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 Jean-Marc LégerJean-Marc LégerDr Léger started his career in neurology at the University Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière and University Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), France, in 1980, where he trained in general neurology and clinical neurophysiology. He was then nominated as full-time senior neurologist in 1987 in the Department of Neurology, then Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire de Neurosciences, University Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière, and received his post-graduate degree (Habilitation à diriger des Recherches) from University Paris VI in 1991. He is currently coordinator, together with Dr Eymard, of the National Referral Center for rare Neuromuscular Diseases, that was built up in the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire de Neurosciences, at University Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière, in 2004. Dr Léger's clinical and research interests are in the field of peripheral neuropathy and in particular chronic immune-mediated neuropathy. He has authored and co-authored more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and contributed more than 30 chapters to books on neurology, mainly in the field of diagnostic features and therapeutic trials in vasculitic neuropathy, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy, multifocal motor neuropathy and paraproteinaemic neuropathies. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Revue Neurologique for 8 years and as member of the Editorial Board of Brain for 5 years, and is currently member of the Board of the European Journal of Neurology and Associate Editor of the Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System. Dr Léger is past President of the Société Française de Neurologie, in which he served as Secretary General for 8 years. He served as officer of the Management Committee of the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) and as chairman of the Training and Education Committee of the EFNS. He is also past member of the Board and member of the Education Committee of the Peripheral Nerve Society, and has organized its biennial meeting in Saint-Malo, France, in July 2013. He is Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN), and Corresponding Fellow of the American Neurological Association. He was elected as Corresponding Member of the Académie Nationale de Médecine, France, in 2009. Melissa SpencerMelissa SpencerDr Melissa Spencer is a Professor of Neurology and Co-Director for the Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at UCLA. Her pre-doctoral studies were conducted at UC San Diego and UCLA, focused on the role of calpain proteases in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. She obtained her PhD in Physiological Sciences from UCLA in 1994. Following an NRSA post-doctoral fellowship under Dr William R. Clark investigating the role of T cells in DMD, she became faculty at UCLA in 1998 in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr Spencer's research program focuses on the pathogenesis and therapies for Duchenne and Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophies. The lab uses a multidisciplinary approach ranging from the generation of genetically modified mice to the use of biochemical, cell biological, immunological approaches for analyzing phenotypic outcomes. Dr Spencer was the recipient of a PECASE (Presidential Early Career Award For Scientists and Engineers) awarded by President George W. Bush in 2001 and she serves advisory roles with several foundations including the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and Coalition to Cure Calpain 3. She also serves on NIH leadership committees aimed at establishing long range funding priorities for muscular dystrophy. As a Co-Director of the Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, she has worked closely with her colleagues Drs M. Carrie Miceli and Stanley Nelson to expand the translational infrastructure for Duchenne at UCLA, by funding pilot projects, building a clinical trials infrastructure and fostering a collaborative environment.