A unique research profile revolving around deep hypothermia in neuraxial injury as well as cephalosomatic anastomoses in mammalian bodies shaped the life and career of Robert White, a neurosurgeon clinician scientist (Figure 1). It is difficult to ignore the parallels between the eminence of White and the postwar emergence of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was a curious academician and clinician who pushed the envelope of basic neuroscience research with far-sighted clinical applications. In his revolutionary primate research, White found a new niche that helped him grow to a special iconic stature, advising both physicians and religious leaders in the United States and abroad. Hypothermia and cephalosomatic anastomoses experiments catapulted him into the higher echelons of neuroscience.
