David Gappa’s most recent honor was creating the handblown glass awards for Dr. Charles Branch and Michael S. Gazzaniga, Ph.D. for Unparalleled Breakthroughs in Brain Research. Dr. Branch grew up in West Tennessee and graduated from Vanderbilt University Medical School in 1953. After a rotating internship at the University of Chicago, he completed his neurosurgical residency a the Montreal Neurological Institute under the guidance of Drs. Wilder Penfield and Theodore Rassmussen (1959-1968). In 1968 he moved to San Antonio to join the faculty of UT Health Science Center at San Antonio and enter private practice. Since retiring in 1994, he has dedicated an extraordinary amount of time, energy, and support to notable medical missions in Haiti, Guyana, and Nigeria.
State Representative Dan Branch with his father Charles L. Branch, M.D.
Michael Gazzaniga, Ph.D., recipient of Vetro Handblown Glass Award
Charles Branch Award
Conceptually, the awards that Vetro created were designed to capture the genesis of thought. The solid glass sculpted center-piece represents a neuron suspended upon an ethereal backdrop of reactive color. Vetro has had the opportunity to work with the Center for Brain Health now for several years, creating both awards and handblown glass Installations for their Center. Please visit their website at http://www.brainhealth.utdallas.edu/ and see for yourself how amazing this organization is.