José M. Ferro was born in Lisbon, Portugal, on the 22nd October 1951. He graduated in 1975 and received his PhD in Medicine in 1987 from the the University of Lisbon. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, London, Canada. He is currently Full Professor of Neurology at the Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, and Director of the Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health and of the Neurology Service at the Hospital de Santa Maria, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, EPE. He is Principal Investigator at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, University of Lisbon. He was President of the European Neurological Society, Chairman of the Stroke Portuguese Society and member of the Scientific Panel for Health of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Directorate E – Health of the European Commission. Has authored or co-authored 360 papers published in peer-reviewed journals and 60 book chapters. His research interest focuses on cerebrovascular disease, in particular cerebral venous thrombosis, cryptogenic stroke, stroke in systemic diseases and neuropsychiatric consequences of stroke.