Mihai Ioan Botez
Mihai Ioan Botez was born in Ploiești, Romania, trained at Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, a neurologist and academic who specialized in the field of neuropsychology. He immigrated to Montreal in the 1970s, becoming a professor at the Université de Montréal and director of the department of Neurology at the hospital Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal.
Academic life
Botez trained at the Romanian School of Neurology founded by Gheorghe Marinescu. He immigrated to Canada in the 1970s, where he became professor of neurology at the Université de Montréal and head of the Neurology Service at the hospital Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal. From 1985, his main work featured the role of the cerebellum on human behavior.Behavioral neurology
Botez became a proficient researcher in several fields of behavioral neurology in both human and animal subjects.Folic acid
In the 1970s, Botez' main research subject was the effects of folic acid and thiamine on the central nervous system, relevant for restless legs syndrome, epilepsy, polyneuropathy, and chronic fatigue syndrome.These articles demonstrated the use of B vitamins in the treatment of neurologic symptoms.
Cerebellum
In the 1980s, Botez pioneered studies on the effects of lesions to the cerebellum on cognition, including patients with spinocerebellar ataxia, Friedreich's ataxia, and mice with spontaneous mutations causing cerebellar damage, such as GRID2-Lc Lurcher.These articles demonstrated the role of the cerebellum in neuropsychology.