Who We Are
Meet Noah's Trustees
We’re passionate about funding research, raising awareness and supporting families affected by Mito.​
The Noah Jordan Foundation is energised by a team of individuals that understand first-hand the challenges faced every day by parents of children with rare mitochondrial diseases.
Ben Jordan BArch PGCE MA
Noah's Father, Founder, Trustee
Rachael McDonald BA Hons PGCE Trustee, Primary School Teacher
Daniel Macken BA Hons
Trustee, Co-founder Caffeine&Machine
Simon Stiggear BA Hons ACA
Trustee, Director of Forensic Services - KPMG
We're in this together...
Meet Our Charity Medical Advisors
We are incredibly fortunate to have two of the UK's leading minds on Paediatric Mitochondrial disease on board
as our Charity Medical Advisors.
Professor Bobby McFarland
Professor of Paediatric Mitochondrial Medicine
and Honorary Consultant Paediatric Neurologist
Prof Robert (Bobby) McFarland trained in paediatrics, specialising in paediatric neurology, in London and Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
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He began his research career studying the molecular consequences and clinical problems associated with mutations of mitochondrial DNA. His research now embraces gene discovery, determinants of pathogenicity in mitochondrial disease, longitudinal modelling to assess mitochondrial disease progression and clinical research projects including the development of clinical assessment tools, outcome measures and drug trials.
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As Director of the NHS Highly Specialised Service for Rare Mitochondrial Disorders Prof McFarland leads a team of clinicians, nurses and allied health professionals dedicated to the diagnosis and management of mitochondrial disease. The close association of his research and clinical work pays dividends for both in facilitating recruitment to the extremely successful national mitochondrial disease patient cohort study (n=2100) and allows rapid translation of research breakthroughs into clinical practice.
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Prof McFarland has made significant contributions to mitochondrial research with over 200 peer-reviewed publications, many in high impact journals such as Lancet and NEJM. He has been at the forefront of the introduction of mitochondrial donation, a pioneering technique to prevent transmission of mitochondrial disease, to the UK and leads the neurodevelopmental outcome study to assess the safety and efficacy of this technique. Prof McFarland has championed public and policy engagement to improve public understanding of decision-making in life-limiting diseases affecting children, including the introduction of mitochondrial donation as a reproductive option.
Doctor Laura Smith
Neuroscientist with special interest in
Alper's Syndrome and POLG mitochondrial disease
Dr Laura Smith is a Neuroscientist working in the Mitochondrial Research Group at Newcastle University.
She completed an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences (BSc Hons) and a Masters’ of Research (MRes) in Neuroscience. During her studies, Dr Smith developed a passion for understanding the neurobiology of epilepsy and mitochondrial disease. This interest led her to pursue a PhD at Newcastle University, under the supervision of Professor Bobby McFarland.
Dr Smith’s doctoral research, funded by the Ryan Stanford Appeal, was focussed on understanding the causes of epilepsy and other neurological impairments in Alpers’ syndrome. Her ongoing research within this field involves examining brain tissue samples to investigate changes to specialised brain cells in Alpers’ syndrome. To further explore how these changes contribute to the development of epilepsy in Alpers’ syndrome, she is also developing new model systems that mimic features of the disease.
Through her research, Dr Smith hopes to better understand Alpers’ syndrome and discover new ways to treat this paediatric mitochondrial disease.
What Will You Do?
Whether it’s making a donation or organising a fundraising event, there are lots of ways that you can show your support for families affected by Mito.
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