Charles L. Branch BrainHealth Award
Unparalleled
Breakthroughs
in Brain Research
Each year, one pioneering neuroscientist receives the Charles L. Branch BrainHealth® Award in recognition of a lifetime of innovative brain research.
Created in 2010 to honor Dr. Charles L. Branch for a lifetime of achievement as a distinguished neurosurgeon, prolific scholar and generous humanitarian, BrainHealth's highest science honor is offered, jointly with the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley, to researchers who have made overwhelming contributions to brain research.
The award's namesake was a leading brain health scholar, neurosurgeon and humanitarian.
After growing up in West Tennessee and graduating from Vanderbilt University Medical School in 1953, Dr. Charles L. Branch completed a rotating internship at the University of Chicago and a neurosurgical residency at the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University, under the guidance of Dr. Wilder Penfield (1891- 1976) and Dr. Theodore Rassmussen (1959-1968). In 1968 he joined the faculty of UT Health Science Center San Antonio and entered private practice. After retiring in 1994, he dedicated an extraordinary amount of time, energy and support to notable medical missions in Haiti, Guyana and Nigeria. He died in 2013, at his home in San Antonio with his family by his side.
In this video, Dr. Branch and members of his family reflect on his profound career and the joy found in in helping his community and bestowing a tradition of service within his family.
Glass artist David Gappa below his glass neuron installation “Introspection” at the Center for BrainHealth in Dallas. The artwork has been described as a visible interpretation of the communication between neurons.
David Gappa of Vetro Art Glass designed the Branch Award bowl. Each unique blown glass sculpture features a white, star-shaped object in the center to represent a neuron.
You can also check out his art installation at Center for BrainHealth in Dallas, Texas.
