Anna Lunsford—#DearHD

"My name is Anna Lunsford, I am 22 years old and live in Columbus, Ohio. I graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor's in Psychology and Women's Studies and will return this fall to begin my Masters in Social Work. My dad and four of his siblings inherited Huntington's Disease from my grandfather. In June 2016, I was the first of a very large family to receive a positive result pre-symptomatically. I currently work in the Animal Cruelty Investigations department at a humane society coordinating a program for pets of survivors of domestic violence. I spend the rest of my time traveling and advocating for Huntington's Disease. I immediately recognized the importance of being involved with research and have participated in Enroll-HD, Predict-HD, and an exercise study at the University of Iowa. Additionally, I was invited to be a part of HD-COPE and flew to London this February for training as a patient advisory group member. I sit as the Chair of Communications on the NYA Board and am training to run the Chicago Marathon in October as part of HDSA's charity team."