recognized with this award for her work expanding our understanding of the biology of HD and developing treatments for the disease.
CDNF: Can it support brain health in neurodegenerative diseases?
A recent study looked at the effects of treating HD mice with CDNF, or cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor. This protein is naturally produced in brain tissue to support cells when they are under stress, but CDNF levels have been found to decrease over time in onset of neurodegenerative disorders. Researchers have previously observed positive effects of treatment with CDNF in mouse models of Parkinson’s disease and decided to try it in models of other brain diseases. HD mice were treated with CDNF for four weeks, and the intervention was found to have some positive effects to prevent movement problems and improve balance. These results were inconsistent in male vs female mice, but the results may still be cause for further investigation of the role of neurotrophic factor proteins in supporting brain health. To read the full article, click here.
