Editorial introductions

Abstract

Current Opinion in Neurology was launched in 1988. It is one of a successful series of review journals whose unique format is designed to provide a systematic and critical assessment of the literature as presented in the many primary journals. The field of neurology is divided into 14 sections that are reviewed once a year. Each section is assigned a Section Editor, a leading authority in the area, who identifies the most important topics at that time. Here we are pleased to introduce the Journal's Section Editors for this issue. SECTION EDITORS S. Thomas CarmichaelS. Thomas CarmichaelS. Thomas Carmichael is a neurologist and neuroscientist in the Department of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, USA. Dr Carmichael is Professor and Vice Chair in the Department, with active laboratory and clinical interests in stroke and neurorehabilitation and how the brain repairs from injury. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Washington University School of Medicine, USA, in 1993 and 1994, and completed a neurology residency at Washington University School of Medicine, serving as Chief Resident. Dr Carmichael was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellow at UCLA from 1998 to 2001. He has been on the UCLA faculty since 2001. Dr Carmichael's laboratory studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neural repair after stroke and other forms of brain injury. This research focuses on the processes of axonal sprouting and neural stem cell and progenitor responses after stroke, and on neural stem cell transplantation. Dr Carmichael is an attending physician on the Neurorehabilitation and Stroke clinical services at UCLA. Dr Carmichael has published important papers on stroke recovery that have defined mechanisms of plasticity and repair. These include the fact that the stroke produces stunned circuits that limit recovery, but can be restored to normal functioning with newly applied experimental drugs. His work has identified a novel brain “growth program” that is activated by stroke and leads to the formation of new connections. These studies have also identified how this growth program changes with age, and how specific molecules in the aged brain block the formation of new connections and of recovery. This and other work has led to new directions in stroke therapeutics, including therapies with stem cell and tissue engineering applications. Dr Carmichael is in the midst of stroke stem cell development applications with the FDA and with biotechnology companies. Gabriella BottiniGabriella BottiniShe is full Professor of Psychobiology and Neuropsychology at the Psychology Section of the Brain and Behavioral Sciences Department of the University of Pavia and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Neurology of London. She is also the Director of the Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychology Laboratory, the Neuroscience and Society Laboratory at the University of Pavia, and the Cognitive neuropsychology Centre at the Niguarda Ca’ Granda Hospital in Milan. She is member of a number of societies of Neuroscience (ISN, ESN, SINDEM, SINP, etc.), and of the steering committee of the European Association for Neuroscience and Law (EANL). Her research activity is focused on the physiological and anatomical correlates of human behavior including both, cognitive and emotional components in a healthy human brain and how they are disrupted in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. She is also involved in a number of activities concerning the interplay between neuroscience, neuroethics and law. Matthias PreusserMatthias PreusserMatthias Preusser is a medical oncologist and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. His work focusses on biomarkers and treatment of brain tumors. Dr Preusser serves as Coordinator of the Central Nervous System Tumors Unit of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna (CCC-CNS) and he is a steering committee member of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Brain Tumor Group. Dr Preusser has co-authored more than 150 scientific articles and the current edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) Brain Tumor Classification. He is the principle investigator of an international randomized clinical trial in recurrent high-grade meningioma. Patrick RothPatrick RothDr Patrick Roth is an Attending Physician at the Department of Neurology and the Coordinating Physician of the Brain Tumor Center at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. He specializes in the interdisciplinary management of brain tumour patients. He is involved in various clinical trials and conducts preclinical research to develop novel therapeutic strategies, with a focus on immunotherapeutic approaches for brain tumour patients. His current research focuses are the mechanisms underlying glioma immune escape, novel approaches to enhance the immunogenicity of glioma cells, and the analysis of new compounds for anti-glioma therapy.