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Symposium Focuses on Brain Connectivity in Health and Disease

Group photo taken at the 2014 Reprogramming the Brain to Health symposium, hosted by Center for BrainHealth. 15 individuals are standing together.

Center for BrainHealth

The Center for BrainHealth hosted Reprogramming the Brain to Health, an annual symposium that brings together top neuroscientists and medical investigators to share breakthroughs in brain research, on April 10. This year’s symposium focused on the topic of “Brain Connectivity in Health and Disease.” Keynote speaker Dr. Floyd Bloom, chairman emeritus of the department of neuropharmacology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., received the Dr. Charles L. Branch BrainHealth Award for his contributions to the understanding of the dopamine system and its role in brain health and brain decline. The symposium is held in partnership with the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. Since 2010, the Branch Award has honored neuroscientists who have made noteworthy breakthroughs in brain discoveries. Bloom was the first to receive the award since its namesake, Dr. Charles Branch Sr., died last year. Branch was a leading research scholar, neurosurgeon, humanitarian and brain-mapping pioneer. “Dr. Bloom has been a major force urgently pushing forward the need for biomedical discoveries to be more rapidly transformed into meaningful advances in health care for society today,” said Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, BrainHealth’s founder and chief director, and Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair. “For that reason, the Center for BrainHealth is closely aligned with his life mission.” A leading medical expert in neuroscience, neurology and psychiatry, Bloom is a renowned physician-combined neuroscientist and editor of a book written as the consumer’s “bible” for the brain, The Dana Guide to Brain Health. Dr. Michael Gazzaniga, the first Branch Award recipient, will present the award.

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Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD

Chief Director Dee Wyly Distinguished Professor, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences Co-Leader, The BrainHealth Project


Related Information

Charles L. Branch BrainHealth Award

The Branch Award honors neuroscientists for tremendous breakthroughs in brain discoveries. Created in 2010, the award recognizes luminary researchers who advance brain health research.