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About us

Built by the families who needed it first

Hope for Ataxia began in 2019 around a kitchen table, when four families realised the equipment they needed cost less than the year they spent waiting for it.

Spinocerebellar Ataxia is inherited, progressive, and — for now — incurable. It takes coordination first, then speech, then independence. There are more than forty genetic subtypes and no single treatment path.

What exists, and works, is practical support delivered early: a rollator fitted properly, twelve weeks of balance therapy, a bathroom made safe, a carer given a night off. These things do not make headlines. They keep people at home, working, and with their families.

Our commitments

  • Nothing is funded without clinical review and a published cost.
  • People living with ataxia sit on every decision-making panel we run.
  • Accounts are audited annually and published in full.
  • Research we fund must be published open-access.
A family sitting together around a kitchen table
12,400+
People supported
$4.9M
Granted since 2019
87%
Spent on programmes
9
Research centres funded

Team

Who does the work

DN

Dr. Naomi Adeyemi

Executive Director

Neurologist, 18 years in movement disorders.

RC

Rafael Costa

Head of Programmes

Built our clinic partnership network across nine countries.

HL

Hanne Larsen

Director of Research

Chairs the SCA Research Consortium grant panel.

MB

Marcus Bell

Finance & Transparency

Publishes our audited accounts every quarter.