Examining Traumatic Brain Injury as a Chronic Condition: Proceedings of a Workshop (2025)

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Appendix C Planning Committee, Video Participant and Speaker Biographies Mark Ashley, Sc.D., CCC-SLP, CCM, CBIST, is renowned for his 40 years of developing clinical therapies that help patients regain vital skills and independence. His published research spans neurological injury to best practices in treatment. Areas of expertise include extensive knowledge of neurorehabilitation diagnostics and treatment design, proven skill in facili- tating neuroplasticity with intensive therapies, educating the public and practitioners on effective postinjury care, and implementing programs that transition patients from dependency to independence. He has authored five books on traumatic brain injury rehabilitation and has testified before the California legislature, the Texas legislature, and the United States Congress advocating for patients and families. He served as board chair and director for the Brain Injury Association of America and Brain Injury Association of California. Charles Bombardier, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington. He has devoted his career to improving mental and physical health as well as quality of life in people with traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and other disability groups through clinical work and research. His studies have focused on assessing and treating depression, pain, physical inactivity, substance abuse, low participation in rehabilitation therapies, and cogni- tive impairment in people with disabilities. Many of his treatment trials have been delivered via telehealth and designed to promote positive health behaviors and overall recovery from injury. He has led or co-led more than 20 randomized controlled trials of single and combined treatments, 95 PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

96 EXAMINING TBI AS A CHRONIC CONDITION including antidepressants, cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational inter- viewing, physical activity counseling, and hypnosis. He has led multisite studies with large investigator teams. His research has been published in high-quality, high-impact journals such as JAMA, JAMA Psychiatry, the Journal of Neurotrauma, the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychol- ogy, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. John Corrigan, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at The Ohio State University and director of the Ohio Valley Center for Brain Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation. For more than 40 years he has treated, studied, and advocated for persons with trau- matic brain injury. Dr. Corrigan is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. He has been the PI and co-PI of the Ohio Regional Traumatic Brain Injury Model System since 1997 and chaired the Executive Committee of the TBI Model Systems Project Directors from 2007 to 2017. Dr. Corrigan is the National Research Director for the Brain Injury Asso- ciation of America and has previously served other national organizations, including CARF, the Injury Control Center at the Centers for Disease Con- trol and Prevention, the Veterans Administration, and the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Health Board. Since 2013 he has served as the Director of the Ohio Brain Injury Program, which is the designated lead agency in the state of Ohio for policy and planning related to living with brain injury. He has more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and has received many awards for his service and research in brain injury rehabilitation, including the Brain Injury Association of America’s William Fields Caveness Award, the 2007 Robert L. Moody Prize, the Gold Key Award from the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Brain Injury Association. Kristen Dams-O’Connor, Ph.D., is director of the Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai, a clinical neuropsychologist and professor and vice chair in the Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Neurology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. She is also director of the New York Traumatic Brain Injury Model System of Care and a founding board member of the New York Neurotrauma Consor- tium. Her primary fields of clinical and research expertise are in long-term outcomes after brain injury in civilians and veterans, intersections of TBI and neurodegenerative disease, and multimodal data integration to under- stand clinical and biological signatures of chronic TBI and post-traumatic neurodegeneration. Under her leadership, the Mount Sinai Brain Injury Research Center develops and tests new treatments for TBI, investigates long-term health and functional TBI outcomes, and studies the mechanism PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

APPENDIX C 97 and pathology of post-traumatic neurodegeneration and its relationships with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Her research is currently supported by federal grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Patient Centered Out- comes Research Institute, and the Department of Defense. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at Mount Sinai Medi- cal Center, and a predoctoral internship in neurorehabilitation at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University Medical Cen- ter. She received her Ph.D. from the University at Albany. Judy Dettmer, B.S.W., has been working in the field of brain injury for over 30 years. Ms. Dettmer is currently the Director of Technical Assistance and Special Projects at the National Association of State Head Injury Admin- istrators. Ms. Dettmer has worked extensively with adults, children, and family members of individuals with brain injury. She has provided direct and systems consultation to improve the lives of individuals with brain injury. Judy has also assisted with research efforts related to brain injury and has conducted countless presentations, classes, and seminars on brain injury nationally. Ms. Dettmer has provided technical assistance to numer- ous states including screening on brain injury; developing infrastructure within state systems such as departments of education, criminal and juve- nile justice; and in developing and managing advisory boards and councils. Ramon Diaz-Arrastia, M.D., Ph.D., is the John McCrea Dickson, MD, Professor of Neurology and the director of the Clinical TBI Research Cen- ter at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. His research interests are focused on understanding the molecular, cellular, and tissue-level mechanisms of neuronal injury and neuroregeneration, with the goal of developing neuroprotective and neuroregenerative therapies. Dr. Diaz-Arrastia received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Baylor College of Medicine, and completed postgraduate training at Harvard and Columbia. Prior to coming to Penn, he served on the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke. Dr. Diaz- Arrastia has published over 250 primary research papers, as well as over 40 invited reviews and book chapters. He has also served in several national committees related to traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, and dementia, con- vened by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Veterans Administration, and the National Academy of Medicine. Derek Fales, LSW, is the waiver services director for Developmental Dis- abilities and Brain Injury Services at the Maine Brain Injury Program, in the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. In his current role, PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

