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History of Child Neurology at CHB |
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The very roots of child neurology began at CHB with the appointment in 1920 of Bronson Crothers to lead the newly-established Neurology Service at Children's Hospital. Crothers was the first to establish the relationship of obstetrical trauma to brachial plexus palsies and to spinal cord injury and he demonstrated the feasibility of preventing of these disorders. In 1929, Crothers received the first dedicated space for child neurology in a Children's Hospital in the United States when "Ward 9" in the then newly-created Bader Building was developed as a multidisciplinary unit for children with diseases of the nervous system. In the 1930's and 1940's, Crothers made landmark contributions into the causes, classification, and management of cerebral palsy. In 1944, William Lennox developed the Seizure Unit, the first comprehensive pediatric epilepsy unit in the world. Since it founding, the program has remained at the forefront of pediatric epilepsy under Cesare Lombroso and Gregory Holmes and today under the leadership of Blaise Bourgeois.
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In 1953, Dr. Randolph Byers, assumed the leadership of Neurology. Like his predecessor, Byers' accomplishments were groundbreaking. He first clearly defined the acute and chronic encephalopathies in infants and children after environmental exposure to lead. His studies on kernicterus, spinal muscular atrophy, inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system, and other pediatric neurological disorders form the basis for much of our current clinical understanding.
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In 1962, an independent Department of Neurology was established at Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, the first Department of Neurology devoted to children in the United States. In 1963, Dr. Charles Barlow became the Department Chief and recipient of the Bronson Crothers Chair. During Barlow's subsequent 27-year tenure, a program in basic neuroscience and a NIH sponsored Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Center were established as a major component of the Enders Pediatric Research Building. Barlow's accomplishments in child neurology included, especially, contributions to the understanding of headache in children.
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In 1990, Dr. Joseph Volpe succeeded Dr. Barlow as Bronson Crothers Professor of Harvard Medical School and Neurologist-in-Chief at Children's Hospital. During his tenure, Dr. Basil Darras was appointed as the Training Program Director while the size and scope of the Child Neurology Residency Training Program was substantially increased. Volpe fostered the development of subspecialty clinical programs, with particular emphasis on Fetal/Neonatal Neurology. His tenure was notable for the recruitment of 20 new faculty, including Michael Greenberg, Ph.D. who leads the Division of Neuroscience.
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Dr. Scott Pomeroy succeeded Dr. Volpe as Bronson Crothers Professor and Neurologist-in-Chief in 2005. His tenure has been marked by continued growth of the Children's Hospital Boston Residency Training Program, a commitment to translational neuroscience, growing support of high quality clinical neuroscience research and the development of several exciting new subspecialty clinical programs.
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