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NEUROLOGICAL FOUNDATION This year has been about moving onwards and upwards. As New Zealand slowly reopens to the world, so too have the researchers you fund – returning to labs, restarting paused experiments, and picking up where they left off. Many of these projects were on a knife edge during the pandemic’s peak. But thankfully, because of the incredible support we receive from donors, we were in a financial position to prevent COVID-19 from derailing years of hard work. I am incredibly proud that we were one of the few organisations able to provide assistance packages for our grant recipients during the pandemic. Our donor support has been extraordinary through challenging times, and I have also been overwhelmed with messages of thanks from scientists and clinicians. Who knows what discoveries and treatments could have been lost if we couldn’t provide this help? I look forward to updating you on their progress over the next 12 months. A few other things that have stood out for me this year. • Renewing the Neurological Foundation Chair of Clinical Neurology position held by Professor Alan Barber for a further five years. Professor Barber has had a marked impact on stroke treatment in New Zealand during his time as Chair. The advances in treatments he has made available to stroke patients have saved many lives. • Bestowing Dr Barry Snow with a lifetime membership. Dr Snow received a VJ Chapman Fellowship from the Foundation early in his career. He is now a leader in the field of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s. He has given his time generously to the Foundation serving as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee and our Council. I want to thank Dr Snow for his many years of service to the Foundation. • Building collaborations with like-minded organisations is always important. The Foundation is a member of the Neurological Alliance, along with 16 other charities, who come together and work on common issues for those living with neurological conditions. We are stronger together when working towards common goals, and the Foundation looks forward to increasing our networks and partnering opportunities in the future. • The resilience of our Team at the Neurological Foundation. It has been a challenging year with long periods working from home and ever moving milestones impacted by COVID-19, yet our team has still helped achieve some great steps forward across all aspects of our organisation. In the meantime, the brain continues to be a frontier for discoveries in science. While our knowledge of the brain has vastly improved over the last 100 years, there is no doubt that many more discoveries are yet to be made. With the support of our incredible community, we will continue on this pathway to develop new knowledge, treatments and therapies for neurological diseases and disorders. The following pages will demonstrate our impact on our pathway to hope. This pathway is only made possible by our supporters. With nearly $5m awarded to research across 39 grants, there is no shortage of stories to tell. We hope you enjoy the few we have highlighted. Rich Easton FROM OUR CEO Rich Easton It is my great pleasure to share with you the Neurological Foundation’s Annual Impact Report 2021/22. 4