98 EXAMINING TBI AS A CHRONIC CONDITION he oversees the day to day operations for Home and Community Based Servies waiver programs for individuals with intellectual disabilities, other related conditions, and brain injury in partnership with the state Medicaid agency, the Office of MaineCare Services. As the waiver services director he oversees developmental disability and brain injury waiver programs in addition to overseeing Maine’s brain injury services and supports programs. His extensive experience in health and human services has been focused on working towards increasing positive social outcomes for children and families affected by violence, poverty, and substance abuse while ensuring community inclusion and maximizing opportunities for people with disabil- ities to live and work in their communities to the same degree as a person without disabilities. He is also the president of the Board of Directors for the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators. Raquel C. Gardner, M.D., is a U.S. board-certified behavioral neurologist with additional advanced training in clinical research methods and biosta- tistics. She is associate professor of neurology at Tel Aviv University School of Medicine and director of clinical research at the Sagol Neuroscience Center, Sheba Medical Center, Israel. Dr. Gardner leads an international clinical research program focused on the intersections between traumatic brain injury, aging, and neurodegenerative disease. The goal of the research program is to advance knowledge and clinical care of brain injury in order to lessen the global burden of traumatic brain injury and neurodegen- erative disease. She is also an investigator with the U.S.-based traumatic brain injury research network, TRACK-TBI. Dr. Gardner is a member of the Executive Committee of the International initiative for TBI Research (InTBIR). Since October 2023, her research program has expanded to also include war-related TBI with a major focus on blood-based biomarkers to aid in diagnosis and prognosis. Flora Hammond, M.D., is the Nila Covalt Professor and Chair of Physi- cal Medicine and Rehabilitation at Indiana University School of Medicine. She is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician who is an active clinician, researcher, and administrator. Dr. Hammond chairs the IU PM&R Diversity and Equity and Inclusion Committee and is an active member of the TBI Model System Inclusion Diversity Equity and Access Special Interest Group. She also serves on the IUSM Health and Wellness Advisory Council. She is Project Director of the Indiana Trau- matic Brain Injury Model System, and Chair of the TBI Model Systems Program Executive Committee. Dr. Hammond also chairs the Tri-Model Systems Chronic Injury Special Interest Group. She has authored more than 220 peer-reviewed publications, most in the area of brain injury and spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Dr. Hammond has received several PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

APPENDIX C 99 awards acknowledging her contributions, including the 2001 Association of Academic Physiatrists Young Academician Award, the 2011 Brain Injury Association of America William Caveness Award for national and inter- national research contributions, the 2016 Robert L. Moody Prize for Dis- tinguished Initiatives in Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Research, and the 2017 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Distin- guished Member Award. She completed her medical degree at Tulane Uni- versity School of Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency at Baylor College of Medicine, and brain injury medicine fellowship at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan. Odette Harris, M.D., M.P.H., is the Paralyzed Veterans of America Profes- sor of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine at Stanford University. She also serves as the Director of Brain Injury for Stanford Medical Center, and as the Director of the Defense Veterans Brain Injury Center. In addition to this, Dr. Harris is the Deputy Chief of Staff, Rehabilitation, at the VA Palo Alto. Dr. Harris manages the care of patients suffering from traumatic brain injury implementing treatment algorithms aimed at improving outcomes. Dr. Har- ris has won numerous academic, research, and humanitarian awards. Most recently, she was recognized in 2019 by Forbes and Ebony Magazine Power 100 List Award as one of 100 most influential African Americans and received the National Medical Fellowships (NMF) Award for Excellence in Academic Medicine. She was appointed a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network in 2018. In 2022 and 2024, Dr. Harris was recognized by Stanford University as one of Stanford’s 13 women’s history makers. Dr. Harris’ Endowed Professorship further distinguishes her as the first African American woman in neurosurgery and the first woman in neurosurgery at Stanford to receive this honor. As a Dartmouth volunteer, she has served as an admissions interviewer on the Dartmouth Alumni Council and Mentor to undergraduates and alumni pursuing STEM. She majored in Biology at Dartmouth and received her M.D. degree from Stanford University School of Medicine where she also completed Residency. She earned a Master of Public Health, Epidemiology, from the University of California, Berkeley. Jeanne M. Hoffman, Ph.D., is a professor and the head of the Division of Rehabilitation Psychology and Neuropsychology in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She is a board-certified rehabilitation psychologist. She conducts research to improve outcomes for individuals with traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury and examines access to health care for individuals with disability. Her other research interests include adjustment to disability, and new health care models and health services. Dr. Hoffman earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Arizona State University. PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

