CHDI’s Early Discovery Initiative supports proof-of-concept research projects that might help identify novel therapeutic targets or approaches for Huntington’s disease.

We especially encourage applications from junior investigators and laboratories not currently supported by CHDI. Proposal submissions must, however, be made in the name of the laboratory head (not in the name of the postdoctoral fellow who may actually conduct the research project).

Given the nature of the types of research projects we seek to fund through our Early Discovery Initiative and our desire to see approved research projects initiated and completed as quickly as possible, we have streamlined the submission process to allow for prompt funding decisions.

Our goal is to make a funding decision about research project proposals submitted to our Early Discovery Initiative within one month of our receipt of a completed research project proposal submission.

Eligibility

To be eligible for financial support under the Early Discovery Initiative, research projects must meet EACH of the following guidelines (all other research projects should be submitted through our Research Proposal Submission System):

• You must be able to complete the research project within one year unless it requires the use of animals, in which case the term of the research project may be for up to two years.
• The "primary" result of the research project should be data rather than, for example, novel reagents.
• The budget for the research project may not exceed US$100,000 per year, inclusive of the salary/benefit costs for a postdoctoral fellow, consumables and allowed overhead (15% of salary/benefit and consumables costs).
• The research project must not require the use of third party subcontractors (core facilities provided by your institution are not third party subcontractors for this purpose).
• You should be able to start the research project reasonably promptly following our acceptance of the proposal. Specifically, this requires that:
  • All required materials are in hand or readily available from the HD Community BioRepository.
  • Personnel to conduct the research project is available in the laboratory.
  • All required approvals to conduct the research project (e.g., IACUC) are in hand.

Submission

You must submit your completed research project proposal (in Microsoft Word format only) through our EDI Proposal Submission System. Instructions for this system are available for download as a PDF.

Your research project description should be 1,000 words or less and MUST address each of the following areas:

1. A summary that outlines intended research and how it might conceivably lead to a novel therapeutic target or approach
2. Background and/or Preliminary Data
3. Specific Aims
4. Experimental Plan
5. 6- and 12-month Milestones
6. Qualifications of the Researcher (excluded from word count)
7. Specific Path to therapy (excluded from word count, but limited to 100 words or less):
   A. Hypothesis
   B. Specific Path to Therapy
   C. If successful, next steps
   

Thank you for your interest in HD research.