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Ataxia Centre accredited as Ataxia Centre of Excellence by the National Ataxia Foundation (NAF)
20 November 2023
We are delighted to announce that the Ataxia Centre, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, is the first & only centre in the UK to receive the accreditation: recognizing centres providing excellent research & comprehensive care for people affected by Ataxia & their families.
NAF’s Ataxia Centers of Excellence (ACE) programme is to designate exceptional regional centers providing comprehensive care and services for individuals affected by Ataxia and their families. In addition to providing expert clinical care for a variety of Ataxias and Ataxia-related disorders, the Centres should be engaged in clinical research and/or clinical trials, provide professional and lay education to patients and their families in the areas they serve, and work with NAF locally and nationally in its efforts to continually improve the lives of those affected by Ataxia.
Professor Paola Giunti, Head of the London Ataxia Centre: “We are very proud of this accreditation, as NAF is the largest ataxia patient organisation in the US, and we are the first and only centre in the UK to receive this accreditation! There are only six centres globally in the world, outside the US, therefore this is an exceptional recognition for our centre. We started in 2005 by submitting to Ataxia UK our proposal to establish an Ataxia Centre. We were the first Ataxia Centre to be accredited by Ataxia UK. We are now periodically being reviewed and so far confirmed as the first Ataxia Centre of Excellence by Ataxia UK.”
Professor Tony Schapira, Head of the Department of Movement and Molecular Neurosciences, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology: “Prof Giunti’s centre has been taken as a model to establish three other Ataxia Centres in the UK. Throughout the years since the Ataxia Centre was established, it has consistently delivered high impact translational research. This is testimony to the hard work, dedication and excellence of the Centre’s staff, and also to the contribution the patients have made to the Centre’s important research.”
Professor Michael Hanna, Director, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology "I am delighted to see Prof Giunti's Centre recognised for its high impact research and comprehensive care for individuals affected by Ataxia & their families. Their continued dedication epitomises everything that we think is important in translational neuroscience at the Institute of Neurology. Congratulations to all!"