Plenary Award- Michael Johnston Tribute
Wednesday, May 8th: 8:30 AM – 9:15 AM

Dr. Steven P. Miller is Head and Professor of the UBC Department of Pediatrics and the Chief of Pediatric Medicine at BC’s Children Hospital. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, holds the Hudson Family Hospital Chair in Pediatric Medicine and James & Annabel McCreary Chair in Pediatrics, and was previously a Canada Research Chair in Neonatal Neuroscience.
Leading a multidisciplinary team, his research program focuses on better understanding how intensive care impacts brain development and injury in the newborn with a focus on those born preterm or with congenital heart disease. The goal of his team’s work is to promote strategies to prevent brain injury and to promote recovery with the ultimate goal of improving the lifelong health of children and their families. He is passionate about supporting the career trajectories of child-health researchers and served as President of the Society for Pediatric Research.

Dr. Miller has won a number of awards and honors, including the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Neonatal Neuroscience from 2010 to 2015, assuming the role of President-Elect for the Society for Pediatric Research in 2012, holding the Bloorview Children's Hospital Foundation Chair in Paediatric Neuroscience in the same year, and being the inaugural recipient of the prestigious Michael Johnston Award.

Michael V. Johnston, MD, was a Research Scientist, Director of the Neuroscience Laboratory, Professor Emeritus of Paediatrics and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, former Chief Medical Officer, Executive Vice President at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, two-term executive board member of the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA), passed away on July 30, 2022. He was a brilliant academician and researcher. His seminal work on the role of glutamate and excitotoxicity in hypoxic-ischaemic injury and its effects on the developing brain is well known internationally. He collaborated with clinicians and researchers and continued to treat patients with complex Neurological Disorders. He and his group performed clinical and basic laboratory research focused on developing therapies to reduce brain injury in infants and children and promote recovery by enhancing brain plasticity. His laboratory was one of the first to describe the mechanisms through which the neurotransmitter glutamate triggers brain injury from lack of oxygen, trauma, and other insults. 

Awards and Achievements: 
The Frank Ford Lecture Award from the ICNA in 2016.
The Blum/ Moser Endowed Chair for Paediatric Neurology at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.
The Bernard Sachs Award from the Child Neurology Society.

It is a great honor for the ICNA to host the entire award lecture at the 18th International Child Neurology Congress (ICNC2024), Cape Town, South Africa, in the name of Dr. Michael Johnston, whose service to the ICNA and the world of Paediatric Neurology will be admired forever! The Michael Johnston Award is sponsored by the Kennedy Krieger Institute, United States, where he and his friend and colleague, Dr. Gary Goldstein, spearheaded for 31 years. The institution is known for its cutting-edge research and for providing state-of-the-art management to children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

He had qualities of the head and heart both!

Mike will be missed by the ICNA community and Paediatric Neurologists worldwide.