100 EXAMINING TBI AS A CHRONIC CONDITION Saef Izzy, M.D., FNCS, is an associate professor of neurology, Harvard Medical School, and faculty at the Divisions of Neurocritical Care and Cerebrovascular Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Izzy is a National Institute of Health-funded clinician scientist with research inter- ests focused on modulating the neuroinflammatory response to promote neurological recovery following stroke and acute brain injury. Dr. Izzy is a medical graduate of the University of Baghdad College of Medicine. He completed his neurology residency at the University of Massachusetts and fellowship in Neurocritical Care at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, HMS. The Izzy laboratory has targeted the neuroinflammatory response in models of acute neurological diseases, including traumatic brain injury and intracerebral hemorrhage, through the therapeutic manipulation of mucosal immunity. This work has led to the discovery of novel drugs that are currently in the process of translation to NeuroICU patients. Dr. Izzy is also working with the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University to investigate the long-term neurologi- cal and medical outcomes following head injury. In addition, Dr. Izzy is the lead editor of the book The NeuroICU Board Review, and he has authored over 78 publications in reputable journals, including Nature Neuroscience, Nature Communications, Lancet Neurology, Neuron, Brain, JAMA, and Circulation. Dr. Izzy is the immediate past Editor-in-Chief of Currents, Neurocritical Care Society e-magazine, and an active member of the Board of Trustees of the Neurocritical Care Foundation. Shannon B. Juengst, Ph.D., CRC, FACRM, is a clinical investigator and senior scientist at TIRR Memorial Hermann, a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Departments of Physi- cal Medicine & Rehabilitation at UT Health Sciences Center at Houston and UT Southwestern Medical Center. Her work focuses on behavioral and emotional outcomes after traumatic brain injury for individuals and their care partners and improving these outcomes through problem-solving interventions, neurobehavioral assessment, and innovative telehealth meth- ods. She has a secondary focus on improving health disparities through accessible and adapted patient-reported outcome measures and behavioral health interventions. Her work has consistently focused on participation as a primary outcome, with a particular eye towards defining and measuring par- ticipation in ways that are meaningful to individuals with TBI. Dr. Juengst has a long track record of research funding, mostly on projects examining long-term outcomes after TBI. Currently, she is (1) Principal Investigator (PI) of a DoD-funded Patient-Centered Award to develop an electronic ver- sion of Problem-Solving Training (ePST) for adults with TBI, employing a Community-Based Participatory Research approach; (2) Co-PI for the SELF-TBI project to develop a self-management tool for persons with TBI PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

