Henry McFarland

Dr. McFarland received his B.A. degree from the University of Arizona and his M.D. in 1966 from the University of Colorado. Following a residency in neurology at Thomas Jefferson University, Dr. McFarland did postdoctoral research in neurovirology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and in immunology at University College London, before returning to Hopkins as a neurologist. In 1975, Dr. McFarland came to NIH as deputy chief of the Neuroimmunology Branch of NINDS, where he has served as chief since 1993. In 1998 he was awarded the Dystal Prize for outstanding research in multiple sclerosis (MS). Dr. McFarland's laboratory studied the cellular immune response to autoantigens of the CNS and examines therapeutic strategies targeting this response. Additional research included studies of the natural history of MS using MRI and identifying effective designs for clinical trials of new therapies for MS. Dr. McFarland's group went on to use these new designs to provide preliminary information on the effectiveness and safety of new treatments. Dr. McFarland retired from NIH in 2009. Since retirement, his interest in the design of clinical trials in testing new therapies in MS has continued. In this regard, he has worked with several foundations focused on developing new approaches to the treatment of MS.