Deborah L. Renaud, M.D.

The Guest Editor of this issue of Seminars in Neurology on the inherited leukoencephalopathies is Deborah L. Renaud, M.D. Dr. Renaud is Assistant Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Co-Director of the Mayo Clinic Peroxisomal Disorders Program.

Dr. Renaud was born and educated in Canada, but the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has been her home since 2001. In her neurometabolic clinic, she sees regional, national, and international patients with developmental delay and complex neurologic problems, who may have neurometabolic disorders as well as leukoencephalopathies. Her primary interest is in evaluating patients of all ages with leukoencephalopathies, and in caring for these patients and their families. The Mayo Clinic Peroxisomal Disorders Program is a multidisciplinary program for patients with peroxisomal disorders, with an emphasis on X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, including presymptomatic and symptomatic boys, men, and women with adrenomyeloneuropathy. The program also includes a stem cell transplant program for boys with the leukodystrophy form. Dr. Renaud is the co-director of this program along with the hematologist who designed the stem cell protocol for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy.

I was delighted when Dr. Renaud agreed to be the Guest Editor of an issue on this topic. I share clinic space with several of my colleagues; we respond to whether a patient has a leukoencephalopathy by forming a huddle and letting the questions fly. Do we order very long-chain fatty acids, cholestanol, and arylsulfatase A? Is there a battery of genetic tests? Aren't these disorders supposed to present in childhood? Are any pediatric neurologists available?

I have enjoyed working on this issue very much with Dr. Renaud. We are so grateful to her and to all of the contributors to this issue of Seminars in Neurology for educating us about the leukoencephalopathies. Now when we huddle, it will be around a computer screen as we use the articles in this issue to guide our care of patients with leukoencephalopathies.