Halpern’s observations were met at first with skepticism but were verified abroad and are even cited in our times.10–14 True to the teachings of his mentor, Kurt Goldstein, Halpern regarded neurology and psychiatry as one inseparable entity. In this spirit, in 1949, he became the medical director of the Ezrat Nashim psychiatric hospital in Jerusalem. There he introduced contemporary treatments such as electroshock therapy and lobotomy;

the latter he abandoned out of dissatisfaction with the relatively lax indications that prevailed in the US at that time. He was deeply disturbed by the eventual separation of the neurological and psychiatric associations.15 Under his leadership, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the Department of Neurology at Hadassah University Hospital flourished, and new avenues of research were opened. An EEG and electrophysiology institute was established, as well as a laboratory Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of experimental neuroendocrinology and a center for neuroepidemiological research. The first major project of this last-mentioned center was a cross-country survey of multiple sclerosis. Halpern (Figure 2) reasoned that Israel, a country into which immigrants arrived from all over the world, could serve as a “laboratory” to study the influence of latitude and climate on the occurrence

of MS on patients of diverse origins.16,17 Figure 2 Lipman Halpern (1902–1968). Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Halpern was a cherished physician and teacher. He treated every patient, whether a top politician or the humblest individual, with the same warmth and diagnostic insight. He was a master of clinical teaching and was adored by his students as well as his staff. Halpern’s intimate acquaintance with Jewish Law and tradition, together with the wisdom of his forefathers and his excellent clinical standing, made Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical him one of the best mediators between the Orthodox Jewish establishment and modern medicine. His contribution was crucial during the early years of the State of Israel. Halpern’s achievements Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical earned him recognition in the international neurology community; in 1953 he was elected to the Presidential Board of the International Congress of Clinical Neurology

and, in 1957, to the Presidential Board of the First International Congress of the Neurological Sciences. In 1963, Halpern published an international collection of essays, with contributions by the leading neurologists and neuropsychologists of that time, dealing with the localization Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase and IOX2 concentration dynamics of the neurological “high functions.” The book continues to serve as a reference for issues such as referred pain, phantom pain, anosognosia, prosopagnosia, and sensorimotor induction syndrome.18 The Soviet Union forbade its scientists to contribute to this volume because of Halpern’s insistence that the book be published in Jerusalem. As Dean, Halpern strove to strengthen the Faculty of Medicine, protect its position as the leading basic and applied research center, obtain financial support, and strengthen the contacts with its university hospital.