Honor a founding giant in child neurology......help find and fund new ones.

An open letter to Friends and Members of the Child Neurology Society from

Darryl C. De Vivo, MD
Marvin A. Fishman, MD
Stanley D. Johnsen, MD
Arthur L. Prensky, MD
Joseph J. Volpe, MD

Last year’s 38th Annual CNS Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky will be remembered as a bittersweet occasion for all the many child neurologists whose professional careers and personal lives have been shaped by the extraordinary mentorship and lively companionship of Dr. Philip R. Dodge, who passed away in St. Louis on August 30. Crossing paths with Phil at the Annual Meeting was always, for many of us, a highlight of that October gathering. His absence resonates this year, not simply as the first meeting after his death, but also because this meeting had been targeted for some time now by the CNS Executive Committee to serve as the official launching of a campaign to raise endowment funds in support of the Philip R. Dodge Young Investigator Award. He would have greatly appreciated that.

The CNS Young Investigator Award and lecture, first presented in 1983, has become one of the highlights of the CNS Annual Meeting, reminding all those gathered of our collective identity and mission as child neurologists. While the monetary grant is not large by most standards, the prestige that attaches to the $20K award– even more so since 2004 when the award was formally renamed in honor of Dr. Dodge–is significant. By scheduling the presentation of the Philip R. Dodge Young Investigator Award and its accompanying lecture by the recipient on Friday mornings, immediately preceding the Bernard Sachs Lecture, the CNS has given clear indication of the prestige it holds and, indeed, of the career path it encourages.

Looking over the list of past recipients, it becomes clear that while the award is primarily intended to recognize research excellence in an individual just beginning an academic career, it also serves to identify some of the same qualities of mentorship and leadership that make this award truly worthy of being renamed in honor of Dr. Dodge.

Sixteen training programs have been responsible for nurturing the development of the 27 Philip R. Dodge Young Investigator Award recipients, amply testifying to the breadth and diversity of excellence in child neurology training programs. Two recipients have gone on to be elected as Councillors serving on the CNS Executive Board and one has served as Councillor for the Professors of Child Neurology; one has been honored as the Bernard Sachs Award Lecturer; two-thirds of all recipients have actively participated in organizing CNS Annual Meeting scientific programs as members and chairpersons of the Scientific Program Planning Committee; four of this year’s six scientific symposia are organized and feature talks given by past-recipients.

This award symbolizes who we are as child neurologists and what our mission is and should continue to be.

We are committed to advancing the cause of child neurology by continuing to attract talented young investigators and supporting them through this award. Contributing to the endowment fund supporting the perpetuation of the Philip R. Dodge Young Investigator Award may well be the most practical and symbolically significant affirmation of faith in the future of child neurology and the Child Neurology Society that you can make. There is no better way. There is no better time.

Previous Recipients

To view a list of previous recipients click here.

Contributions

Anonymous contributions and/or checks sent by mail be directed to:

Mary B. Currey
Child Neurology Society National Office
1000 West County Road E, Suite 290
Saint Paul, MN 55126
Tel: 651-486-9447
Fax: 651-486-9436
E-mail: nationaloffice@childneurologysociety.org

To contribute online using your credit card, click the button below

Your contribution is tax deductible and will be acknowledged at the meeting, in subsequent CNS newsletters and Annual Meeting Programs, as well as on the CNS Website. Recognition of contributor-designated training programs will also be made, as befits an award honoring Dr. Dodge, who took such enormous pride in the two programs with which he is closely identified: Massachusetts General Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine. If you would like to contribute offline we encourage you to stop by the Philip R. Dodge Young Investigator Award display booth at the CNS Annual Meeting or by mail.