Alan E. H. Emery, Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics, University of Edinburgh, Honorary Fellow, Green Templeton College, Oxford and Honorary Visiting Fellow, Peninsula College of Medicine, Plymouth, UK,Francesco Muntoni, Professor and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Neurology, UCL Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital Foundation Trust, London, UK,Rosaline C. M. Quinlivan, Consultant in Neuromuscular Disorders, Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, Great Ormond Street Foundation Trust, London UK.

Alan EH Emery is a qualified physician, scientist and educator with wide experience of patient care and human genetics laboratory research. In 1966 he was first to describe a unique form of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy and to discover a significant biochemical defect linked to the pathogenesis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. On this he wrote the first detailed scientific monograph in 1987 (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Oxford University Press; 4th edition, 2014) and in 1989 founded the European Neuromuscular Centre to research related disorders. He has published over 400 scientific papers and written or edited 30 books regarding clinical, biochemical and genetic studies in neuromuscular disorders. For his work over the last 40 years he has received many national and international awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the World Federation of Neurology. He is currently a Vice-President of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign of Great Britain.