Sean J. Pittock, M.D., is the Marilyn A. Park and Moon S. Park, M.D., Director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology and the principal investigator of Mayo's Neuroimmunology Research Laboratory.

Prof. Pittock's clinical and laboratory expertise lies in modifying, for clinical application, the antibody assays developed by the Neuroimmunology Research Laboratory. Specific areas of focus include multidisciplinary, collaborative research into autoimmune neurological disorders, autoimmune gastrointestinal dysmotility (AGID) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).

Complementing his laboratory research, Prof. Pittock is the founder of the Autoimmune Neurology Clinic in the Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology, which interacts closely with the Neuroimmunology Research Laboratory and has allowed the development of a unique translational practice extending the laboratory's serological findings directly to the bedside. This new, 21st-century subspecialty addresses diagnosis and treatment of organ-specific autoimmune disorders that target the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Prof. Jérôme de Sèze is a Professor in Neurology and Neuroimmunology Department Head at the University Hospital of Strasbourg.

He has a PhD in immunology and is a specialist in multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuro-ophthalmology as well as Head of the university’s clinical investigation center.

His research interests include biopathology of myelin, imaging of animal models for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems and evaluation of new therapeutic targets in these animal models. He is widely published across the realms of MS and NMOSD pathophysiology and treatment.

In 2007, he founded the “alSacEP,” a network to improve the provision of MS care in the French region of Alsace. He is also past President of the French Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Prof. Nakahara is a fellow and delegate of the Japanese Society of Neurology, fellow and councillor of the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine and is a director of both the Japanese Society of Neuroimmunology and the Japan Multiple Sclerosis Network. Furthermore, he is a member of the central organizing committee of Pan-Asian Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (PACTRIMS).

Prof. Nakahara is a councillor for the Japanese Society of Neurological Therapeutics, the Japanese Society for Neuroinfectious Diseases and the Japanese Society for Microcirculation and is a member of the Japanese Society of Neuropathology, the Japan Society for Dementia Research, the Japan Stroke Society, and the Japanese Headache Society. Prof. Nakahara serves on the editorial boards of the journals ’Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience, and Neuroscience Research’.

Prof. Nakahara is a recognized expert in neuroimmunology, having published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in the field. Among his clinical and experimental research interests are autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system, which include multiple sclerosis and NMOSD.