Abstract

On May 24, 2017, academic neurology lost one of its legendary pioneers who shattered our preconceptions of developmental disorders and created entirely new paradigms of thought, realms of nosology, pathogenic mechanisms, and interdisciplinary studies. Isabelle Rapin, MD, professor emerita in the Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology and the Department of Pediatrics, died after a bout with pneumonia. She was 89. A lifelong faculty member at Einstein and founding member of both the Child Neurology Society and the International Child Neurology Association, Rapin's many accomplishments in the scientific realm reflected her lifelong passion for science and singular dedication to alleviating the suffering of patients and families often stigmatized by disorders of unknown provenance and unusual behaviors. An inspirational leader who shunned the limelight, she was often referred to as “a luminary in her field” and “always the guiding light.” Rapin was performing “translational research” before the term was introduced, authoring more than 250 unique scholarly contributions in numerous areas, including genetic metabolic diseases/lysosomal storage disorders and DNA repair disorders. However, her passion was language and hearing and other communication disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorders, which she viewed as “syndrome complexes.” To accomplish her goals, she enlisted the aid of talented and visionary otolaryngologists, neuropsychologists, and developmental psycholinguists among many nontraditional collaborators. Her last article was a brilliant treatise on dyscalculia,1 a subject avoided by many but beautifully explained by her incisive writing and clarity of thought.

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