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In 1911, the American Journal of Diseases of Children was initiated. The editorial board consisted of Abraham Jacobi (often referred to as the Father of Pediatrics), Frank Spooner Churchill, John Lovett Morse, William Fitch Cheney, Edwin E. Graham, and John Howland. If one looks at the first year of operation of the journal, one is struck with the similarity between the issues with which the pediatricians of that day were concerned and those that we deal with today. For example, in those first issues, meningitis, streptococcal infections, genetic disorders, nutritional topics, developmental research, hypertension, hemorrhagic diseases, and "modern" instrumentation for diagnosis and treatment were all present.
The biologic knowledge base was imperfect, and scant by our standards, but the questions asked were strikingly similar. What pathophysiologic processes underlie disease states? What is the best way to make a diagnosis? What is the best management for a given disorder? What is