New hands at the helm

Abstract

It is with great regret that I have to say good-bye to my CoChief Editor Professor Gerard Said, who after 3 years has decided to step down. His successors, of whom there are two, are Michael Strupp and Massimo Filippi. Gerard took on this role with myself and Thomas Brandt back in January 2009, and since then the journal has continued to grow in terms of the number of submissions it receives and its impact factor, in no small part because of Gerard’s skills and his well-established and leading role in the European Neurological Society (ENS), to which the journal is linked. Gerard qualified in neurology from the medical school of the Salpetriere back in 1971 and since then has become an international academic neurologist of great repute as well as being highly influential in many different areas of neurological practice and training, both nationally and internationally. Apart from being the Professor of Neurology and Chief of Service de Neurologie at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bicetre, Universite Paris-Sud from 1987 to 2007, he was also a co-founder of the ENS in 1986 with the late P.K. Thomas and Anita Harding. This new society was born out of a sense that there was nothing equivalent to the American Academy of Neurology in Europe. Gerard became the first Secretary General of the society until 2007 and has been instrumental in organising all of their yearly congresses. He became President of the ENS in 2010. His main field of investigation has been in the area of peripheral neuropathies, where he has made many seminal contributions, and he is perhaps best known for his work on diabetic and vasculitic neuropathy. However, his work extends to many aspects of the peripheral nervous system, with influential work on infectious causes of peripheral nerve dysfunction such as HIV-associated neuropathies. This work has led not only to a better description and recognition of these conditions, but also to better investigation and treatment. This ability to master the whole spectrum of peripheral nerve disease has led to him taking an international role in this field of neurology. He has been Director of the Research Group on Neuromuscular Disorders of the World Federation of Neurology, and between 1998 and 2000 he was also President of the Peripheral Nerve Society (PNS). During his 3 years at the helm of the Journal of Neurology Gerard has been instrumental in speeding up the review process, in bringing in new initiatives, and in R. A. Barker (&) Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, The E.D. Adrian Building, Forvie Site, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 2PY, UK e-mail: rab46@cam.ac.uk