Resource Report

The RRID (nlx_151560) is not the primary RRID. It is an alternate RRID or alternate ID.

URL: http://www.hdfoundation.org/home.php

Proper Citation: Hereditary Disease Foundation (RRID:SCR_006088)

Description: The Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF) aims to cure genetic illness by supporting basic biomedical research. The HDF was started by Dr. Milton Wexler in 1968 when his wife was diagnosed with Huntington''s disease (HD). The Foundation uses a variety of strategies - workshops, grants, fellowships, and targeted research contracts - to solve the mysteries of genetic disease and develop new treatments and cures. Huntington''s disease is a fatal, dominantly inherited, genetic, neurological disorder causing involuntary movements, severe emotional disturbance and progressive cognitive loss over ten to twenty years. Each child of an affected parent has a 50% risk of inheriting HD, usually in the third or fourth decade of life, though children as young as two years and adults in their eighties may also develop symptoms. The Hereditary Disease Foundation uses Huntington''s disease as a model for hereditary disease research because it is triggered by a mutation of one single gene. Progress toward treatment or a cure could be instrumental in finding ways to treat other illnesses with more complex genetics, including Parkinson''s, Alzheimer''s, Lou Gehrig''s disease (ALS), depression, schizophrenia, and cancer. The Hereditary Disease Foundation has given over $50 million to support pioneering research in genetics, gene therapy, molecular and cell biology, cell survival and death, animal models, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology and other areas relevant to understanding inherited diseases. * Milton Wexler Workshop Program: A centerpiece of the Foundation is the interdisciplinary Workshop Program which sponsors Workshops held many times during the year. Milton Wexler began the Program to bring scientists together from different academic disciplines to brainstorm - without prepared lectures or slides - and explore new directions for research. They often share unpublished data. * Funding Opportunities ** The Basic Research Grants Program supports projects that contribute to identifying and understanding the fundamental defects in Huntington''s disease and related disorders. ** The John J. Wasmuth Postdoctoral Fellowships are named in honor of the late John Jacob Wasmuth, an essential member of the Huntington''s Disease Collaborative Research Group. Our hope is that those granted fellowships bearing his name will seek John''s level of imagination, rigor, creativity and spirit. ** The Lieberman Award is presented annually to a worthy scientist, thanks to the generosity of Harry Lieberman, a trustee of the Hereditary Disease Foundation. ** The Milton Wexler Postdoctoral Fellowship Award is named after the founder of the Hereditary Disease Foundation. The Hereditary Disease Foundation restricts this annual award to research highly relevant to curing Huntington''s disease. * Giving to the Hereditary Disease Foundation - Donations are accepted by check, credit card, etc.

Abbreviations: HDF

Synonyms: Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF)

Resource Type: workshop, portal, data or information resource, disease-related portal, training resource, funding resource, topical portal

Keywords: genetics, gene therapy, molecular biology, cell biology, cell survival, cell death, animal model, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, postdoctoral fellowship, award, grant, genetics, genetic disease, treatment, cure, research, postdoctoral, fellowship