David Szmulewicz is a neurologist, neuro-otologist and translational researcher interested in diseases that interfere with normal human movement, which include the cerebellar ataxias. He is the founding head of the Balance Disorders & Ataxia Service (BDAS) at the Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital and neurologist to the Machado-Joseph Disease Foundation Ataxia Clinic, and the Monash Health Friedreich Ataxia clinic. David’s research interests include the discovery of novel disease phenotypes and gene discovery e.g. Cerebellar Ataxia with Neuropathy and Vestibular Areflexia Syndrome (CANVAS), Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 27B (SCA27B) and idiopathic Cerebellar Ataxia with Bilateral Vestibulopathy (iCABV), and the development of instrumented human movement metrics including the Ataxia Instrumented Measure (AIM) system and the development objective oculomotor tests. David is also the founding co-director of the Cerebellar Ataxia Registry (CARe) and the Cerebellar Ataxia Research Network of Australia (CARNA), as well as the Australian representative of the Ataxia Global initiative (AGI), whose aims include the establishment of an international database to cater for large scale natural history studies and treatment trial ‘readiness’.