Who Are We?
HISTORY OF SMA
Our CEO, Julie Cini founded Spinal Muscular Atrophy Australia Inc. after losing both her children to Spinal Muscular Atrophy in 2005 and 2007.
Julie’s first daughter Montanna, died on June 25, 2005 aged only ten months. In the midst of dealing with this tragic loss, came the death of Julie’s partner, Ross Brownlaw who was struck by a truck in the driveway of their family home in May 2006, when Julie was just thirteen weeks pregnant. Zarlee was welcomed on December 13, 2006 and lost her battle with SMA on Christmas Day, 2007 aged 12 months. The charity was started 6 weeks after Montanna passed away, with Julie and Ross knowing well before this the need for a support service in Australia. Julie is extremely passionate about ensuring access to treatment for the whole community, as well as advocating to relevant stakeholders about a range of issues within our community.
