News

In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug administration (FDA) selected Huntington’s disease (HD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) as the focus of a three-year public consultation project for Patient-Focused Drug Development. This initiative involves working toward a better understanding of patient perspectives on the severity of these diseases and evaluation of…

Huntington’s disease is among a select group of disorders for which eligible patients can be prescribed medical marijuana in New York State. A bill signed this week by N.Y. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, passed by both houses of the legislature in June with overwhelming bipartisan support, expands a 2014 state law establishing medical marijuana access by…

The Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF) recently hosted a celebratory night, gathering close to 200 recognized names and raising $1.2 million to support its efforts. The “Celebration of Discovery” Symposium and Dinner took place Monday, Nov. 9, at the Metropolitan Club in New York. The foundation, focused on finding cures to life-shattering…

A new study entitled “Mutant Huntingtin Does Not Affect the Intrinsic Phenotype of Human Huntington’s Disease T Lymphocytes,” published in PLOS ONE, has revealed important insights into future Huntington’s disease therapies aimed at modulating the peripheral immune system, mainly by targeting hyper-reactive monocytes and macrophages.

Recent research has shed light on how some proteins are converted into liquid droplets before becoming toxic fibrous solids that are involved in neurodegenerative diseases and other genetic disorders. The study entitled “RNA Controls PolyQ Protein Phase Transitions” was published in Molecular Cell by researchers from Dartmouth…

In a recent review entitled “Neuronal response in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease: the effect of toxic proteins on intracellular pathways,” published in the BMC Neuroscience journal, researchers discuss neuronal alterations caused by aberrant protein aggregations in…

Psychiatric manifestations develop more often than previously thought in Huntington’s disease prodrome, according to findings of a recent study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry. Moreover, it appears that symptoms also increase with disease severity. Early features of Huntington’s disease can include personality changes, mood swings,…

Recently, a group of interdisciplinary researchers from École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, and the New York University Langone Medical Center, made a discovery that could lead to new treatment options for neurological disorders such as Huntington’s disease (HD). The study, entitled “Cell-Type-Specific Sensorimotor Processing…

The Rutgers’ Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, home to RUCDR Infinite Biologics — the world’s largest university-based biorepository — announced it has received a five-year grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The $6 million funding will allow Rutgers to assume management of the NINDS stem cell repository,…

October 19, 2015, marks a historical day in the treatment of Huntington’s Disease. At University College London Hospitals, patients afflicted with the degenerative neurological condition that day received an innovative new “gene silencing” drug. There is great hope that this drug will revolutionize the treatment of this destructive disease, for which there is currently…