Marc Sindou, M.D., D. Sc. Lyon, France Born in 1943 in Limoges, Marc SINDOU (M.S.) completed in parallel his medical and scientific studies, at Universities of Limoges, Bordeaux and Paris. Then he applied for Residency in Neurosurgery in 1969 at University of Lyon, where a new Institute for Neurosciences had just been created by Pierre Wertheimer, one of the pioneers of french neurosurgery. The Institute regrouped 180 beds for neurology and 140 beds for neurosurgery, and was served by ten operating rooms, with around 3 800 surgical operations per year. M. S. obtained his M.D. degree in 1972, with a thesis on "Anatomical study of spinal Dorsal Root Entry Zone. Applications for Pain Surgery", and same year his Doctorat in Sciences (D. Sc.) with a thesis on "Cerebral Cortex Electrogenesis in Humans". After a five- year training in Lyon, he benefited from two fellowships: the first with Professor William SWEET at M.G.H. in Boston, especially for pain surgery, the second with Professor Gazi YASARGIL at Kantonspital in Zurich for training in Micro-Neurosurgery. M. S. was appointed Associate Professor in 1982 and became full Professor in Neurosurgery and Chairman of Department in 1986. His research was directed to two different fields. On the basis of this M.D. thesis he developed neurophysiological investigations and surgery in the DREZ target for spinal deafferentation pain and focalized spasticity. In the fields of vascular surgery he worked in the lab on intracranial venous reconstruction which was then applied to patients harbouring meningiomas. His main neurosurgical interests, with his large and outstanding team, were: 1) Functional neurosurgery, including: pain, spasticity, epilepsy, trigeminal neuralgia, 2) Cranial nerve vascular compression syndromes, 3) Neurophysiology applied to neurosurgery, and also 4) Microsurgery for intracranial aneurysms and meningiomas. Surgical personal experience amounts at more than 20 000 operations, which gave source to 549 publications. Marc SINDOU has been: Founding-member of the International Association for the Study of Pain [IASP] in 1975, President (1998 - 2001) and Past- president (2001 - 2005) of the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery [WSSFN], Vice-President of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies [ EANS] (1999 - 2003). He is presently the President de la Société de Neuro-Chirurgie de Langue Française [SNCLF] (2007-2009). He is member of the Editorial Board of a number of prestigious international journals, and has 135 Editorials or Comments published. He is a "Teacher" in the EANS Training program, and was awarded the prestigious "European Lecture" in 2007. He has been honoured by 16 Visiting professorships and by 196 Invited lectures in 49 different foreign countries. He is honorary member of the Japanese Neurosurgical Society Main hobbies are: Mountaineering, with a number of summits in the french Alps, but with help of solid guides! , and also playing the piano, preferably when alone! Woody Allen and Umberto Eco are very much appreciated, and (only time to time) Mister Bean. "Resisting-administration"- of course not a hobby- takes part of his daily life. Last but not least, he is supported by a nice and devoted family. Above all, Marc SINDOU is indebted to all his Masters, Colleagues, Staffs and Pupils, from whom he learned so much through professional contacts and personal relationships.