Editor’s Letter

Welcome to the latest edition of HD Insights, timed for release at the HSG 2013 Annual Conference and Clinical Research Symposium in Charlotte, NC. HD Insights continues to bring the latest in HD research to the HD community, and we are grateful to the HSG, our sponsors, and our more than 1500 subscribers for their continuing support of this mission.

In this issue, we are pleased to bring you an interview with Dr. Ralf Reilmann, founder of the George Huntington Institute in Münster, Germany, and a longtime friend of the HSG. Dr. Reilmann shares the story of his new Institute and describes the most promising new therapies on the horizon for HD. For those who were unable to make it to Rio de Janeiro last month, Dr. Débora Maia brings us highlights from the 2013 World Congress on Huntington’s Disease. Dr. Lise Munsie gives us a roundup of current HD research in the lab, in the scanner, and in the clinic, and the HD Insights team updates you on HD clinical trials. We explore the current research on coenzyme Q10 in HD and PD, speaking with Drs. M. Flint Beal and Karl Kieburtz about their hopes for the ongoing 2CARE trial, and with Dr. Reilmann about the PREQUEL trial, the results of which will be presented at this year’s Clinical Research Symposium. Finally, PhD candidate Isaac Adanyeguh brings us the very latest from the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Épinière (the Brain and Spine Institute) in Paris, where novel imaging techniques are helping to identify biomarkers of brain energy metabolism for use in clinical trials.

The HD community is fortunate to benefit from the increasing number of sponsors developing novel therapies for HD. HD Insights brings those sponsors—their leaders, their compounds, and their research—to more than 1500 readers around the globe. We rely on the support of these firms to continue to bring HD Insights to the community. If you are interested in becoming a supporter, please look for me at the HSG Meeting (I’m almost as tall as Ralf), or contact me at editor@hdinsights.org

We are always looking for new contributors, topics to cover, and suggestions for how we can better serve you, the HD research community. If you or someone you know is interested in contributing to HD Insights, or if you have ideas that you would like to share with 1500 HD researchers and clinicians around the world, please contact me at editor@hdinsights.org . And finally, subscription to HD Insights is always free: simply send us an email at subscribe@hdinsights.org .

Ray Dorsey, MD

Editor, HD INSIGHTS ^TM

HD DISCLOSURES: DR . DORSEY RECEIVES GRANT SUPPORT FROM LUNDBECK AND PRANA BIOTECHNOLOGY AND CONSULTS FOR AMGEN, LUNDBECK, AND MEDTRONIC.

Editorial Board Members

Ray Dorsey, MD — Editor, University of Rochester

Donald Kennedy, PhD — Stanford University

Nobuyuki Nukina, MD, PhD — Riken Brain Science Institute

Rodrigo Osorio — Agrupación Chilena de Huntington

Bernard Ravina, MD — Biogen Idec

Ralf Reilmann, MD, PhD — George Huntington Institute

Sarah Tabrizi, MBChB, PhD — University College London

Leslie Thompson, PhD — University of California Irvine

Huntington Study Group

Shari Kinel, JD — HSG Executive Director

Liz McCarthy, BA — HSG Administrative Manager

Contributors

Isaac Adanyeguh, PhD Candidate

Débora P. Maia, MD L

Lise Munsie, PhD

Publication Staff

Meredith Achey, BM — Deputy Editor

Robin Taylor — Production Editor

Martin Holmes — Technical Editor

Todd Bernhard — Copy Editor

Dave Kolko — Distribution Specialist

For more information on HD Insights, or to receive a free subscription, please visit us at www.hdinsights.org  or email us at editor@hdinsights.org .