Mayur Patel, MD, MPH, Chief of the Division of Acute Care Surgery at Vanderbilt Health and a senior principal investigator at the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction and Survivorship (CIBS) Center, has been named the inaugural Luminary of the Year by the Brain Injury Association of America, Tennessee Chapter (BIAA-TN).
Patel, the Ingram Professor of Surgical Sciences, is being honored for his outstanding contributions to brain injury advocacy, research and rehabilitation. He has worked with the BIAA-TN for more than a decade and served on its board of directors from 2011 to 2021. As Division Chief of Acute Care Surgery, Patel oversees the delivery of trauma, burn, emergency general surgery and critical care, including care for patients sustaining a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
The BIAA-TN is dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals affected by acquired brain injury across their lifespan. More than 1.3 million Tennesseans have experienced one or more traumatic brain injuries in their lifetime, and thousands more have sustained nontraumatic brain injuries such as delirium, stroke, anoxic injury, brain tumor or brain infection. Nearly 50% of people with a history of brain injury live with at least one functional disability; an estimated 600,000 Tennesseans may be living with disability related to brain injury.
“I am deeply honored to serve as the Luminary of the Year honoree, and to stand alongside an organization that has long been central to my work and my purpose,” Patel said. “Throughout my career as a surgeon‑scientist at Vanderbilt Health, I have cared for countless individuals whose lives were forever changed by traumatic brain injury.
“Brain injury is not a moment; it is a lifelong journey affecting survivors, families and caregivers long after the hospital stay ends. Too often, those living with brain injury face invisible challenges, fragmented systems of care and limited access to resources they need to recover, rebuild and thrive. BIAA-TN fills critical gaps, such as advocating for survivors, advancing research and education, and ensuring families are not left to navigate brain injury alone. Their work extends beyond clinical care, addressing the long-term cognitive, emotional and functional realities that define true recovery.”
A senior principal investigator at the CIBS Center, Patel has spent over a decade maturing a federal and industry research portfolio focused on brain injury that exceeds $20 million in National Institutes of Health and Department of Veterans Affairs funding. These efforts have further accelerated recruiting and building faculty to enhance Vanderbilt Health’s and the CIBS Center’s focus on brain injury. This is evidenced by multiple NIH awards, including to Yelena Bodien, PhD, (R01HD121866, R01NS150580) and Amelia Maiga, MD, MPH, (K23GM150110, R21NS142653).
In large part due to Patel’s influence and national network, Vanderbilt Health is now participating in Department of Defense, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and industry-supported national network studies of brain injury.
Patel is a leading authority on the role of beta-blocker therapy in TBI and has conducted high-impact meta-analyses and a pilot randomized clinical trial, and has developed a multicenter randomized controlled trial proposal (under review) in collaboration with the Vanderbilt Trial Innovation Network and in coordination with the NIH and Food and Drug Administration. He has served as a permanent charter member of the NIH Surgery, Anesthesia and Trauma Study Section and has contributed to the Seattle International Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Consensus Conference, the American College of Surgeons TBI Best Practices group, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Forum on Traumatic Brain Injury.
He currently serves as 2026-2027 president of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to acute care surgery, and the program committee chair for the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. He is also an associate editor for the “Sabiston Textbook of Surgery,” a defining surgical text, previously led by former Chair of the Vanderbilt Health Section of Surgical Sciences, R. Daniel Beauchamp, MD.
Previously, Patel served as Deputy Chief of Surgical Services for the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, where he led 13 surgical subspecialties for a two-state hospital system. Through his clinical, academic and leadership roles, Patel remains a pivotal figure in bridging the gap between acute brain injury and long-term recovery.
Patel will be recognized at the BIAA Luminary of the Year Celebration at Richland Country Club in Nashville on Oct. 8. The event will unite corporate partners, health care professionals, survivors, caregivers, advocates, community leaders and supporters to raise awareness and critical funding for Tennesseans affected by brain injury. For information about attending the event or about the BIAA-TN, contact Stacy Mulder at smulder@biausa.org or 615-988-9638. To purchase tickets or tables, click here.
