Alan J. Thompson is Vice-Dean and Deputy Head of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at University College London, Director of the UCL Institute of Neurology, Programme Director for the Neurological Disorders theme of UCL Partners (Academic Health Science Centre), and Deputy Director of the Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre. He is the Garfield Weston Professor of Clinical Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, and is head of the Neurorehabilitation research group in the Institute of Neurology's Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, London, UK.