Citation for the ABN Medal 2006

Richard A C Hughes

Richard Hughes has a brilliant academic record, a scholarship to Marlborough, an exhibition in classics to Cambridge, fortunately for neurology a change to medicine followed by a double first with several more prizes and scholarships en route, including a scholarship to Guy’s Hospital Medical School, where he followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great grandfather. He trained in neurology at Guy’s Hospital, The National Hospital and University College Hospital and was appointed to the staff of Guy’s Hospital and Medical School in 1975. Since then his academic output has been prodigious, raising about £4m in grants, publishing over 200 papers, reviews and editorials, including 15 this year alone, over 40 book chapters including four in the latest edition of Dyck and Thomas’ Peripheral Neuropathy. He has written or edited seven books, one now in its 4th edition. Along the way he has supervised four MDs and eight PhDs, with two more in process. He has edited the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry and the Journal of Neurology and is the current editor of the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Review Group. He is internationally recognised for his expertise in peripheral nerve disorders, particularly the idiopathic demyelinating neuropathies, and he has that rare gift for clinically meaningful laboratory bench research and relevant clinical trials leading to clear management guidelines for the rest of us to adopt, as demonstrated by the recent production of the EFNS guidelines for the management of these conditions.Citation for the ABN Medal 2006.

This very substantial list of academic achievements only represents about half of his activities. The ideal professor contributes not only to research but also to management, teaching and clinical work. Among more than 30 national and international committees on which he has …