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Oct 2, 2009 6:23 am US/Central
Local Researcher Studies Brains, Touches Hearts
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
A North Texas woman is changing the lives of others through brain research. Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman is a cognitive neuroscientist. She studies brains and, as a result, touches hearts.
Chapman's dream of bringing brain health to everyone came true in 1999, when she started the Center for Brain Health at UT Dallas. It's a clinical research facility that's focused on understanding, protecting and healing the brain.
"People are still trying to figure out what is wrong with the brain," Chapman said. "What can't you do? What is this? We kind of pick up on that and say, what can we make better? So, we truly are about brain health."
The Center for Brain Health has one of the largest studies in the country on pediatric brain injuries.
Adelita Avilla found out first-hand how Chapman's center helps children with brain injuries after her son, Craig, was hit by a car at 4 years old. "The paramedics arrived on the scene," recalled Avilla. "They said he was unresponsive."
Craig was in a coma for three weeks and in the hospital for three months. Avilla said, "He came home in a wheelchair and the doctor said that he would be in a vegetative state."
A year later, Avilla got a phone call. Chapman's center wanted to follow Craig along with other children who had experienced severe head injuries. Chapman herself worked with Craig. "Little by little, Craig started to take footsteps out of his wheelchair, and walk and talk," Avilla said.
One of Avilla's proudest moments as a mother was seeing her son walk across the stage at graduation.
"It's truly amazing and truly a miracle what Craig has become today," Avilla said.
"I get to work every single day to make a difference in someone's life," Chapman said, "and that is the greatest kind of reward there is."
The Buck Horn 'Greens for Teens' Golf Classic is an annual event that raises money for teen head injury research.
Click here for details.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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