The Spastic Paraplegia Foundation (SPF) has been a founding patient advocacy partner of SP-CERN, helping connect individuals and families affected by hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) with the RDCRN.

Through this collaboration, SPF has supported patient recruitment and engagement, natural history studies, research prioritization, and dissemination of scientific advances to the community.

Participation in SP-CERN has fostered collaborations among academic investigators, patients, the Critical Path Institute (C-Path), and international partners to advance biomarker discovery, standardized clinical outcome assessments, and trial readiness.

By integrating patient perspectives with collaborative science, SP-CERN is building the infrastructure needed to accelerate the development of effective therapies and improve care for individuals living with HSP and PLS.