The CHDI Foundation, Inc., is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

-based

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cau ...

that aims to "rapidly discover and develop drugs that delay or slow the progression of

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an uns ...

", a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline.

History

CHDI's predecessor, the High Q Foundation, was established in 2002 by a group of private donors. It was officially incorporated in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

on October 17, 2003. Originally, the High Q foundation aimed to identify targets for treatments, while CHDI – the 'Cure Huntington's Disease Initiative' – was a sister organization allied to the

Hereditary Disease Foundation The Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF) aims to cure genetic disorders, notably Huntington's disease, by supporting basic biomedical research. History In 1968, after experiencing Huntington's disease (HD) in his wife's family, Milton Wexler was ...

, that focused on developing drugs to hit those targets. 'CHDI', which is officially no longer an abbreviation for anything, now refers to the foundation as a whole. In 2012 CHDI adopted a new logo, depicting a tree composed of interconnected circles. According to Simon Noble, CHDI's Director of Scientific Communication, the logo represents the groundedness of the Foundation, the hereditary nature of HD, the interconnectedness of biological pathways and the medicinal chemistry of drug development.

Funding and direction of HD research

CHDI collaborates with a large number of academic and commercial research groups worldwide. It operates through a "virtual" biotechnology model, funding third party research organizations as opposed to having a physical research infrastructure of its own. Rather than supplying grants, CHDI enters into research contracts with its collaborators, and exerts a managerial role in addition to providing financial support. In a 2007 ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

'' news feature, CHDI's then senior scientific advisor Allan Tobin stated, "Ninety-five per cent of science works on the principle that the best thing to do is to let good scientists follow their noses ... But this is a different attitude. We think we can direct the science." CHDI's annual spend is unknown, but it is the largest single funder of Huntington's disease research: according to a ''Nature'' news feature, it spent $50 million in 2006. The identity of CHDI's donors is not public.

References

External links

CHDI Foundation website at chdifoundation.org
{{authority control Huntington's disease Health charities in the United States Biomedical research foundations Organizations established in 2002 Charities based in New York (state) Neurology organizations Genetic diseases and disorders 2002 establishments in the United States Medical and health organizations based in New York (state)