· What does inspire you outside neurology?
History. Knowing what happened in the past helps understanding what occurs currently and what the future could be. There are similarities between the reasoning of medical researchers and that of historians: search for original sources, check them, compare the sources, reproduce the results, publish your results. The current situation with CoVID 19 has much similarities with the so-called Spanish flue that started in 1918 in Europe, except that Europe was in war, news were not free, and the virus was not the same. We often forget that this pandemic killed 50 million people i.e. 2 or 3 time more than the weapons.
· What are the lessons learned from your mistakes?
Never react immediately, take your time, and consider all eventualities without exceptions.
· If you would be a comic character, who would you be?
Hercule Poirot, the fiction detective created by the British novelist Agatha Christie. But I am not sure he was really a “comic” character…
· If you had not entered your current profession, what would you have liked to do?
Nobody would believe me if I say the truth. Therefore, I ask for a wild card…
· What is your idea of a perfect day?
A day without bad news, meeting interesting people, having interesting discussion, and a nice dinner.
Didier Leys is Professor of Neurology at the University of Lille. He is the former head of the stroke unit and of the neurological department, currently under the responsibility of Prof. Charlotte Cordonnier. He has been Secretary General of the European Academy of Neurology between 2014 and 2018, and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Neurology.
