CHDI Foundation

CHDI Foundation, Inc
Type Non-operating private foundation
(IRS exemption status): 501(c)(3)[1]
Founded 2002[2]
Location Los Angeles, New York & Princeton
Focus Huntington's disease research and drug development
Method Contract-based support of third-party research organizations[2]
Formerly called High Q Foundation
Website chdifoundation.org

The CHDI Foundation, Inc., is a US non-profit biomedical foundation that aims to "rapidly discover and develop drugs that delay or slow treatments for Huntington's disease",[3] a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline.

Contents

History

CHDI's predecessor, the High Q Foundation, was established In 2002 by a group of private donors.[2] Originally, the High Q foundation aimed to identify targets for treatments, while CHDI was a sister organization that focused on developing drugs to hit those targets.[2] CHDI now refers to the foundation as a whole.[4]

Funding and direction of HD research

CHDI collaborates with a large number of academic and commercial research groups worldwide.[2][5] It operates through a "virtual" biotechnology model, funding third party research organizations as opposed to having a physical research infrastructure of its own.[6] Rather than supplying grants, CHDI enters into research contracts with its collaborators, and exerts a managerial role in addition to providing financial support.[2] In a 2007 Nature 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."[2]

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 $60 million in 2006.[7] The identity of CHDI's donors is not public.[8]

References

  1. ^ FoundationCenter.org [1], accessed 2011-12-04
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Check, Erika (17). [10.1038/447252a "Biomedical philanthropy: Love or money"]. Nature 447 (7142): 252–253. doi:10.1038/447252a. 10.1038/447252a. Retrieved 4 December 2011. 
  3. ^ "CHDI Foundation website". http://chdifoundation.org/. Retrieved 4 December 2011. 
  4. ^ "What is CHDI Foundation?". CHDI Foundation. http://www.highqfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=1. 
  5. ^ "Mechanisms for collaboration". CHDI Foundation. http://www.highqfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=2. Retrieved 4 December 2011. 
  6. ^ "Interview with CHDI management". HDBuzz. http://hdbuzz.net/20. Retrieved 4 December 2011. 
  7. ^ Odling-Smee, Lucy (17). "Biomedical philanthropy: The money tree". Nature 447 (7142): 251–251. doi:10.1038/447251a. 
  8. ^ "Our Donors". CHDI Foundation. http://chdifoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=101. Retrieved 4 December 2011. 

External links