Lewis P. Rowland Memorial Lecture
The Lewis P. Rowland Memorial Lecture was established in 2019 in honor of the memory and accomplishments of Dr. Lewis Rowland, who passed away on March 16, 2017 at the age of 91.
Lewis P. “Bud” Rowland was one of the most influential neurologists of his time. He received his BS and MD degrees from Yale University. As a medical student, Bud joined The Association of Interns and Medical Students (AIMS), which advocated universal health insurance, equal care for rich and poor, and increased minority medical school enrollment. After a medical internship at Yale-New Haven Hospital, he accepted a position as assistant resident in neurology with H. Houston Merritt at the Neurological Institute of New York. He was also accepted as one of the first group of clinical associates appointed to the newly created National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness, the precursor to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. It was during his time at the NIH that Bud developed his lifelong interest in the genetics of neurological diseases. In 1967, he left Columbia to become Chairman of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, but quickly returned in 1973 to become the Chairman of Neurology at Columbia, a position he held for 25 years.
Under his leadership, Columbia’s Department of Neurology again became one of the largest and best academic departments in the country, as it had been under Dr. Merritt. Bud’s own clinical interests focused on neuromuscular diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). With Dr. Salvatore DiMauro, Bud established the H. Houston Merritt Clinical Research Center for Muscular Dystrophy and Related Diseases, which pioneered research in a number of neuromuscular diseases including mitochondrial disorders and spinal muscular atrophy. Bud also founded and co-directed the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig MDA/ALS Center.
Bud was a prolific author, writing or coauthoring 483 manuscripts and 26 books. After Merritt’s death he authored and then edited subsequent editions of Merritt’s Neurology, now in its 13th edition. He was Editor-in-Chief of Neurology (1976-1986) and founding Editor-in-Chief of Neurology Today (2000-2010). Bud served as President of both the American Academy of Neurology(1989-90) and the American Neurological Association (1980-81) as well as the Association of University Professors of Neurology (1978-79). He also served as President (1969-70) and Chairman of the Board (1992-1998) of the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Diseases and President and Chairman of the Board of the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation (1979-2013).
Those of us who had the honor to train with him, work for him or simply attend his teaching rounds can attest to his kindness with patients and his remarkable depth of knowledge of neurological diseases. He was a tireless mentor, beloved and sorely missed by many friends, colleagues and former students around the world.
2024 Lewis P. Rowland Memorial Lecture:
Tuesday, October 11, 2024 at 5:00 PM
Location: Neurological Institute Alumni Auditorium, 710 W 168th Street
Time: 1:15 - 2:15 PM
Deconstructing ALS, From Bedside to Bench and Back Again
Orla Hardiman, BSc, MB, BCh, BAO, MD, FRCPI, FAAN, FTCD, MRIA
Professor of Neurology
Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Orla Hardiman is Professor of Neurology at Trinity College Dublin, and a Consultant Neurologist at Beaumont Hospital. She is a Science (BSc, Human Physiology 1979) and Medical (MB BCh BAO (1983) ; Doctor of Medicine 1992) graduate of University College Dublin. She is an elected Fellow of Trinity College Dublin, and an elected member of the Royal Irish Academy.
Professor Hardiman undertook a Residency and Fellowship in Neurology at the Harvard Partners Programme Boston (1986-1991), prior to returning to Ireland. She leads the National ALS Clinical Service in Ireland, which provides direct multidisciplinary care for over 80% of all Irish ALS patients, and which links closely with her Research Group at the Academic Unit of Neurology at Trinity Collee Dublin, which she also leads. Her research group at Trinity College Dublin comprises over 50 individuals focusing on deep phenotyping, epidemiology, genomics, biomarker development and health services research.
Professor Hardiman is a Principal Investigator in the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)-funded FutureNeuro and ADAPT Research Centres, and leads the International PRECISION ALS Academic/Industry Consortium (www.precisionals.ie). She is Co- Chair of the European Network for Cure of ALS (ENCALS) and the European Treatment Initiative to Cure ALS (TRICALS) and is Editor in Chief of the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and the Frontotemporal Degenerations.
Professor Hardiman is author of over 490 peer reviewed publications. She is the recipient of a number of international awards including the American Academy of Neurology Palatucci Award for Advocacy (2002) , the Sheila Essey Award in ALS Research (2009), and the International ALS Alliance Forbes Norris Award (2011) and a co-recipient of the Healey ALS Innovation Award (2020). In Ireland, she received the Tom Connor Distinguished Investigator Award (Irish Society for Neuroscience 2021), the Trinity College Provost’s Innovation Award (2022), Science Foundation Ireland Researcher of the Year Award (2022) and the Irish Health Research Board Research Impact Award (2023). Her research work is funded by Science Foundation Ireland, the Health Research Board, The American ALS Association, the British MND Association the Irish MND Association, and the charity Research Motor Neuron.