Ed WildBy Professor Ed Wild Edited by Dr Jeff Carroll

Jeff Carroll and Ed Wild will be reporting on the hottest science news from the 2013 World Congress on Huntington’s Disease in Rio de Janeiro, from Sunday 15th to Wednesday 18th September, in a special feature we’re calling Buzzilia!

The World Congress on Huntington’s Disease

The World Congress on Huntington’s Disease is the biggest regular meeting of people affected by Huntington’s disease, family members, friends, carers, scientists and health professionals. This year, for the first time ever, it’s being held in Latin America – in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Look forward to lots of exciting HD research news from beautiful Rio.
Look forward to lots of exciting HD research news from beautiful Rio.

South American families, especially those in Venezuela, were crucial to the discovery of the genetic cause of HD and the disease remains more common there than elsewhere. In recent years, great strides have been made in Latin America for HD-affected people – including the establishment of the South American HD Network, the Red Latino-Americana de Huntington (RLAH) and a big upsurge in research activity. So it’s great to see the World Congress head there for the first time.

The HD World Congress is a unique opportunity for the global Huntington’s disease community to come together and for people to learn from each other and share news, progress and excitement.

For family members, it’s a great opportunity to hear directly about the latest progress towards treatments for HD, to meet scientists who are working on HD, and to find out what’s working, what’s not and what might be around the corner. Chat to your favorite researcher and thank them – or tell them to hurry up!

For scientists and care professionals, it’s a valuable time to get to know HD family members and hear about their lives. It is incredibly motivating for scientists to meet the people their work is trying to help.

Announcing … Buzzilia!

We’re excited to announce that your HDBuzz editors-in-chief, Dr Jeff Carroll and Dr Ed Wild, will be presenting a nightly feature at the World Congress. In keeping with a now-established tradition of terrible puns – remember Oz Buzz and EuroBuzz? – we’re calling this year’s coverage Buzzilia!

Buzzilia will bring you all the hottest science news from the World Congress, with the HDBuzz ethos: the latest research news - brought to you by scientists – in plain language – for the global HD community.

Buzzilia will bring you all the hottest science news from the World Congress, with the HDBuzz ethos: the latest research news - brought to you by scientists - in plain language - for the global HD community.

We’ll be joined by special guests for interviews, news reports and some more light-hearted features that will inform and entertain.

Buzzilia is supported by the World Congress Organizing Committee and our funding partners.

Of course, not everyone can make it to Rio. So to emphasize the truly global nature of the HD Community, we’ll again be using internet and social media to connect with the hundreds of thousands of HD-affected people around the globe.

We’ll be posting news updates every day of the Congress at HDBuzz.net, and full video of our coverage online shortly afterwards. But if you don’t want to miss a thing, follow HDBuzzFeed on Twitter.

We look forward to seeing you in Rio, or having you join us online for a week of exciting news updates from the World Congress.

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. For more information about our disclosure policy see our FAQ...