Pediatric multiple sclerosis: The 2015 Sydney Carter Award Lecture

In 1952, Sydney Carter, MD (1912-2005; Professor Emeritus, Columbia University), was asked to establish the first independent child neurology program at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Prior to this, children with neurologic disorders were largely cared for by general pediatricians, or on occasion, and often with trepidation, by adult neurologists. Dr. Carter recognized the unique care needs of the pediatric neurology patient. He prioritized the requirement to harmonize neuroscience and neurodevelopment, and advocated the need to identify the hallmarks of neurologic illness in the context of the developing central and peripheral nervous systems, and to foster training programs specifically in Child Neurology.