Gavin Giovannoni on why time matters in multiple sclerosis.

Abstract

Gavin Giovannoni was appointed in November 2006 to the Chair of Neurology, Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London and the Department of Neurology, Barts and The London NHS Trust (all UK). In September 2008, he took over as the Neuroscience and Trauma Centre Lead in the Blizard Institute. Gavin did his undergraduate medical training at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, where he graduated cum laude in 1987. He moved to the Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London (UK) in 1993 after completing his specialist training in neurology in South Africa. Following 3 years as a clinical research fellow, under Professor Ed Thompson, and 2 years as the Scarfe Lecturer, working for Professor W. Ian McDonald, Gavin was awarded a PhD in immunology from the University of London (UK) in 1998. That year, he was also appointed as a Clinical Senior Lecturer, Royal Free and University College Medical School (UK), and in 1999 he moved back to Institute of Neurology, Queen Square (UK). He was promoted to Reader in Neuroimmunology in 2004. His clinical interests are multiple sclerosis (MS) and other inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system. Gavin is particularly interested in clinical issues related to optimizing disease-modifying therapies in MS. His current research is focused on Epstein–Barr virus as a possible cause of MS, defining the ‘MS endophenotype’, MS-related neurodegeneration, MS biomarker discovery, MS clinical outcomes and immune tolerance strategies. His team focuses on translational research and therefore has an active clinical trial program.