Columnist Byron Crawford traces how a brain injury helped lead Transylvania University alum and attorney Jim Chambliss to new careers in fine art and brain research. Read the full article in today’s Courier-Journal here.

Crawford describes how Chambliss’s life changed after his brain injury in 1998:

It was as if the damaged left side of his brain had somehow shifted focus to an enhanced right-brain concentration on a hidden talent for artistic expression.

By 2001, with help from his neuropsychologist, family and friends, the Brain Injury Trust and vocational rehabilitation, he had enrolled in art school at the University of Louisville, from which he earned a master’s degree.

Although his work has since earned several awards and international recognition, his Kentucky State Fair first-place award for the self-sculpture inspired by his brain injury marked a memorable transformation from lawyer to artist for Jim Chambliss.

And it has reinforced his passion for unraveling part of the complex mystery of how injured brains often awaken a sleeping gift of artistic creativity.

Now, with a prestigious International Postgraduate Research Scholarship to the University of Melbourne, Chambliss is working toward a combined doctorate in creative art and medicine.

His ongoing research into the influence of epilepsy, bi-polar conditions, multiple sclerosis and other brain disorders on art has become more than an academic pursuit.

“I feel compelled to help others in similar circumstances,” he said. “I want to use my art, research and experiences to serve as a catalyst to promote further research.”