APPENDIX C 101 to manage their chronic health conditions; and (3) Co-Project Director for the TIRR Memorial Hermann/Baylor College of Medicine/UT Health Col- laborative Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, wherein she leads both the TIRR site-specific project on self-reported symptom monitoring via mHealth after inpatient rehabilitation discharge and a multisite collaborative project on health perceptions and their effect on long-term outcomes after injury. Kelly Lang, co-author of The Miracle Child: Traumatic Brain Injury and Me, is a brain injury survivor and caregiver to her daughter who sustained a traumatic brain injury in 2001. Kelly is an author, public speaker, com- munications trainer, and advocate and she believes sharing our stories assists others in their healing journeys. She co-leads the Brain Injury Asso- ciation of America’s Advisory Council and serves on the Virginia Brain Injury Advisory Council. Her advocacy experience includes working with the National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems’ Brain Injury Learning Collaborative and served as a member of the Trau- matic Brain Injury Leadership Group and the Person-Centered Advisory Group. Kelly has been the Keynote speaker at state brain injury conferences and conducted workshops and webinars about brain injury and advocacy. Kelly has also worked with the Coalition for National Trauma Research as a panelist and participated in their conferences. Kelly received the 2024 Mark Ylvisaker Symposium Award and spoke at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine about her family’s experience with pediatric brain injury. Kelly is also a Communications Trainer with INOVA Health Sys- tems. Kelly and her husband created a website https://www.themiraclechild. org/ educating others about brain injury. David Loane, Ph.D., is a neuroimmunologist and associate professor of neuroscience in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Shock, Trauma, and Anesthesiology Research (STAR) Center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Loane conducted his graduate studies in the Department of Pharmacology and MRC Center for Synaptic Plasticity, University of Bristol, England. He then pursued postdoctoral training in CNS injury and neuroinflammation at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and the Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. He was a faculty member in the Department of Anesthesiology and STAR Center, UMSOM from 2009 to 2018, and he returned to Dublin to establish a preclinical neurotrauma and neuroimmunology research group in Trinity College in Dublin. Dr. Loane leads a multidisciplinary research team dedicated to studying brain/systemic inflammation and chronic injury mechanisms following TBI. PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

102 EXAMINING TBI AS A CHRONIC CONDITION Helene Moriarty, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, is Professor, Diane & Robert Moritz, Jr., Endowed Chair in Nursing Research at the Villanova University M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing and Nurse Scientist at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs (CMCVA) Medical Center. She is also a member of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health, a research center at University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and a Core Investigator at the CMCVA Center for Healthcare Evaluation, Research, and Promotion. Dr. Moriarty’s research has led to novel insights and health care approaches for veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their families. This research is one of the first scientific efforts to engage family members as integral partners in the care of veterans with TBI and address the well-being of family caregivers. Her completed NIH-funded random- ized controlled trial evaluated the impact of an innovative rehabilitation intervention, the Veterans’ In-home Program (VIP), for veterans with TBI and their families. Building on the VIP, Dr. Moriarty’s current NIH-funded study tests a rehabilitation approach that addresses critical gaps in services and research for civilians and veterans with chronic TBI symptoms and their families. She served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineer- ing, and Medicine Committee on Accelerating Progress in TBI Research and Care from 2020 to 2022 that prepared a report providing a 10-year road map for advancing TBI research and clinical care. Recognized as an international nursing leader and expert in family science, Dr. Moriarty is a tireless champion for families, particularly for those of military veterans. Dr. Moriarty has held leadership roles within the VA health system, serves as a member of the American Academy of Nursing’s Expert Panel on Mili- tary and Veterans Health, and since 2022 has served as Chair Elect, Chair, and now Cochair of the VA Nursing Research Field Advisory Committee charged with developing and implementing the strategic plan for nursing research for the VA health system. Risa Nakase-Richardson, Ph.D., FACRM, is the Chief of Staff for Research and Development at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Professor and Director of TBI Clinical Research in the Department of Neurosurgery in the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida. She has worked in neuro-rehabilitation in both clinical and research capacities since 1998. She is a Fellow of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and National Academy of Neuropsychology. She has over 180 publications in peer-reviewed journals including three clinical guidelines and position statements endorsed by the American Academy of Neurol- ogy, American Congress of Rehabilitation, and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research that represent translation of her work. She has served as Guest Editor on four special issues on topics of sleep and TBI, disorders of consciousness, rehabilitation PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

