Torben Fog - A Danish pioneer in a multi-faceted spectrum of multiple sclerosis research.

Torben Fog was committed to multiple sclerosis (MS) research for more than four decades, starting before the defence of his thesis in 1948 and lasting until his death in 1987. His research was multi-facetted, making him one of the great pioneers in the study of essential parts of the pathology, immunology and treatment of MS. He has contributed with meticulous studies of the MS plaques, documenting the perivenous distribution of plaques in the spinal cord. He constructed a scoring system for the disability in MS and used a computer programme to calculate a total neurological deficit. Together with his co-workers, Fog in 1972 was the first to report the association between MS and the human leukocyte antigen system. Fog can be considered as the father of immunomodulatory therapy in MS, treating MS patients with the first transfer factor, and as early as 1980, he was the first to treat MS with intramuscular natural interferon.

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: P. S. Sørensen has received personal compensation for consultations, serving on scientific advisory boards, steering committees, independent data-monitoring committees or have received honoraria as speaker from Merck, Novartis and TEVA. S. Bramow has received personal compensations from Biogen Denmark, Merck Denmark and Novartis Denmark for educational activities and received congress travel support from Novartis Denmark. M. Magyari has served in the scientific advisory board for Sanofi, Novartis and Merck and has received honoraria for lecturing from Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Genzyme and Bristol Myers Squibb. L. Werdelin has nothing to declare. N. Koch-Henriksen has nothing to declare. P. Vermersch has received honoraria and congress travel support from Biogen, Sanofi Genzyme, Novartis, Teva, Merck, Roche, Imcyse, AB Science, Janssen and BMS-Celgene and research supports from Novartis, Sanofi Genzyme and Merck. F. Sellebjerg has served on scientific advisory boards, served as a consultant, received support for congress participation or received speaker honoraria from Alexion, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Lundbeck, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi Genzyme. His laboratory has received research support from Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi Genzyme.