Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF)

Funds Huntington disease research and therapeutic exploration through global grants, fellowships, and advanced award programs.

Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF) is a global foundation devoted to Huntington's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. Founded in 1968 by Dr. Milton Wexler, it has long backed work aimed at treatments and ultimately a cure, and it remains closely tied to the field's research pipeline rather than to general-purpose biomedical funding.

Its funding menu includes research grants up to $100,000, postdoctoral fellowships up to $100,000 per year for two years, career advancement grants up to $20,000, and Transformative Research Awards that can reach $1 million over two years. The awards are open to researchers worldwide, with different routes for early-career scientists, senior postdocs, and larger multi-institutional efforts.

HDF favors creative work with a credible path to impact, not incremental project extensions. Strong applications lean on novelty, scientific rigor, and a clear connection to Huntington's disease biology, including somatic repeat instability, disease predictors, and novel therapeutics, while the foundation's review process uses staged letters of intent, invited full proposals, and biannual reporting.