The changing face of academic neurology

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief; it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light; it was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope; it was the winter of despair. We had everything before us; we had nothing before us. The introduction of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities describes the state of medical affairs today as much as the tumultuous world of the French Revolution 200 years ago. On the one hand, advances in basic and clinical neuroscience are transforming our field. The following list includes topics unknown or in their infancy 30 years ago, when I was graduated from medical school, which are now central to the neurology research effort. The last 10 years have also seen a great expansion in the following number of areas and topics considered appropriate for research support.1 As a specialty, we are riding a tidal wave of understanding fundamental mechanisms and advances in therapeutics that is simply unparalleled. The pace at which new information appears is rapid and far-reaching. The wonderful …