APPENDIX C 103 outcomes of military TBI, and TBI and implementation science. She is Associate Editor of Brain Injury Medicine, third edition, and has over 333 presentations at international and national conferences. She has served as PI or Investigator on 22 grants funded by various federal agencies and private organizations including VA, DOD, PCORI, NIH, NIDILRR, and NAN. She currently serves as the overall PI for the only DOD Focused Program Award using implementation science and community-based participatory research to improve the quality of health care for persons with TBI-related disability (https:\\iheal.tbindsc.org). Tolu Oyesanya, Ph.D., R.N., is an associate professor with tenure in the School of Nursing at Duke University. Her research program centers on the care of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in acute and post- acute treatment settings, as well as support of their family caregivers. Her current NIH/NINR R01 focuses on testing the efficacy of her team’s tran- sitional care program for patients with TBI, discharged home from acute hospital care, and their family caregivers, with an emphasis on improving patient quality of life and decreasing caregiver strain. Dr. Oyesanya earned her B.S.N., M.S.N., and Ph.D. in Nursing from University of Wisconsin- Madison. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Brain Injury Research at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Her research has been consistently supported by federally funded awards. Dr. Oyesanya is actively involved in several professional organizations, including serving as Chair of the Career Development Networking Group of the American Congress of Rehabilita- tion Medicine and as a member of the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses and the International Brain Injury Association. Owen Perlman, M.D., is a physician for the Associates in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, PC. He is a board-certified specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He specializes in brain injury rehabilitation, spinal cord rehabilitation, stroke, neurological and multiple trauma rehabilitation, and chronic pain management. He also serves as medical director for post-acute residential and outpatient traumatic brain injury programs including Neu- roRestorative Southeast Michigan, Resilire Neuro-Michigan, and Galaxy Brain and Therapy Center. He is also a Board Member of the Brain Injury Association of America. He has an extensive private practice and cares for brain injury survivors throughout the state who reside with family or are in postacute residential brain injury programs. He was President of the Michi- gan Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and is a past Execu- tive Board Member of the Washtenaw County Medical Society. He has held offices and Board positions with several organizations in Ann Arbor and Metropolitan Detroit. During his prior position, Dr. Perlman was an Assis- tant Professor in the Department of PM&R at the University of Michigan PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

104 EXAMINING TBI AS A CHRONIC CONDITION where he served as the Director of the Adult Inpatient Rehabilitation Pro- gram and collaborated on initiating a Traumatic Brain Injury Evaluation Clinic and a Chronic Pain Management Program. Dr. Perlman completed his residency at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He received his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical Center. Mary Jo Pugh, Ph.D., R.N., integrating her training as a veteran, nurse, and developmental psychologist, Dr. Pugh developed a research program to examine the long-term sequelae and outcomes of military exposures. Over the past decade, her work has used VA data to identify phenotypes in populations with complex comorbidity, including those with traumatic brain injury (TBI), with a focus on TBI as a chronic condition. Dr. Pugh’s current work includes longitudinal observational and prospective studies to identify the emergence of distinct neurodegenerative conditions, such as cognitive impairment and epilepsy, that may have similar/networked biological underpinnings. Her longitudinal population-based observational studies currently link Department of Defense combat theatre and health sys- tem data with VA health system data with primary data collection, includ- ing surveys, neuroimaging, neuropsychological testing, and biomarkers. Her emerging analyses using these data sources focus on health impacts for women service members and veterans. These studies using artificial intel- ligence aim to identify risk factors and investigate the possibility of using personalized medicine to determine optimal treatment pathways for specific phenotypes that inform treatment guidelines for TBI in multimorbidity. Rebecca Quinn, M.S.W., LCSW, CBIST, serves as an associate director for the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine & Health Sciences in Grand Forks. Ms. Quinn manages the North Dakota Brain Injury Network and the North Dakota Qualified Service Provider (QSP) Hub. Ms. Quinn’s past experience includes work- ing in various settings, primarily in the health care field. She served as an adjunct professor in the Social Work department at UND where she taught courses on gerontology and substance abuse. Rebecca is a licensed social worker and obtained her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Texas at Arlington in May 2000 and her Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas A&M in 1997. Angelle M. Sander, Ph.D., is professor in the H. Ben Taub Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of TIRR Memorial Hermann’s Brain Injury Research Center. She is Project Director for the TIRR Memorial Hermann/Baylor College of Medicine/UThealth Collaborative Traumatic Brain Injury Model System. PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

