“Uncomplicating HD Research”: Videos of the 2nd Moving Forward Meeting in Valencia

Written by the Moving Forward Team on January 11th 2023

In November 2022, we have organized the 2nd Moving Forward meeting in Spain, together with AVAEH – Asociación Valenciana de Enfermedad de Huntington and IIS La Fe – Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria La Fe.. We were lucky to have with us several clinicians and researchers strongly committed to Huntington’s Disease, who work round the clock to find the best therapies to improve the quality of life of all those impacted by this disease. 

(Meeting Poster)

The Scientific Director of IIS La Fe, Guillermo Sanz Santillana, the General Director of Pharmacy and Medical Devices of the Valencian Community, José Manuel Ventura Cerdá, and the President of the European Huntington Association, Astri Arnesen, opened the meeting. You can see the video of the meeting opening session here

Carmen Peiró, the HD neurologist of La Fe Hospital in Valencia, presented the scientific updates about the ongoing HD studies ands trials that were announced at the EHDN Conference in Bologna. You can see the video of her presentation here

We could not have a meeting about HD research without listening to the first-hand experiences of HD patients and families, so we were honoured to have three testimonies: Maria Jar, Ruth Gutierrez y Asunción Martínez shared their amazing personal stories related to HD. You can see the video with their inspiring stories here

In this meeting, we had the chance to visit four research stations. We were able to speak with the researchers in charge of the stations and record the information shared at each station.

Visit to the Worm Lab

With Ana Pilar Gómez, Andrea Carranza and Rafael Vázquez

Visit to the Genetic Station

With Chema Millán

Visit to the Biobank Station

With Raquel Amigo

Visit to the Enroll-HD Station

With Asunción Martínez, Francisco Castera, Selene Capodarca and Claudia Perandones

At the end of a busy morning, we presented the Moving Forward project in Spain and shared our future plans to answer to the specific needs of the Spanish community, such as the online, free of charge, psychological support service. You can check all the Moving Forward updates here

In the aftermath of this successful second face-to-face Moving Forward meeting, we can’t help but strongly encourage you to participate in the next one!