Gabriel J.E. Rinkel is professor of Neurology at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands and visiting professor at the Department of Neurosurgery at the University Hospital Mannheim, University of Heidelberg in Germany. In 1991 he finished his training in neurology and defended his PhD thesis on perimesencephalic subarachnoid haemorrhage. His research is focussed on subarachnoid haemorrhage and intracranial aneurysms, on which he has published more than 500 papers in international peer reviewed journals. He has given lectures at more than 30 universities in 4 continents, is a regular invited speaker at many international conferences. He is fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh (UK) and has an honorary doctorate at the University of Eastern Finland (Kuopio).