Professor JEAN AICARDI is well known as one of the most distinguished and respected pediatric neurologists of any time.
Dr. Aicardi was the first neurologist to describe Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, AHC.
He had obtained the MD degree from Faculté de Médecine, Paris in 1955. He was research fellow in Harvard Medical School (1955-1956) and back in France he was Assistant Physician at Hôpital des Enfants Malades Paris (1957-1964) and Assistant Physician at Hôpital Saint-Vincent de Paul, Paris, (1974-1979). He was also Maître de Recherche (1969-1986) and Directeur de Recherche (1986-1991) at Institut national de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM). From 1992 to 1998 he was Honorary Professor of Child Neurology at Institute of Child Health, London UK.
He has obtained many Academic Honours and Distinctions: Cornelia de Lange Medalion (Dutch Child Neurology Society). Fellow royal College of Physicians (London). Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Hower Award (US Child Neurology Society). Distinguished Investigator award (Milken award) (American Epilepsy Society). Honorary Member American Neurological Association. Ramon y Cajal Award (Iberoamerican Academy of Child Neurology). Peter Emil Becker Award (German Child Neurology society). Honored Guest The XXth Cleveland Clinic Meeting Cleveland USA, 2002. Honorary Member, European Paediatric Society,Göteborg, Sweden 2005).
He was author or coathor of many outstanding textbooks of the specialty: Diseases of the nervous system in childhood, 1st Edn 1992, 3rd Edn 2009 Epilepsy in children, 1st Edn 1986, 2nd Edn 1994, (Mac Keith Press and Cambridge University Press) 3rd Edn (With Arzimanoglou and Guerrini,) 2003,Philadelphia, Lippincott Epilepsy. A Comprehensive Textbook Edited by J. Engel Jr & T.A. Pedley 1998, 2nd Edn 2008 (Associate Editor with M. Dichter, U. Heinemann, S.Moshé, R.Porter & D.Taylor) Movement Disorders in Children (with E. Fernandez Alvarez), 2001, London, Mac Keith Press Movement Disorders and Epilepsy in Children 2002 ( Editor, with R.Guerrini, F.Andermann and M. Hallett)
He was Editor in Chief (1994-2004) and Founding Editor of the journal Epileptic Disorders besides being member of the Editorial Board and reviewer of many other journals like Neuropediatrics, Brain and Development, Pediatric Neurology, Journal of Child Neurology, Epilepsia, lancet neurology and Brain. Author of more than 260 articles in international peer-reviewed Journals and 110 chapters in books. He has described for the first time many neurodegenerative diseases of childhood and two disease were named after him Aicardi syndrome and Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome.[2] Aicardi syndrome only affects females, and in very rare cases, males with Klinefelter syndrome (XXY).
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