Mogens Dam

Mogens Dam, M.D., Dr. Med. Sci., past president of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), and co-founder and past president of the Danish Chapter of the ILAE, passed away on 4 May 2022.

Mogens Dam graduated from Copenhagen University as an M.D. in 1962, and he defended his Dr. Med. Sci. thesis at Copenhagen University on “The density and ultrastructure of the Purkinje cells following diphenylhydantoin treatment in animals and man” in 1972.¹

He obtained his specialization in Neurology from the Danish Board of Health in 1974. In 1976, he was employed as a consultant in neurology at Hvidovre Hospital in Copenhagen where he developed a highly specialized epilepsy clinic with “state of the art” facilities for diagnosis and management. He was the head of the multidisciplinary epilepsy team for 20 years until 1997 when he moved to the epilepsy clinic at Aarhus University Hospital where he was appointed professor. After retirement in 2001, he worked as a private consultant from his home in Copenhagen.

Alongside his clinical obligations as a senior consultant, Mogens Dam had a long scientific career. He conducted a high number of clinical trials - and is especially remembered for his studies of effects and adverse effects related to phenytoin, carbamazepine and diazepam, and the very early development of oxcarbazepine.

He was editor of Acta Neurological Scandinavica from 1977, and chief editor of the same journal from 1992 to 2000.

He was a member of the board of the Danish Neurological Society from 1970 to 1973, and vice chairman from 1980-83. He was a co-founder and served as secretary (1971-77) and chairman (1977-1991) of the Danish Epilepsy Society. He served as president from 1981 to 1985, and as past-president from 1985 to 1989 of the ILAE Executive Committee.

In addition to his extensive, scientific production, he wrote a number of books aimed at the public, including “Epilepsy - prejudices and facts” (1984) and “Close to epilepsy” (1993) with his longtime companion Dr. Lennart Gram. He was a strong early advocate for re-introduction of epilepsy surgery in Denmark and in 2001 edited the book “Surgical treatment of epilepsy.”

He was awarded the St. Valentin Prize by the Danish Epilepsy Association in 1970, the Borberg Prize by the Danish Neurological Society in 1975, and the Ambassador of Epilepsy Award by the ILAE in 1979 as a recognition of outstanding international contributions to activities advancing the cause of epilepsy.

Mogens Dam was also a great artist. In particular, he will be remembered for the many watercolor paints he created on his many trips around the world. Also, the family cottage and the sea around the beautiful island Bornholm have been numerously depicted.

Mogens Dam lived the last year of his life in Wroclaw in Poland with his wife Julia.

Reference

1. Dam M. The density and ultrastructure of the Purkinje cells following diphenylhydantoin treatment in animals and man. Acta Neurol Scand Suppl 1972;49:3-65.