Professor Mary Reilly (Institute of Neurology, Queens Square, London) discusses how complex inherited neuropathies can be a daunting diagnosis for clinicians. However, through exciting advances in next generation sequencing and knowledge of distinct syndromic categories, a new diagnostic approach emerges. Her review and her interview provide excellent over of this new approach, and how it may serve as a resource for clinicians. Link to paper here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2016-313960.