Nick Wood is Professor of Clinical Neurology and Neurogenetics at UCL. He has established a leading neurogenetic service underpinned by outstanding research. He has contributed enormously to our understanding of the simple genetic forms of a number of neurodegenerative conditions, identifying novel loci, performing detailed genotype phenotype studies and investigating mechansims. He has identified a novel gene responsible for hereditary sensory neuropathy in a spontaneous rat mutant- mutilated foot model. This finding is important for the neurodevelopmental field as well as implicating for the first time the chaperonin system in this disease process. However the most impressive development has been the leading role he has played in integrating population genetics approaches to the study of the commoner neurological disorders epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. Recent progress in this area includes identification of the first genetic factor underlying drug response in epilepsy – a potential application of pharmacogenetics. His lab have also very recently identified a causative gene for young onset Parkinson’s disease and this has opened a new avenue of research in PD.