What is Factor-H?

A non-for-profit humanitarian project to increase the awareness of people living with and affected by Huntington’s disease, to facilitate social aid to diminish the suffering of local communities in Latin America.

An effort to unite socially minded individuals through creative artistic, journalistic, medical, scientific, and political means to change the neglect and suffering of those affected by genetic conditions and poverty

A way of bringing a smile, a friendly hand, and a sense of hope to those in desperate need of help.

“Factor-H” was formally launched in Mendoza, Argentina on October 12, 2012, at a neurology conference. It was first a project conceived by Drs. Ignacio Muñoz-Sanjuán and Claudia Perandones, friends and colleagues working to find treatments for Huntington’s disease. A tango concert celebrated the moment and led us into a future full of optimism and hope. The concept behind Factor-H originated during a visit to Rio de Janeiro in 2011, when Ignacio and colleagues helped start the Latin American HD Network of clinicians and scientists. 

During this visit, Ignacio met with patients and their advocates as well as with Latin American scientists and physicians. In one of the most moving moments of his life, an affected person in a wheelchair approached Ignacio after his seminar. The man held Ignacio’s hand and asked his wife to translate from Portuguese. While holding Ignacio’s hand, the man said, tears flowing down his face:

“I know you will not be able to help me; it is too late for me, I know. But please, please, help my daughter!”

It was during this moment that Ignacio realized that he needed to do more. This moment marked a turning point in Ignacio’s life. He became convinced that in addition to his role as a scientist, he could do much more. The outcome of this process is “Factor-H”, a social project that lives at the cross-roads of poverty and genetic disease, and which aims to restore balance to the profound social injustice HD families experience. Factor-H became registered in the USA as a nonprofit charity in 2018.

“H” stands for Hope, Huntington’s, and Humanity