Michael Johnston Award
Plenary Lecture
Professor Linda S. de Vries
Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Neurology
Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital · University Medical Center Utrecht
Leiden University Medical Center
The Netherlands
40 years of Neonatal Neurology
About the Speaker
Linda S. de Vries trained as a pediatrician and neonatologist in the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
She did her PhD with Lilly and Victor Dubowitz in London, the UK and subsequently she also trained as a pediatric neurologist with Paul Casaer in Leuven, Belgium.
From 1989 till 2019, she worked in the department of Neonatology at the University Medical Center Utrecht, where she is now an emeritus professor in Neonatal Neurology. .
Since her official retirement she is also emeritus professor in Neonatal Neurology at the Leiden University Medical Center. She was a member of the steering committee of the Newborn Brain Society.
Her research focuses on prediction of neurodevelopmental outcome in high risk preterm and full-term newborns, using neurophysiology and neuro-imaging methods.
These at-risk children were also seen by her in the follow-up clinic. She has a special interest in neonatal stroke and brain plasticity.
She co- authored four books, The Atlas of Neonatal Brain Sonography; The atlas of amplitude-integrated EEGs in the newborn, Beyond the NICU and Neonatal Brain Injury. She co-authored more than 500 articles.
In this special pre-lecture interview, Dr Martín Hyland speaks with Bradley Schlaggar about Dr Linda S. de Vries, her clinical journey, her global advocacy for children with neurological disorders, and the Michael Johnston Award.
Abstract
Title: 40 years of Neonatal Neurology.
Over the last 40 years, there have been major developments in neonatal neurology, moving from being able to making the diagnosis with neuro-imaging techniques, to being able to more accurately predict neurodevelopmental outcome. Over the last two decades, the first steps have been taken in neuroprotection, with the implementation of hypothermia in the full-term infant with Neonatal encephalopathy due to presumed hypoxia-ischemia. The changes over the last 40 years will be discussed.
This is a talk about four decades of progress in neonatal neurology, from advances in neuroimaging and outcome prediction to the development of neuroprotective strategies such as therapeutic hypothermia.
About the Michael Johnston Award
Michael V. Johnston
1946 – 2022 · Baltimore, Maryland
Michael V. Johnston, MD, was a Research Scientist, Director of the Neuroscience Laboratory, Professor Emeritus of Paediatrics and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, former Chief Medical Officer, Executive Vice President at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, two-term executive board member of the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA), passed away on July 30, 2022.He was a brilliant academician and researcher. His seminal work on the role of glutamate and excitotoxicity in hypoxic-ischaemic injury and its effects on the developing brain is well known internationally.He collaborated with clinicians and researchers and continued to treat patients with complex Neurological Disorders.
He and his group performed clinical and basic laboratory research focused on developing therapies to reduce brain injury in infants and children and promote recovery by enhancing brain plasticity.His laboratory was one of the first to describe the mechanisms through which the neurotransmitter glutamate triggers brain injury from lack of oxygen, trauma, and other insults.
Awards and Achievements: The Frank Ford Lecture Award from the ICNA in 2016.
The Blum/ Moser Endowed Chair for Paediatric Neurology at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.
The Bernard Sachs Award from the Child Neurology Society.
It is a great honor for the ICNA to host the entire award lecture at the 18th International Child Neurology Congress (ICNC2024), Cape Town, South Africa, in the name of Dr. Michael Johnston, whose service to the ICNA and the world of Paediatric Neurology will be admired forever! The Michael Johnston Award is sponsored by the Kennedy Krieger Institute, United States, where he and his friend and colleague, Dr. Gary Goldstein, spearheaded for 31 years.
He had qualities of the head and heart both! Mike will be missed by the ICNA community and Paediatric Neurologists worldwide.
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