Joseph I. Sirven and Dean M. Wingerchuk

In this issue of Seminars in Neurology we bring back Dr. Joseph Sirven and Dr. Dean Wingerchuk by popular demand as Guest Editors because of the excellent issue they put together for Seminars in Neurology in September 2003.

Dr. Sirven is Associate Professor of Neurology in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Associate Dean in the Mayo School of Continuing Medical Education. He was Valedictorian of his Jesuit High School class in Shreveport, Louisiana. He did his undergraduate work on the Bellarmine Scholarship at Georgetown University and earned his M.D. from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He did his Residency in Neurology at the University of Minnesota and a Fellowship in EEG and Clinical Epilepsy at Graduate Hospital, University of Pennsylvania. He has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards including Top Doctors and Best Doctors in America, the President's Award for Outstanding Leadership and Educational Contributions to Continuing Medical Education and International Health Professional of the Year. Under his mentorship, a number of Medical students, Residents and Fellows have published their first manuscript. He has contributed a plethora of peer reviewed articles to the literature and lectures at the American Academy of Neurology on the management of epilepsy and status epilepticus and the discontinuation of antiepileptic drugs. He has edited two textbooks: Clinical Neurology of the Older Adult and An Introduction to Epilepsy. He is the Chair of the Education Committee and on the Board of Governors of the Mayo Clinic Arizona.

Dr. Wingerchuk is Associate Professor of Neurology, Vice Chair for Clinical Research and Co-Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Doctor of Medicine with great distinction. He trained in Neurology in the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota and did a Clinical Neuroimmunology Fellowship there as well. He did a second Fellowship in Clinical Neuroimmunology/Multiple Sclerosis at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada and obtained a Master of Science in Health Research Methodology and Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has received a number of distinguished Honors and Awards including scholarships for both his undergraduate and College of Medicine education, the McLean Silver Medal, the Hewlett-Packard Award in Internal Medicine and the Henry W. Woltman Award for Superior Performance in Clinical Neurology from the Mayo Clinic Department of Neurology. He has also received a Mayo Foundation Clinical Educator Award from 2004 to 2007 and has been awarded the Outstanding Course Director by the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale School of Continuing Medical Education. He is listed in Best Doctor's in America. He is the Co-Founder of the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale Evidence Based Clinical Practice Research Informatics and Training Center and Co-Director of the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale Evidence Based Clinical Practice Curricula. He has directed courses at the American Academy of Neurology on Multiple Sclerosis Therapy and on Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. He has contributed a great number of peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters and editorials on multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica and evidence-based medicine.

We are terribly grateful to Drs. Sirven and Wingerchuk and to all of the authors for the contribution of their time, hard work, and expertise to this outstanding issue of Seminars in Neurology.