Huntington’s Disease Grants

Research grants

The focus of the Hereditary Disease Foundation is on Huntington's disease. Support will be for research projects that will contribute to identifying and understanding the basic defect in Huntington's disease. Areas of interest include trinucleotide expansions, animal models, gene therapy, neurobiology and development of the basal ganglia, cell survival and death, and intercellular signaling in striatal neurons.

Anyone accepting funding from the Hereditary Disease Foundation must agree to abide by the following policy: Propagatable materials (including monoclonal antibodies and recombinant DNAs) should be freely available to other investigators following publication. The Foundation's position is that there be no restrictions or proprietary rights in materials produced with our support.

Deadlines for applications are February 15, June 15 and October 15. Applications will be reviewed in May, September and January. To obtain an application, please submit a letter of intent no more than one page long. It may be submitted at any time to following address,

Hereditary Disease Foundation
Attn: Carl D. Johnson, PhD
3960 Broadway, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10032
USA

The maximum award for research grants is $50,000. Grants are usually for one year with a possibility of renewal. Grants are considered seed money. If the project shows promise, it is hoped that other institutions will fund it thereafter. The Foundation does not generally include the salary of the principle investigator. Indirect costs are not allowed, but fringe benefits are considered part of personnel costs and are allowed.

Grant applications should be submitted by email and five hard copies. Supplemental material and reprints should be submitted with a file type of PDF(.pdf).

Applicants are notified of funding decisions by letter only.

To apply:

· Submit a letter of intent: There is no deadline – submit anytime, electronically using the form on the Foundation’s website:
http://www.hdfoundation.org/funding/intent.php.

The letter of intent should include:

o Contact information

o A summary of your proposed research project – 500 words or less

· Letter of Intent Review: Letters of intent are reviewed by a triage group. Turn-around is usually less than two weeks and the primary consideration is relevance to finding treatments and cures for Huntington’s disease. If a proposal is accepted, an application form for a full proposal is sent to the applicant by email. Applicants are encouraged to interact by email or phone with Carl Johnson, Ph.D., the Executive Director for Science, while preparing their application

Applications require:

· Administrative contact: Name, title, email address, phone & fax numbers and mailing address of the institutional representative who will manage the project. The application must be approved and signed by the institution.

· Project summary: Not to exceed 200 words.

· Budget (for Grants only): Grant funding is limited to $50,000. Except in unusual circumstances, salary support is not provided for the Principal Investigator. The Foundation does not provide funds for indirect costs or overhead. Postdoctoral Fellowship salaries are determined by the Foundation, based on number of years after receipt of a doctoral degree. Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards include $8,000 for supplies.

· Other current and pending support: Please provide a complete list (NIH format) indicating aims of each project and potential overlap with the current proposal.

· Biographical sketch: Attach a two-page biographical sketch (NIH format) for the Principal Investigator and other professional personnel. Include training, experience, recent publications and patent filings. Any supplemental materials, manuscripts or papers should be submitted electronically in PDF format.

· Protection of Human Subjects: Any study using human subjects must be approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the applicant institution. Please attach the completed “Protection of Human Subjects Assurance/Certification/Declaration” form.

· Protection of Animal Subjects: The transportation, care, and use of animals must be in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et. seq.) and other applicable Federal laws, guidelines, and policies.

· Study Proposal: Not to exceed 10 pages, including references. There is no need for an extensive, NIH style, introduction, but be sure to include a description of critical details of the proposed plan as well as documentation of research experience. Particular attention should be paid to the aims and anticipated outcomes of the study and on how they will help discover or develop treatments for Huntington’s disease.

Application Review:

Applications are reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board of the Hereditary Disease Foundation. The SAB meets three times each year: in January, May and October. Applications received at least six weeks prior to the meeting are considered. Applicants will receive written notification of the funding decision shortly after the review meeting.

Award Payment:

If the application is approved for funding, payment will be made in two equal installments. Awardees must arrange, via email or in writing, activation of the Award. The first payment is sent immediately; the second will be made six months later, upon receipt of a progress report via email. A final report including a financial statement is also required.

Please submit completed applications both by email and five hard copies to:

Hereditary Disease Foundation
Attn: Carl D. Johnson, Ph.D.
Executive Director for Science
3960 Broadway, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10032

John J. Wasmuth Postdoctoral Fellowships

The John J. Wasmuth postdoctoral fellowships are named in honor of the late John Jacob Wasmuth who was an essential member of the Huntington's Disease Collaborative Research Group and a long-term and valued member of our Scientific Advisory Board. John was a superb mentor. It is our hope that those granted fellowships bearing his name will seek the same level of creativity, imagination, rigor and esprit de corps that characterized John.

