Robert C. Brunner, M.D., distinguished professor and vice chair of development in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, has been appointed by the UAB Board of Trustees as the third holder of the Women’s Committee of the Spain Rehabilitation Center Endowed Chair in Rehabilitation Neuroscience Research.
Brunner is a nationally recognized brain injury specialist who has achieved national and international recognition in rehabilitation neuroscience research and has established UAB as a leader in this field.
Being named to an endowed chair is the highest honor a faculty member can achieve.
In 1998, Brunner joined the UAB faculty in the Department of PM&R. His clinical and research work focuses on people with traumatic brain injury. In 1999, he began working with the national Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, a longitudinal database established by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research—now the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research—to track outcomes from injury through long‑term recovery.
He has served as principal investigator of the UAB Traumatic Brain Injury Model System grant since 2002 and became project director in 2019. The UAB program has been continuously funded since 1997 and is one of only 16 nationally designated Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems recognized for excellence in brain injury care, rehabilitation research, and long‑term outcomes.
Since 2004, Brunner has been medical director of the inpatient traumatic brain injury rehabilitation service at UAB Spain Rehabilitation Center, overseeing inpatient and outpatient programs, patient experience, quality, and outcomes. He also chairs the UAB Health System Credentials Committee and serves as associate chief of the UAB medical staff. He completed his internship at Baptist Health System and his residency in PM&R at UAB.
“I am truly honored to serve as the third holder of this endowed chair. For more than two decades, my work at UAB Spain Rehabilitation Center has been driven by a commitment to improve the lives of individuals recovering from traumatic brain injury. This support strengthens our ability to advance rehabilitation neuroscience, expand access to evidence-based care, and pursue discoveries that lead to better long-term outcomes for patients and their families,” said Brunner.
The endowment was created in 2006 to acknowledge the national and international impact of a faculty member within the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and to enable the medical and research staff to expand its research mission to include neuro-regeneration initiatives. Brunner is the third recipient of this endowment.