Camp Good Days and Special Times Presents Courage Award to Berk

Camp Good Days and Special Times, Inc. will honor URMC CEO Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D., with their first Courage Award, to be presented at Camp Good Days’ Courage Bowl Game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18, at Marina Auto Stadium, Rochester. The Courage Award is a new award to be bestowed upon someone who has displayed great courage at a difficult time in their personal life.

Berk’s determination and resolve was a critical factor in his selection as inaugural recipient of the award. In May 2009 Berk suffered a serious spinal injury as a result of a biking accident, which left him on a ventilator and paralyzed from the neck down. After the accident, Berk took a leave from his duties as CEO, resolving to focus his full attention and energies on his recovery. After three months in intensive inpatient rehabilitation, Berk’s progress allowed him to resume his leadership role and research activities at the Medical Center in March 2010.

Berk’s professional path also is indicative of great personal character. He was recruited to the Medical Center in 1998 as chief of Cardiology and director of the newly formed Center for Cardiovascular Sciences at the Aab Institute for Biomedical Sciences. A year later he was named chair of Medicine and then nine years later, CEO and senior vice president for health sciences.

A continuously funded National Institutes of Health researcher for almost a quarter of a century, Berk continues to lead an active cardiovascular research program and has added a new dimension to his focus – using state-of-the-art genomic approaches to unravel the genes that regulate how blood vessels respond to stresses.

The Courage Award presentation will take place on the field of Marina Auto Stadium as part of the pre-game activities just prior to kickoff, scheduled for 7 p.m. For information about tickets or programs and services of Camp Good Days and Special Times, Inc., contact them at (585) 624-5555.