Awards and Sponsorship
Mac Keith Press is proud to sponsor organisations whose aim is also to improve the lives of disabled children by extending the knowledge and understanding of developmental medicine and paediatric neurology. Here are some of the lectureships, prizes, meetings and courses we support.
American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM)
Mac Keith Press Basic Science Lecture
The 2024 award was given to Dr George Ibrahim, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FAANS for ‘Deep Brain Stimulation for Neurological and Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children.’
British Academy of Childhood Disability (BACD)
Mac Keith Press Best Poster Prize
A £200 Mac Keith Press voucher award is presented to the winner of the best poster at the British Academy of Childhood Disability (BACD) Annual Scientific Meeting.
The 2026 award was given to Jim Reeder.
Mac Keith Press Best Oral Presentation Prize
A £350 cash award is presented to the winner of the best poster at the British Academy of Childhood Disability (BACD) Annual Scientific Meeting.
The 2026 award was given to Miriam Sanderson.
British Paediatric Neurology Association (BPNA)
Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology (DMCN) Best Article by a BPNA Trainee Prize
The DMCN Best Article by a BPNA Trainee Prize recognises excellence in research and clinical writing among the next generation of pediatric neurologists.
Open to BPNA trainee or early career researchers/consultants who have published an original article, case series, review paper, or clinical practice guide in the DMCN.
The winner of the next award will have a paper published in Volume 68 of DMCN and will be announced at the BPNA 2027 annual meeting. The deadline for submission is 15th November 2026.
The BPNA author should be within two years of achieving their Certificate of Completion of Training (or equivalent). The BPNA author should have made a demonstrable contribution of the paper. The BPNA author may be based in any country.
Key Criteria:
• Impact on the lives of patients, caregivers, and their families.
• Methodological robustness.
• Novelty.
Any BPNA trainee member or early career consultant may nominate any of their papers at any point during the preceding calendar year of the conference, by emailing [email protected] with details of your nomination, including a copy of your CV and a brief explanation of how your paper fulfils the criteria. Papers may be nominated at any time and will be considered for the prize relating to the volume in which the paper is ultimately published. £1000 will be awarded by Mac Keith Press to the BPNA prize winner.
The BPNA 2026 ‘Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology (DMCN) Best Article by a BPNA Trainee’ prize was awarded to Dr Thiolka Ratnaike for her paper Genetic investigations in cerebral palsy, published in volume 67, issue 2.
Ronnie Mac Keith Prize
The 2026 Ronnie Mac Keith Prize was awarded to Dr Thiolka Ratnaike for ‘Structured Phenotyping in Rare Diseases: from Manual Curation to Clinical Impact’.
European Academy of Childhood-onset Disability (EACD)
Mac Keith Press Lecture
The 2025 lecture was given by Jill Zwicker for ‘Early Detection and Intervention across Life Span in Developmental Coordination Disorders.’
Mac Keith Press Best Abstract Award
The 2025 award was given to Lorenz Kiwull et al. for ‘Empowering Patients in Research: Insights from the World’s Largest SYNGAP1 Registry.’
European Paediatric Neurology Society (EPNS)
In recognition of honorary European Paediatric Neurology Society (EPNS) member and internationally renowned French child neurologist, Professor Jean Aicardi (1926-2015), Mac Keith Press, in partnership with the EPNS, has established a series of award lectures.
The biennial award recognises a respected and admired doctor who has attained major achievements in child neurology. Recipients of the award must practice in Europe using the countries in the WHO European region. The award presentation and lecture take place at the EPNS Congress which is held every two years – the next conference is in 2027.
The 2025 award was given to Professor Barbara Plecko (below).
European Paediatric Physiotherapy Congress (EUPPT)
Best Poster Prize
This year we sponsored the best poster at the European Paediatric Physiotherapy Congress. The winner received a £150 award.
In 2024, a jury of six members rated all the posters and decided to award the prize for the best poster to two persons:
- Ryan Beekhuizen, PhD candidate and paediatric physiotherapist at Hogeschool Utrecht (NL) for ‘Play together? Unveiling facilitators and barriers to inclusive outdoor play for Dutch children with and without disabilities: a qualitative study.’
- Stephanie Brezina, MSc, paediatric physiotherapist and research associate at University Hospital Zurich (CH) for ‘Movement Imitation Therapy For Preterm Babies (MIT-PB) [1]: How does this early intervention influence the neuromotor outcome of infants presenting abnormal general movements?: Study protocol and preliminary results.’ Stephanie was awarded with books provided by Mac Keith Press.
Most Creatively Designed Poster Prize
A £150 award was presented to the winner of the most creatively designed poster at the European Paediatric Physiotherapy Congress.
The 2024 award was given to Marleen Sol, PhD, Hogschool Utrecht for ‘A roadmap for the implementation of wheelchair skills training in pediatric rehabilitation.’
