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Award Profiles
Hower Award
ANN TIlTON, MD
ANN TIlTON, MD
(Presented Saturday, November 3)
Profile wriTTeN by roberT S. ruST, MD
Ann henderson, born in Kingsville in far
southwestern Texas, grew up right along the
fence line of the famous King Ranch, then and
now the largest ranch in the United States. She
graduated magnum cum laude from her hometown
school, Texas A&M, with a Bachelor of
Sciences in biology, a minor in chemistry and
certification to teach those subjects at the high
school level. She completed bench research that
led to publication of her first original paper,
concerning medication-induced toxic hepatic
mitochondropathy in 1975. her medical degree
was granted by the University of Texas medical
branch at Galveston with high honors, in 1978.
During medical school she decided to become a
pediatrician; Dr. john Calverly first attracted her
to the study of neurology. her interest in basic
investigation continued, including bench studies
that resulted in publication of an original paper on
genetic control of drug metabolism and a review
article on genetic influences on the treatment of
early-onset diabetes. Dr. henderson graduated
from medical school with high honors and was
elected to Alpha Omega Alpha.
Internship and residencies in pediatrics and in
neurology/child neurology followed at Children’s
and Parkland hospitals of the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.
Dr.Warren Weinberg was an important influence
there, drawing her attention to the interesting
and important indistinctness of the boundary
between neurology and psychiatry. jay Petegrew’s
laboratory provided her with the opportunity
to continue bench neuroscience during her
child neurology residency. Roger Rosenberg
encouraged her interest in heritable neurologic
diseases, upon which topic she was to write
several lengthy and well-organized chapters.
While in Dallas, Dr. henderson married Dr.
Greg Tilton, a cardiologist. She completed
her board certification in pediatrics in 1984
and her certification in neurology with special
qualifications in child neurology in 985. She
achieved additional ABPN certification, in clinical
neurophysiology, in 1997. Although her original
neurology/child neurology certification was
without term, Dr. Tilton would elect, as a good
example, to become formally re-certified in 2010.
Dr. Tilton joined the faculty of the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1983 with
an additional appointment at the Scottish Rite
hospital. In 1985 she moved to join the faculty of
the Louisiana State University in New Orleans. She
was simultaneously appointed Co-Director of the
Rehabilitation Center of the Children’s hospital
of New Orleans, a post she has maintained
ever since. She has, in addition, established and
directed that Center’s Comprehensive Spasticity
Program. At LSU Dr. Tilton fell under the influence
of Caroline Duncan, a legendary figure whose
clinical sophistication was admixed with a strong
foundation in neuropathology. Dr. Tilton became
the Section Chair of Child Neurology at LSU in
1988 and Program Director in Child Neurology
at Tulane University School of Medicine. She
has supervised the training of eleven child
neurologists. She advanced to the rank of Professor
of Neurology in Pediatrics in 2002. Dr. Tilton is
Co-Director of the Muscular Dystrophy Clinics of
the Children’s hospital of New Orleans.
Despite their very busy professional careers,
Drs. Ann and Greg Tilton have raised a family of
four children in New Orleans: Lauren (currently
completing her PhD in American Studies at Yale),
Elizabeth (currently a pastry chef in New York),
Gregory (a historical preservationist), and Scott (an
undergraduate at UVA interested in a career in the
foreign service).
Dr. Tilton has combined broad clinical and
academic interests with a strong devotion to
studying and implementing in practice the
diagnosis and management of heritable or
acquired developmental disabilities, particularly the
cerebral palsies. She has formed particularly strong
professional connections with Mauricio Delgado
and Barry Russman, but has also participated with
many other individuals in broad collaborative
studies of these conditions. To date, Dr. Tilton has
published 34 original full-length peer-reviewed
16 Child Neurology Society Newsletter | Fall 2012