gelin xu earned his bs, ms, and ph.d. degrees from fourth military medical university. in 2005, he joined nanjing university as an associate professor, and was later promoted to professor in 2010. since 2011, he has served as the deputy director of the neurology department at jinling hospital. his research interests focus on the fundamental and clinical aspects of cerebrovascular diseases. he has been recognized as an expert for the global burden of diseases (gbd) study.