Margaret Esiri DM, FRCPath

Prof Esiri has been a clinical neuropathologist in Oxford, UK, for over 42 years, concerned, until her semi-retirement 10 years ago, with diagnostic responsibilities in connection with CNS tumors, muscle and nerve pathology in biopsy specimens and the whole range of neuropathology at autopsy.

Her interest became quickly drawn to inflammatory CNS diseases such as multiple sclerosis but also viral diseases including herpes simplex encephalitis. These became the main focus of Prof Esiri's research interest though she later expanded this after helping to found the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA) in 1989.