The third annual Jacob A. Neufeld Best Paper Award for 2024 was granted to Brittany Brun, David A. Wille, Sonja M. Schauer, Ueli Moehrlen, Martin Meuli, Beatrice Latal, and Beth Padden for their paper “Motor function outcomes in children with open prenatal repair of Spina Bifida Aperta at 36-month follow-up: The Zurich cohort.” This honor is given to the best research paper published in JPRM during the previous 12 months as determined by a committee from the JPRM Residents and Fellows Program. Papers are evaluated on: 1) the importance of the contribution to the clinical or basic science related to pediatric physical medicine and rehabilitation; 2) the relevance to inform or produce meaningful change in clinical practice; 3) the quality of the research methodology, interpretation of the findings, and strength of claims; and 4) the quality of the writing style in terms of accuracy, clarity, readability, and organization. The article, published in Volume 16 Issue 4 of 2023, reports on the ambulation status of children at 36 months and highlights the need for standardized, long-term outcome data for evaluating prenatal spina bifida repair. The award was presented during the 2024 AAPM&R conference by Nova Hou and Seella Nimmo, members of the JPRM Residents and Fellows Program.
Dr Craig McDonald was selected to receive the 2024 Gabriella Molnar Pediatric PM&R Lifetime Achievement Award. His robust legacy of research on Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a significant contribution to the field of pediatric rehabilitation medicine.
JPRM Editorial Board member Margaret A. Turk, MD, was the 2024 recipient of the Distinguished Member Award from the Association of Academic Physiatrists. She also received the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Public Health Association Disability Section.
Kiersten Kelly, MD, was honored with an Award for Excellence in Graduate Medical Education granted by the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Kelly served as a volunteer copyeditor for JPRM while she was a medical student and has since authored book reviews for the journal.
We also applaud four winners of Spina Bifida Association awards: Richard Adams, MD; Mark Dias, MD, FAANS; Lori Howell, DNP, MS, RN; and Kathy Sawin, PhD, CPNP-PC, FAAN.
On behalf of the JPRM Editorial Board, congratulations!
