HDF Young Investigators, Ep. 1

Charlene Smith bio: "I am a project scientist in the lab of Dr Leslie Thompson at UC Irvine. I have worked here for 8 years studying Huntington's disease using HD patient derived stem cells. During that time I have received funding from the Hereditary Disease Foundation and the Huntington's Disease Society of America. I graduated in 2015 with my PhD from Cardiff University and wanted to pursue research in Huntington's disease."

Gong-Her Wu bio: "In 2015, I proudly earned my Ph.D. from Tsing Hua University, marking a significant milestone in my academic journey. Subsequently, I had the privilege of joining the esteemed lab of Dr. Wah Chiu, where I expanded my expertise further and contributed to cutting-edge research. From 2019 to 2023, I was fortunate to receive support from the Hereditary Disease Foundation (HDF), a valuable recognition of my work's importance and potential impact.

Now, I am a research scientist at Stanford University, working in the esteemed lab of Dr. Wah Chiu. Over the past six years, my focus has been on advancing the field of cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and its application in studying Huntington's disease. I have employed various model systems to achieve this, including yeast, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), primary neurons, C. elegans, and mouse brains."

Link to research: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36096-w

Link to Hereditary Disease Foundation: https://www.hdfoundation.org/