About Us

We’re here to help

Vision: A cure for FSHD

Mission: To improve the quality of life for all patients and their families, and facilitate the easy diagnosis of FSHD, and enable all patients have access to the best treatment. FSHD Europe unites and amplifies the voice of FSHD patients across Europe, raising awareness and interest among all stakeholders, including researchers, clinicians, pharmaceutical companies, regulators, payors, and national patient organizations.

FSHD Europe was founded in 2010 by people living with FSHD and their close relatives who saw the value of collaboration across Europe. We currently have thirteen member organisations who support people with FSHD in different European countries. We recognise that every country has different contexts and challenges, with national organisations at different stages. We may not always have the answers, but we are committed to supporting our European FSHD community and will do all we can to help you. We believe in our capacity to do this.

If you have any questions or need help, please reach out to us.

Our people

Sheila Hawkins

Sheila Hawkins

President

Sylvie Genet

Sylvie Genet

Secretary

Kees van der Graaf

Kees van der Graaf

Treasurer

Paola de Donato

Paola de Donato

María Gómez-Rodulfo

María Gómez-Rodulfo

Caroline Elmstedt

Caroline Elmstedt

Bine Haase

Bine Haase

María Vriens

María Vriens

Hicham Alaoui

Hicham Alaoui

Annalisa Alimandi

Annalisa Alimandi

Patricia Schultz

Patricia Schultz

Hanne Skovgaard

Hanne Skovgaard

Karsten Bech

Karsten Bech

Ricardo Gerpe

Ricardo Gerpe

Stefania Bertucci

Stefania Bertucci

Mia de Marez

Mia de Marez

Raj Badiani

Raj Badiani

Lauri Pirinen

Lauri Pirinen

Lora Chun

Lora Chun

Our staff

Ria de Haas

Ria de Haas

Project manager

Ingrid Molegraaf

Ingrid Molegraaf

Operations support

Our advisors

Alexandre Mejat

Alexandre Mejat

Project advisor

Julie Dumonceaux

Julie Dumonceaux

Scientific advisor

Nicol Voermans

Nicol Voermans

Medical advisor

Miriam Wagner Long

Miriam Wagner Long

Project Mercury advisor

Organizational support

We want to support our members and those thinking about setting up new FSHD patient organisations by sharing all that we’ve learnt. We understand how daunting setting up your own patient led organisation can be. There is so much to think about, from governance to building your own community.

FSHD Europe is offering the ‘Guide to starting up a FSHD patient organisation’ and ‘Guide to create and manage a website’, to help and support you. We’d like to thank the Axial Spondyloarthritis International Federation (ASIF) and the International Mito Patients (IMP) for generously sharing with us the templates of their excellent ‘How To’ guides.

We understand that every country has different contexts and challenges. And we might not always have the answers. But we are committed to supporting our European FSHD community and will do all we can to help you.

We believe in your capacity to do this. And you will likely hit obstacles and frustrations. Please reach out to us at info@fshd-europe.info

Our governance