Paul W. Brand

Paul Wilson Brand, CBE, was a pioneer in developing tendon transfer techniques for use in the hands of those with leprosy (i.e., Hansen's disease). He was born to missionary parents, Jesse and Evelyn "Granny" Brand, and grew up in the Kolli Hills of Tamil Nadu, India, until he was sent to the United Kingdom in 1923 for education. Brand trained in medicine at University College Hospital, London, during World War II.

In 1946, he joined the staff of the Christian Medical College & Hospital in Vellore, India. After visiting the Leprosy Sanatorium at Chingleput, Brand began to explore the reasons for the deformities in those with Hansen's disease. He came to understand that most injuries were a result of the pain insensitivity, and not directly caused by the Hansen's disease bacilli. In 1950, Brand established the New Life Center, Vellore, as a model rehabilitation center for Hansen's disease patients. In 1966, he became Chief of Rehabilitation Branch at the National Hansen's Disease Center at Carville, Louisiana. He established a research unit to study the complications of insensitive hands and feet, their prevention and management. He retired in 1986 and moved to Seattle, where he continued his teaching work as emeritus professor of Orthopedics in the University of Washington.

During his career, Brand contributed extensively to the fields of hand surgery and hand therapy through his publications and lectures and received many awards and honors. Queen Elizabeth honored him with a title of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1961. Brand was the first physician to appreciate that leprosy is not a disease of the tissue but of the nerves: it is the loss of the sensation of pain which makes sufferers susceptible to injury. His appreciation of the importance and value of pain is well described in one of his best-known books, co-written with Philip Yancey, Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants (1993).

Source: Wikipedia