Top Doctor Honored for Achievements in Neurosurgery
Neurosurgeon Dr. Keith L. Black received the Pioneer in Medicine Award at the Sixth Annual World Congress of the International Brain Mapping & Intraoperative Surgical Planning Society today at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
The award recognizes Black’s “excellence in research, discovery and education, and pioneering work†in neurology and immunology.
Black, chairman of the department of neurosurgery and director of the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, led the team that researched and developed a vaccine that enables the immune system to recognize and target cells of the most aggressive brain tumors.
He has received many honors throughout his career, including the Jacob Javits award from the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council of the National Institutes of Health in 2000 for his blood-brain barrier research, which has increased the ability of cancer-fighting medications to reach brain tumors.
Black Enterprise named Black one of “America’s Leading Doctors†in May 2008.
The Congress for Brain Mapping and Image Guided Therapy takes place through Aug. 29. Among others receiving awards will be Bob Woodruff, ABC news reporter and co-founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
–Janell Hazelwood