Professor Martin Brodie has directed the Epilepsy Unit in Glasgow, Scotland since 1981. He has published more than 500 editorials, chapters, reviews, and scientific papers. He was secretary and then chair of the Commission on European Affairs (CEA) of the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE) from 1993 until 2001. He was vice president and treasurer from 2001 until 2009. He set up the charity Scottish Epilepsy Initiative in 2003. Professor Brodie has received the European Epileptology Award from the CEA, the epilepsy Lifetime Service Award from its UK chapter, the William G Lennox Award from the American Epilepsy Society and the Epilepsy Lifetime Accelerator Award from the Epilepsy Foundation. He is the current president of the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE).