The 2012 Humanitarian Award of the Foundation goes to Colonel Geoffrey S.F. Ling (United States Army/DARPA) and the Golden Axon Leadership Award will be shared by Drs. Mike Y. Chen (USA), Michael Fehlings (Canada) and Cheryl Rogers (Canada)

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Brain Mapping Foundation is one of the world's leading cutting-edge scientific organizations, focused on pushing the boundaries of science, technology and medicine in order to rapidly advance the treatment of neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, brain tumors and neurodegenerative diseases.  The organization works closely with the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT) in order to help both wounded warriors and civilians afflicted with such neurological conditions.

Each year the Brain Mapping Foundation recognizes humanitarian work done by leading scientists and members of SBMT who have brought the best technology, science and medicine to bear on the needs of the underserved as well as those in war-torn regions as part of a program called Global Physicians and Scientists (GPS).  The Foundation honors such remarkable scientists with its Humanitarian Award. 

This year the award is presented to US Army Colonel Geoffrey S.F. Ling, M.D., Ph.D., the Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the U.S.'s only military medical school (Uniformed Services University) and Program Director at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  "Colonel Ling is a remarkable scientist and a compassionate physician who has helped train the finest doctors at USUHS," said Ret. Vice Admiral Robinson, Director of GPS program of the Brain Mapping Foundation and member of the Board of SBMT.  Colonel Ling has devoted his life to the care of patients regardless of their nationality, gender and race. He has treated over 300 U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers during his multiple deployments to Iraq and has been on the forefront of civilian care in Afghanistan. "80% of Dr. Ling's patients in Afghanistan were local civilians and 20 % were children," said Dr. Babak Kateb, President of the Brain Mapping Foundation and Chairman of the Board of SBMT.

"Geoff is a physician scientist; this means that he interrogates the disorder before he treats it," said Dr. Babak Kateb, President of the Brain Mapping Foundation, Chairman of the Board of SBMT and Research Scientist at the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California; he continued, "Geoff has done a remarkable job of bringing the best science, medicine and technology to the wounded soldiers and local civilians in the warzone, as well as to the poor and needy in the remote corners of the world". 

The Golden Axon Award of the Foundation is meant to highlight world-class leadership in neuroscience.  The award is presented to individuals who have reached out to their local communities and helped  both the Brain Mapping Foundation and SBMT with their mission, which in short is advancing multidisciplinary neuroscience research.  Recipients of the 2012 Golden Axon Awards are Drs. Mike Y Chen, President of SBMT and Assistant professor of Neurosurgery at City of Hope Cancer Center in California, Michael Fehlings, Professor of Neurosurgery at Toronto University and Director of the Neuroscience Program at University of Toronto and Cheryl Rogers, Trade Commissioner at the Consulate of Canada, San Diego.

Besides being a good scientist, Dr. Chen has been an excellent team leader who has built bridges that have resulted in the expansion of SBMT and the global advancement of clinical neuroscience research. "The Society and the field have significantly benefited from Dr. Chen's contributions," said Dr. Shouleh Nikzad, who is a Principal Member of the Staff, Technical Supervisor and Lead, Advanced UV/Vis/NIR Detector Arrays and Imaging Systems, and Nanoscience Group, as well as Lead, Strategic Initiative on Gigapixel Focal Plane Arrays and Deputy Lead, Advanced Imaging Systems , at the NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Member of the Board of the Brain Mapping Foundation and Co-Chair of SBMT Award committee.

Dr. Fehlings is a world-class neurosurgeon with multidisciplinary vision. He showed his remarkable leadership skills as local chairman of the 9th Annual World Congress of SBMT in Toronto, Canada. "Dr. Fehlings' strong character and leadership has served the University of Toronto as well as his patients very well because he has brought some of the world's finest neuroscientists to Toronto in order to advance state-of-the art clinical care for his patients," said Dr. Jay Pillai, who is Director of Functional MRI in the Neuroradiology Division of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, as well as the Secretary of the SBMT.

Dr. Roger's leadership was critical for success of the 9th Annual World Congress of SBMT, which has brought together more than 700 of the world's finest scientists, engineers, and physicians  across many specialties and disciplines in the neurosciences from Canada and abroad.  "Dr. Cheryl Rogers' passion for helping humanity is remarkable.  She has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help bring the finest technology, science and medicine to Canadian wounded soldiers and civilians who are suffering from a variety of neurological disorders," said Dr. Michael Roy, President Elect of SBMT.  

"On behalf of the SBMT Board of Directors and the entire membership of SBMT, I congratulate these remarkable members of our Society for their great accomplishments and thank the Brain Mapping Foundation for recognizing their achievements," said Dr. Michael Roy, Professor of Internal Medicine/Director of Internal Medicine at the Uniformed Services University and President Elect of SBMT.  

The Award will be presented to the honorees as part of a black tie gala, which usually marks the opening of the SBMT Annual World Congress. The 9th Annual World Congress of SBMT will be held from June 2-4, 2012, at the Toronto Convention Center.  The Society's Annual Awards Gala will take place on Friday, June 1, 2012 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Toronto. For more information about this world-class scientific event and its gala please visit: www.worldbrainmapping.org

To learn more about the Brain Mapping Foundation please visit:

www.BrainMappingFoundation.org

To learn more about SBMT Please visit:

www.worldbrainmapping.org

Media Contact: Leo Balthazor, leo@worldBrainMapping.org, +1-310-500-6196

SOURCE The Brain Mapping Foundation