Huntington's Disease Foundation
The Huntington’s Disease Foundation (HDF) is a New York, NY-based public charity that funds research to find treatments and ultimately a cure for Huntington’s disease. Founded in 1968, it supports research on Huntington’s disease and related brain disorders through grants, fellowships, collaborative research awards, workshops, and scientific conferences.
Huntington's Disease Foundation at a glance
In short: Huntington's Disease Foundation gave $1.4M across 11 grants in 2025 (avg $127K), top state Massachusetts. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $1,400,000
- -33.6% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 11
- +10.0% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $127,273
- -39.7% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $100,000
- Total assets
- $23,135,759
- +5.3% vs 2024
- Primary geography
- Massachusetts (43% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026.
How to apply to Huntington's Disease Foundation
- How to Apply
-
Submit an LOI through the stated application process for research grants or postdoctoral fellowships; HDF invites selected applicants to submit full applications.
- Review Cycle
- October 1, 2026, for the 2026 LOI cycle for research grants and postdoctoral fellowships.
- Deadline
- October 1, 2026, for the 2026 LOI cycle for research grants and postdoctoral fellowships.
- Contact
Mailing address: 601 West 168Th Street 54, New York, NY 10032
Phone: (212) 928-2121
Website: https://hdfoundation.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Open Grants
2 open opportunities from Huntington's Disease Foundation
Hereditary Disease Foundation: Postdoctoral Researcher Fellowships Grant
Huntington's Disease Foundation
Amount
Up to US $200,000
Deadline
Deadline not published
Hereditary Disease Foundation: Transformative Research Award Grant
Huntington's Disease Foundation
Amount
US $300,000 - US $500,000
Deadline
Deadline not published
Who Huntington's Disease Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 8 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) ($300K across 2 grants). Together the top 8 received $1.4M.
Grant Size Distribution
48 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was in the $100–250K range: 31 grants of 48 (65%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
HDF is based in New York, NY. Its 2025 grant dollars went to recipients in Massachusetts (43%), California (39%), Georgia (7%), Washington (7%), and New York (4%).
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 11 itemized grants.
States
Cities
How Huntington's Disease Foundation gives
- Giving grew 92% from 2022 to 2025. Method
From the foundation's IRS Form 990 filings. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $729K (2022) to $3.1M (2023). In 2025 it made 11 grants totaling $1.4M.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) Sommerville, MA | Scientific Research | $200,000 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Cambridge, MA | Scientific Research | $200,000 |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University Redwood City, CA | Scientific Research | $200,000 |
| The Regents of the University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | Scientific Research | $200,000 |
| Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (San Francisco) San Francisco, CA | Scientific Research | $100,000 |
| Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) Sommerville, MA | Scientific Research | $100,000 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Cambridge, MA | Scientific Research | $100,000 |
| The Corporation of Mercer University Macon, GA | Scientific Research | $100,000 |
| Washington University Seattle, WA | Scientific Research | $100,000 |
| The Regents of the University of California Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | Scientific Research | $50,000 |
Ready to take the next step with Huntington's Disease Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $23,135,759 | $4,081,669 | $4,326,391 | $1,400,000 | 11 | $634,776 |
| 2024 | $21,978,294 | $7,899,221 | $4,524,145 | $2,109,672 | 10 | $1,243,205 |
| 2023 | $18,234,308 | $2,578,841 | $4,738,635 | $3,143,502 | 11 | $488,200 |
| 2022 | $16,776,193 | $4,522,686 | $2,603,305 | $729,049 | 5 | $86,093 |
| 2021 | $18,145,612 | $3,846,649 | $2,967,624 | $1,536,230 | 11 | $1,019,375 |
| 2020 | $15,507,063 | $4,059,819 | $2,519,661 | $1,263,008 | 13 | $387,663 |
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
HDF’s mission is to fund transformative research to find treatments, and ultimately a cure, for Huntington’s disease. Its programs support research into disease mechanisms and treatments, including work with potential relevance to other brain disorders.
HDF funds senior researchers through one-year research grants intended to generate preliminary data for longer-term funding, and early-career researchers through two-year postdoctoral fellowships. Its Transformative Research Awards support collaborative projects developing new insights into disease mechanisms or novel therapeutic approaches. HDF also offers Career Advancement Grants, an incubator program intended to help young investigators move from postdoctoral positions toward tenure-track principal investigator roles.
The foundation welcomes investigators from academic institutions, companies, national laboratories, nonprofit institutes, and multi-institutional teams for its Transformative Research Awards; partnerships between academia and industry, and teams bringing expertise from outside Huntington’s disease research, are encouraged. Among its 2025 grantees, Mercer University received $100,000. Mercer describes its own mission as teaching, learning, creating, discovering, inspiring, empowering, and serving.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, HDF reported 11 grants totaling $1,400,000. Grant amounts ranged from $50,000 to $200,000, with a median of $100,000. All 11 listed grants were for scientific research. The largest awards included $200,000 each to Massachusetts General Hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Other listed recipients included Chan Zuckerberg Biohub ($100,000), Mercer University ($100,000), and Washington University in Seattle ($100,000).
