Dr. Manuel Casanova made his residency training in neurology and then spent 3 years doing a fellowship in neuropathology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. During his stay at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Casanova was in-charge of Pediatric Neuropathology, a fact which kindled his interest in developmental disorders of the brain. His clinical experience was enhanced by appointments as either a consultant or staff neuropathologist at Sinai Hospital (Maryland), the North Charles Hospital and the D.C. General Hospital. He spent several years as Deputy Medical Examiner for Washington, D.C., where he gained valuable experience in the post-mortem examination of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and child abuse. His expertise in the field was recognized by honorary appointments as a Scientific Expert for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) and as a Professorial Lecturer for the Department of Forensic Science at George Washington University. Dr. Casanova spent 8 years helping to establish 2 of the most successful brain banks in this country: The Johns Hopkins Brain Resource Center (3 years) and the Brain Bank Unit of the Clinical Brains Disorders Branch at the National Institutes of Mental Health (5 years). Dr. Casanova did training in psychiatry at the National Institutes of Mental Health under the tutelage of Drs. Richard Wyatt, Danny Weinberger, and Joel Kleinman. He retired as a Major in the US Army Reserves and later on as a Lt. Commander in the Public Health Service. He joined the Medical College of Georgia as a full Professor in 1991 and came to the University of Louisville in 2003 as the Gottfried and Gisela Kolb Endowed Chair in Psychiatry.