Bernard Maria, MD, MBA, Director of the Division of Child Neurology and Developmental Medicine at Goryeb Children’s Hospital in Morristown, NJ, part of the Atlantic Health System, has been recognized with the 2018 Hower Award, the highest recognition from the Child Neurology Society. This prestigious award is given yearly to one member of the Child Neurology Society who is highly regarded by peers as an outstanding teacher and scholar. There is a particular emphasis on contributions to child neurology at national and international levels.
Bernard Maria, MD, MBA
“I am deeply humbled by this award, and the opportunity to honor two of my mentors that were past Hower recipients, Drs. John Menkes and John Freeman,” Dr. Maria said. “I am so grateful to all the children, families, students, and colleagues I have served.”
Dr. Maria has been instrumental in developing specialty services within the Atlantic Health System for children with neurologic and neuromuscular disorders including: autism and development, brain and spinal tumors, concussion, epilepsy, headache and migraine, muscle and nerve diseases, and other neurologic problems. In addition to providing care and shaping future research directions, Dr. Maria has lectured on these topics nationally and internationally. Dr. Maria also is a member of the Neurology Reviews Editorial Advisory Board.
“The Hower Award is the Child Neurology Society’s highest honor, given annually to a child neurologist in recognition for sustained and outstanding contributions to the field of Child Neurology and to the Child Neurology Society,” said Dr. Jonathan W. Mink, MD PhD, President of the Child Neurology Society. “We congratulate Dr. Maria on being the 2018 recipient of this honor and look forward to his presentation at our next annual meeting.”
Dr. Maria received his MD from the Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada, and subsequently earned his MBA from the University of Florida. He completed his pediatrics residency at McGill University and pediatric neurology residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he also served as chief resident. He completed his fellowship in pediatric neuro-oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics, and American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (with a special qualification in child neurology).
Dr. Maria is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, Elected Active Member of the Society for Pediatric Research and the American Pediatric Society, the oldest medical society in America. He has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2001 for the Neurobiology of Disease in Children (neurobiologyofdisease.com) conferences, and he has been named to national top/best doctors lists multiple times.
Dr. Maria has held a number of professorial roles over his tenure, including Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Neurosciences (with tenure), at the Medical University of South Carolina, Distinguished Chair and Professor of Pediatrics; Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and Neurosurgery (with tenure) at the Medical College of Georgia—Georgia Regents University, and currently serves as Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He has chaired two departments of pediatrics and was founding director of the largest pediatric research institute in the Carolinas, the Charles P. Darby Children’s Research Institute.