HD Insights Podcast

Toronto author and public speaker, Erin Paterson, tested gene positive for Huntington’s Disease (HD) in 2007. Shortly after she started suffering from depression, then received more crushing news, she was infertile. Despite those diagnoses she was determined to have a family and live a joyful life. She is a proud mom who loves to run and bike in her spare time.

She is on a mission to positively impact other people’s lives by writing and speaking about genetic disease, depression, and infertility. She shows it is possible to live a meaningful life even when faced with unexpected obstacles. She is the author of, All Good Things: A Memoir About Genetic Testing, Infertility and One Woman’s Relentless Search for Happiness (view on Amazon.com)

Erin Paterson is also the founder of Lemonade Press, a local publisher focused on empowering patient communities by helping people write and share their own journeys in specialized medical anthologies. To learn more about Erin, visit her website www.erinpaterson.com.

Seth Rotberg joined the HD Insights Podcast for this episode. Seth is a patient advocate, community connector, and motivational speaker who is passionate about bringing his personal experience to support the health community. His passion is driven by his mother's 17-year battle with the rare, genetic disease known as Huntington's Disease (HD). Five years after learning about his mother's diagnosis, Seth went through genetic testing and found out he tested positive for HD and may end up like his mom one day. 

In 2019, Seth co-founded the nonprofit, Our Odyssey, to provide year-round social and emotional support to young adults impacted by a rare or chronic condition. He has a master's in nonprofit management from DePaul and currently resides in Cambridge, MA. Professionally, he works as the Patient Leader Recruitment Manager at WEGO Health. To learn more about Seth, visit https://www.sethrotberg.com. For more information about Our Odyssey, go to https://ourodyssey.org. 

Amy Chesire (University of Rochester) and Greg Suter (Hereditary Neurological Disease Centre) are long-time site coordinators for clinical trials in Huntington's disease. On this episode of the HD Insights Podcast, we spoke with both about their history of working with clinical study participants and their current experience with participants on the KINECT-HD study.

KINECT-HD is a Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigating valbenazine for treatment of chorea in Huntington disease. The study is being conducted at sites across the U.S. and Canada. Additional information about the study can be found at www.KINECT-HD.org. 

We were joined by Dr. Nicolò Zarotti to discuss the first national guidance on psychological interventions in the United Kingdom for people with HD, ALS, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis, which was recently published by the British Psychological Society (BPS). He describes what he learned throughout the course of that research, and why he considers that publication a “call to arms” for the criticality of psychological support in HD care. Dr. Zarotti pursued his PhD at Lancaster University investigating emotional processing and communication in people with Huntington’s disease, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (ClinPsyD) at the University of East Anglia, while continuing to carry out research on psychological approaches to neurodegenerative diseases like HD. 

You can read the published guidance by visiting the BPS news release. To learn more about Dr. Zarotti's research, visit his profile on Google Scholar.

Dr. Michael Hayden, Chief Executive Officer for Prilenia Therapeutics, and a Killam Professor at the University of British Columbia, joined the HD Insights Podcast to discuss the PROOF-HD clinical study. Prilenia (https://www.prilenia.com) is sponsor for the currently active PROOF-HD trial, a global study evaluating the efficacy and safety of pridopidine in patients with early stage of Huntington disease. Dr. Hayden spoke about this new study's unique endpoint for total functional capacity. You will also want to hear his inspiring personal journey that led him into Huntington disease research growing up in South Africa. 

For more information on PROOF-HD, visit https://huntingtonstudygroup.org/proof-hd/.

HD Insights Podcast welcomed Brendan McLaren, Provisional Psychologist, Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Neuropsychology) Candidate, at Monash University (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia). On this episode, Brendan discusses research that he recently presented, titled MOBILE APP-BASED ASSESSMENT SHOWS THAT LESS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND LONGER TIME IN BED, ASSOCIATE WITH POORER COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING IN PRE-MANIFEST AND EARLY MANIFEST HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE. It’s an interesting look at these two areas, which don’t have much in the way of prior research, and it combines the use of some popular and well-known wearable technology.

For more on the lab at Monash where this and other research work is being done, visit http://hrgv.org.au/Research/Labs/CCN.html. 

Dr. Dietrich Haubenberger, Medical Director at Neurocrine Biosciences, joined the HD Insights Podcast to talk about his work on the KINECT-HD study and his career journey to this point. KINECT-HD is a Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigating valbenazine for treatment of chorea in Huntington disease. The study is being conducted at sites across the U.S. and Canada. Additional information about the study can be found at www.KINECT-HD.org. 

The HD Insights Podcast sits down with Katie Jackson, President and CEO of Help4HD, a nonprofit patient advocacy organization. Having witnessed the HD lifecycle from her husband's genetic testing results, through onset and progression of symptoms, to his passing last year, Katie’s personal story is one of determination and hope that has her efforts with the organization. Her story made for a powerfully moving conversation that we are incredibly fortunate to be able to share with you. Katie also shares more about upcoming Help4HD events such as their virtual HD HIPE sessions in July and August, and the training resources they provide to aid first responders or law enforcement who may encounter someone with HD. For more information on their support services, visit www.help4hd.org.

We wrap up our 3-part series on the gene hunting project in Venezuela with insights on the current situation in Venezuela – what has or has not changed in the 25 years since for those HD families and communities – plus impact on neighboring South American countries. Dr. Ignacio Muñoz-Sanjuán, President and Founder of FACTOR-H, joins Dr. Claassen on the podcast. FACTOR-H is a not-for-profit humanitarian foundation founded in 2012 to facilitate humanitarian and medical aid to diminish the suffering of local communities affected by Huntington’s disease in Latin America. If you are interested in learning more about the work that FACTOR-H does, visit their website - https://factor-h.org 

Dr. Leon Dure, Professor and Director of the Division of Pediatric Neurology and William Bew White, Jr. Chair in Pediatric Neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He joins Dr. Daniel Claassen for the second in a series of conversations about the research project in Venezuela a quarter-century ago that led to the discover of the HD gene. As a pediatric neurologist, Dr. Dure brings a slightly different perspective on his Venezuela experience. Additionally, he and Dr. Claassen have a more in-depth conversation about the clinical impacts of HD on young people.