Kim joined the board in December. Her sister-in-law, Veronica Thomson, was recently diagnosed with VPS13A. It was Veronica who recommended Kim for a board position. Kim has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio. She currently serves as a Senior Systems Analyst with over 10 years of experience supporting business and sales operations. Dave and Sylvette joined the board at its January 2025 annual meeting. Dave has family members who carry the XK mutation. Sylvette became interested in neuroacanthocytosis syndromes as a result of several patients in Puerto Rico.

Dave’s undergraduate degree is from St. Olaf College, and he was awarded his medical degree at the University of Minnesota’s College of Medicine. He did a radiology residency at the University of Iowa and a Musculoskeletal Radiology Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. Dave writes: “I am grateful to be a new board member! I am a practicing physician and am excited to get to know the other board members, delve into the scientific understanding of these diseases and potential treatment strategies, and learn how my medical background might be of service to this community.”

Sylvette is a Ph.D. scientist in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology who has worked on Huntington's disease (HD) research for 20 years. Her laboratory focuses on studying the age-related role of mitochondria in the neurodegeneration associated with Huntington’s disease. She garnered her undergraduate degree from the University of Puerto Rico, and her Ph.D. and post-doctoral fellowship from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. She is an active member of the HD community. Her interest in NA is is because it is a differential diagnosis for HD and because her cohort in Puerto Rico is an umbrella group that includes HD and NA patients, families, clinicians, and researchers. In her community, there are 3 families with NA. She works with a neurologist who has four NA patients. Sylvette believes there are other undiagnosed patients which she would love to identify and support.

We are excited to add each of these three individuals to our board. They bring a wealth of varied experiences and knowledge, and are eager to put their passion for persons with NA to work.

Check out photos of Kim, Dave, and Sylvette in the image gallery below.