For its standard research grants and postdoctoral fellowships, HDF’s website describes an annual Letter of Intent process. Applicants submit an LOI describing research directly applicable to Huntington’s disease; the Scientific Advisory Board reviews and scores LOIs, and selected applicants are invited to submit full applications. Research grants are one-year awards of $100,000 for experienced researchers. Postdoctoral fellowships provide up to $100,000 per year for up to two years and are for postdoctoral fellows or researchers up to seven years past completion of a PhD. The website gives a 2026 LOI submission period of August 17 through October 1.
For Transformative Research Awards, the website describes annual funding of $300,000–$500,000 per award. Projects are expected to be exceptionally novel, establish metrics and milestones, and show a credible path toward outcomes that could advance Huntington’s disease research or therapies. Incremental advances on work already described in the literature are excluded.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Meghan Donaldson as CEO; Karen Newman as chair; Nancy S. Wexler, PhD, as president; Anne B. Young, MD, PhD, as vice chair; Bruce Donaldson as treasurer; and Alice Wexler, PhD, as secretary. Directors listed are C. Frank Bennett, PhD; Robi Blumenstein; Sandy Fox; and Tacie Fox.
Huntington's Disease Foundation is led by Meghan Donaldson, CEO on every filing since 2020; 5 of 21 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Meghan Donaldson
CEO
On filings since 2020
40 hrs/week
$110K (2020) → $50K (2025)
Nancy S. Wexler PhD
President
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Karen Newman
Chair
Director → Chair, 2022
On filings since 2020
24 hrs/week
$12K (2024) → $72K (2025)
Julie Porter
Director of Administration
Head of Science → Director of Administration, 2023
On filings since 2022
40 hrs/week
$104K (2022) → $124K (2025)
Sarah Hernandez PhD
Director of Research Programs
On filings since 2023
40 hrs/week
$125K (2023) → $155K (2025)
Berta A. Gehry
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
David Housman PhD
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
David Zwally
Director
Chair → Director, 2022
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Frank O. Gehry
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Robi Blumenstein
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sandy Fox
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
C. Frank Bennett PhD
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Lauren Baker Pinkus
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Leslie M. Thompson PhD
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Tacie Fox
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Melissa Moser
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Thomas Obersteiner
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Tim Kelleher
CFO
On filings since 2024
6 hrs/week
$43K (2024) → $32K (2025)
Alice Wexler PhD
Secretary
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Anne B. Young MD PhD
Vice Chair
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Bruce Donaldson
Treasurer
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (7)
- Former: Herbert Pardes MD (2020–2024) — Director
- Former: Joan Leiman PhD (2020–2024) — Director
- Former: Erica Matisz (2024) — Director of Development
- Former: Barry Evenchick (2020–2023) — Director
- Former: Travis Carey (2020–2023) — CFO
- Former: Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber PhD (2020–2022) — Director
- Former: David Gerstenhaber (2020) — Director · Filing note: Thru 920
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $155K, to Sarah Hernandez PHD (DIR. of Research Programs). 5 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.
Frequently asked questions about Huntington's Disease Foundation
How much does Huntington's Disease Foundation give each year?
Huntington's Disease Foundation gave $1.4M across 11 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $2.1M across 10 grants.
What is Huntington's Disease Foundation's typical grant size?
Huntington's Disease Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $100,000, and its average grant was $127,273, across 11 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990.
Where does Huntington's Disease Foundation give grants?
Huntington's Disease Foundation's top state is Massachusetts, with 43% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990. The next largest states were California (39%) and Georgia (7%). The most frequent recipient cities were Sommerville, MA (2 grants), Cambridge, MA (2 grants) and Los Angeles, CA (2 grants).
Does Huntington's Disease Foundation give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 11 grants with a stated purpose on Huntington's Disease Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Scientific Research" (11 grants).
Who are Huntington's Disease Foundation's largest grantees?
Huntington's Disease Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) ($300,000 across 2 grants), Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT ($300,000 across 2 grants) and The Regents of the University of California Los Angeles ($250,000 across 2 grants), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 61% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Huntington's Disease Foundation?
Huntington's Disease Foundation reported $23.1M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $4.1M.
What does Huntington's Disease Foundation fund?
HDF’s mission is to fund transformative research to find treatments, and ultimately a cure, for Huntington’s disease. Its programs support research into disease mechanisms and treatments, including work with potential relevance to other brain disorders. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Huntington's Disease Foundation?
Submit an LOI through the stated application process for research grants or postdoctoral fellowships; HDF invites selected applicants to submit full applications. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Huntington's Disease Foundation's EIN?
Huntington's Disease Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 23-7376197. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.
Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(7)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS December 23, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS October 14, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS November 15, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS November 15, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 14, 2025)
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 12, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Live grants for the work Huntington's Disease Foundation funds
Medical Research Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Huntington's Disease Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Huntington's Disease Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/huntington-s-disease-foundation-morg_70cc72e008a14c29bd5ea16903a00179
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_237376197_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Huntington's Disease Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/huntington-s-disease-foundation-morg_70cc72e008a14c29bd5ea16903a00179},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-18. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from Huntington's Disease Foundation's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
Huntington's Disease Foundation down — hundreds of funders to go?