The Hereditary Disease Foundation offers support for research projects that will contribute to identifying and understanding the basic defect of Huntington's disease. Areas of interest include trinucleotide expansions, animal models, gene therapy, neurobiology and development of the basal ganglia, cell survival and death, and intercellular signaling in striatal neurons.

Anyone accepting funding from the Hereditary Disease Foundation must agree to abide by the following policy: Propagatable materials (including monoclonal antibodies and recombinant DNAs) should be freely available to other investigators following publication. The Foundation's position is that there be no restrictions or proprietary rights in materials produced with our support.

Deadlines for applications are February 15, June 15 and October 15. Applications will be reviewed in May, September and January. All John Wasmuth Fellowships are automatically considered in January of every year for the Milton Wexler Fellowship award.

To obtain an application, please submit a letter of intent no more than one page long. It may be submitted at any time to the following address,

Hereditary Disease Foundation
Attn: Carl D. Johnson, PhD
3960 Broadway, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10032
USA

John J. Wasmuth Postdoctoral Fellowship awards are based on the following scale which includes all university fringe benefits plus $8,000 for supplies:

0 years since Ph.D. = Stipend of $40,500

1 year since Ph.D. = Stipend of $43,000

2 years since Ph.D. = Stipend of $46,000

3 years since Ph.D. = Stipend of $48,200

4 years since Ph.D. = Stipend of $50,200

5 years since Ph.D. = Stipend of $52,400

6 years since Ph.D. = Stipend of $54,500

7 years since Ph.D. = Stipend of $56,000
Indirect costs are not allowed, but fringe benefits are considered part of personnel costs and are permitted.

Funded fellowships will be renewed for a second year, subject to satisfactory progress reports.

The completed application packet will consist of the application, the curriculum vitae of the applicant and the applicant’s research sponsor, a letter of support from the sponsor, and two letters of recommendation from two others familiar with the applicant, one of whom is normally the applicant’s PhD. sponsor.

Note: Completed applications should be submitted by email and five (5) hardcopies. Supplemental material and reprints should be submitted with a file type of PDF (.pdf).

Applicants are notified of funding decisions by letter only.

A list of previous Postdoctoral Fellows is available on request.

Hereditary Disease Foundation
3960 Broadway, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10032
Voice: (212) 928-2121
Fax: (212) 928-2172

http://www.hdfoundation.org

Please feel free to contact the Hereditary Disease Foundation by phone at
1 (212) 928-2121 with questions or comments regarding the application process

Institute for Neuroacanthocytosis Research Grants

We encourage applications for research grants for investigations into the genetics, diagnostics and epidemiology of the NA syndromes as well as the pathophysiology and the related red blood cell abnormalities.
Neuroacanthocytosis syndromes are a group of rare diseases, characterised by misshaped erythrocytes and progressive neurodegeneration, causing movement disorders and neuropsychiatric symptoms.

The rarity and wide geographical spread of the NA diseases have contributed to a number of different researchers principally in Europe and Japan pursuing specific studies of the elements of the NA phenotypes including descriptive history of the development of the disease, the abnormalities of the erthrocytes and the function of the VPS 13A protein that is absent in chorea-acanthocytosis.

Since acanthocytosis is part of the NA syndromes clinical manifestations, the study of acanthocytes may offer the possibility to progress in the disease’ knowledge, to identify new cell signalling pathways towards either membrane proteins or transport systems.

Our Objectives for Research

To pursue the fundamental physiological questions raised by NA including the:

role of the proteins affected by the mutated genes in each disease as well as their molecular and cellular function

cause and significance of the spiky red blood cell membranes that are a defining characteristic of the diseases

pathway that leads to neuronal apoptosis in each of the diseases

To promote wide collaboration in the clinical study of the diseases. Because no country has more than an estimated 100 cases of NA and most countries in the world have fewer than 10 cases, it is vital that case histories of patients from around the world be available to those studying the clinical aspects of the diseases.

To develop the tools and the skill of neurologists to diagnose and, in the future, to treat the diseases.

To collaborate effectively with research into other similar conditions especially Huntington’s disease.

To encourage new, promising projects with seed money and assist in approaching larger grantors.

Our Values

Our funding seeks to:

Promote basic, curiosity-driven, investigator–led research that relates to the phenotypes of the NA diseases.

Bring together the wide research community around the world including haematology, cell biology, neuroscience and neuropsychiatry.

Encourage the wide dissemination of and free access to the research we support. We will seek to support unrestricted access and the public benefit wherever possible by requiring electronic copies of any research papers that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and are supported by the Advocacy to be deposited into PubMed Central (PMC) to be made freely available as soon as possible and in any event within six months of the journal publisher’s official date of final publication.

Do every thing possible to have strong communication with researchers receiving grants to assure that funds are used for the intended purpose.

Promote good communications between those working on NA research and others concerned with other diseases of the basal ganglia.