Denise Louis-Bar
Denise Louis-Bar was a Belgian neuropsychiatrist. Louis-Bar syndrome, an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder is named after her.
Biography
Denise Bar was born on April 3, 1914, in Liège, Belgium. She lived in Spain with her family until the age of 10.In 1939 Denise completed her master's degree, with a joint degree in éducation physique from the Free University of Brussels.
Within a month of her marriage to Louise, they moved to the Ardennes after her husband had to join a Belgian army unit there. Denise had intended to practice general medicine immediately after graduating from medical school, but the difficulties of starting a private medical practice while her husband was in the army and the outbreak of World War II forced her to change her mind and decided to specialise in neurology, enrolling at the Bung Institute in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1940 Denise completed her residency at the Bunge Institute of Neurology, Antwerp. There she trained under neuropathologist Ludo van Bogaert. Later she worked as a lecturer in pharmacology, and later as neuropsychiatrist in the department of internal medicine at the University of Liège.
She did not remain in the field of neuro research for long. When her husband moved to Belgium in 1957 to join director of the Belgian Office of Study of Nuclear Energy, the family moved to Brussels, she stopped her career in research and moved into private practice, particularly, she worked as a neuropsychiatrist treating individuals with intellectual disabilities. During the time of private practice in Brussels, Denise initiated to start twelve centers for patients with mental disabilities, including two model centers: Entraide des Travailleuses, a day-care center for pediatric rehabilitation and Centre de Réadaptation de l'Enfance à Bruxelles affiliated with the UCLouvain Medical School.
Denise Louis-Bar died on November 2, 1999, at Brussels.