CHDI is a privately funded HD research foundation whose mission is to further development of HD therapies. This week, they’re hosting their annual HD Therapeutics conference in Palm Springs, California. While the meeting is generally geared toward scientists, the editors of HD Buzz are on the scene live-tweeting updates from the presentations in real time. This year’s program will include exploration of HD biology, developing biomarkers and tools to track progression of the disease, innovative therapeutic approaches, and more. Sessions include clinical trial updates, promising new therapeutic strategies, exploration of large-scale human genetic data, ways to visualize huntingtin protein in the living brain, and more. Follow along with the experts @HDBuzzFeed, read a summary of their updates from Day 1 on HD Buzz here, and stay tuned for further summary of the highlights to come.
Curious about brain donation? Get the scoop from CNC!
A brain donation is a generous and invaluable gift that can improve our understanding of brain health and support key advancements towards treatments and cures for neurologic and psychiatric diseases. While signing up to donate is a simple process, deciding whether to do so can be a much more cumbersome journey. Anyone can sign up to be a tissue donor, but the undertaking and its importance are often misunderstood. To learn more about brain donation as we gear up for Brain Awareness Week (March 14-20), join the Congressional Neuroscience Caucus on March 8th at 2PM EST for a virtual briefing on “The Importance of Brain Donation for Treating and Curing Brain Disease.” Register to attend the meeting here.
Are the eyes a window to HD? Alby Richard discusses on Help4HD
Biomarkers are measurable traits that give us a snapshot of what is happening in a person’s body. They may be detectible in tissue, blood or other fluids, or they could be behavioral. 2021 HDSA HD Human Biology Project Fellow, Dr. Alby Richard, is studying whether adaptive, rapid eye movements called saccades can be used as a biomarker for HD. As he explained in a recent episode of the Help4HD podcast, Dr. Richard will use a computer program to measure how quickly a person can learn to change this type of eye movements, and whether that learning process is altered by HD. To listen to the full episode, click here.