APPENDIX C 105 She has been PI or Coinvestigator on federally funded studies addressing prediction and treatment of cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial prob- lems in persons with TBI; self-management of TBI-related consequences; health literacy in individuals with TBI; intimacy and sexuality after TBI; impact of TBI on caregivers; and social determinants of health following TBI. She has over 160 peer-reviewed publications, numerous book chapters and published abstracts, and multiple consumer-oriented dissemination products, including fact sheets, educational manuals, webcasts, and videos targeted toward individuals with TBI, their care partners, and rehabilita- tion professionals. Andrea Schneider, M.D., Ph.D., is an assistant professor of neurology in the Division of Neurocritical Care with a secondary appointment in the Depart- ment of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She received her M.D. in 2014 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and she received her Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2012. She completed Neurology Residency and Neurocritical Care Fellowship at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2020. She is a neuroepidemiologist who has authored over 145 peer-reviewed publications. Her research program is centered on traumatic brain injury (TBI) epidemiol- ogy and the prevention of TBI-related sequelae, with a focus on the preven- tion of TBI-related neurodegeneration and dementia. Dr. Schneider is the PI of a NINDS K23 grant and three Department of Defense grants. She is the recipient of the 2023 Derek Denny-Brown Young Neurological Scholar Award in Clinical Science from the American Neurological Association, the 2023 Rising Star Award from the National Neurotrauma Society, and the 2024 NIH Office of Disease Prevention Early-Stage Investigator Award. Joel Scholten, M.D., is VA’s Executive Director of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) providing policy and planning oversight for VA rehabilitation programming, which includes the polytrauma and amputa- tion systems of care. Dr. Scholten assumed the role of PM&R Director in September 2015. He maintains an active clinical and research practice at the Washington, D.C., VA Medical Center and serves as the Associate Chief of Staff for Rehab Services. Dr. Scholten received his medical degree at the University of South Dakota and completed his residency in Physical Medi- cine and Rehabilitation at Eastern Virginia Graduate School of Medicine. Jack Somers, M.S., is a former Marine Corps Captain and a passionate advocate for veterans’ neurological care and improved treatment outcomes. He serves as a Lived Experience Veteran Advisor for the VA’s Southwest Region Epilepsy Centers of Excellence (ECoE), which spans 10 states and PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

106 EXAMINING TBI AS A CHRONIC CONDITION 12 facilities. The ECoE works to enhance quality of life for veterans with epilepsy and seizure disorders, ensuring their voices are represented in pro- gram development and research partnerships. Through these collaborative efforts, the focus remains on centering veteran needs in healthcare innova- tion. As a Lived Experience Advisor with CURE Epilepsy and an advisory member of both the National Plan for Epilepsy and the Conferences of Epilepsies, Mr. Somers also contributes to advancing research in epilepsy and traumatic brain injury (TBI). His advisory work engages with emerging fields such as biomarker discovery, diagnostics, and AI applications, lever- aging his firsthand experience to help guide studies and support military and veteran communities. His efforts are dedicated to improving treatment outcomes and bridging the gap between scientific discovery and the lived experience of those most impacted. Eric Spier, M.D., serves as the Brain Injury Program Medical Director at Craig Hospital. Dr. Spier earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School in Houston and completed his residency at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven and the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He joined the medical staff at Craig Hospital in 2016 after build- ing and serving as the Medical Director for Mentis El Paso, a 24-bed post- acute neurorehabilitation program that served West Texas, New Mexico, and surrounding areas. Dr. Spier serves as the Medical Director for the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado. Carole Starr is a 20-year brain injury survivor, and co-chair of the BIAA Brain Injury Advisory Council, a survivor group within the Brain Injury Association of America. She is a national keynote speaker, support group leader, author of To Root & To Rise: Accepting Brain Injury, and Co-Cre- ator of Get on Board, a training program for brain injury survivors. Starr has been active in her local, state and national brain injury communities. In her home state of Maine, she facilitates the WINGS Brain Injury Support Group and is a member of the Brain Injury Association of America-Maine Chapter Advisory Board. For 11 years, she led Brain Injury Voices, the sur- vivor education, advocacy, and mentoring volunteer group that she and her mentor Bev Bryant founded. Nationally, Carole is also a member the TBI Advisory and Leadership Group survivor group within the Administration for Community Living’s TBI Technical Assistance and Resource Center and previously served as a faculty member for the Person-Centered Brain Injury Learning Collaborative. Stacy Suskauer, M.D., is the Vice President of Rehabilitation at Kennedy Krieger Institute, Director for the Division of Pediatric Rehabilitation in PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

APPENDIX C 107 the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins Medicine, and a professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Suskauer is also a research scientist and codirector of the Center for Brain Injury Recovery at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr. Suskauer’s primary research focus is under- standing and optimizing outcomes after childhood brain injury, spanning from concussion to disorders of consciousness. Dr. Suskauer attended Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, for her undergraduate and medi- cal education. She completed a combined residency program in pediatrics and physical medicine and rehabilitation at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati. She came to Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins for a pediatric rehabilitation research fellowship and subsequently joined the faculty of these institutions in 2007. Dr. Suskauer is board-certified in pediatrics and physical medicine and rehabilitation. She holds subspecialty certification in pediatric rehabilita- tion medicine. Kelli Gary Talley, Ph.D., M.P.H., OTR/L, CBIS, is an assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling (RC) at Virginia Com- monwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia. After sustaining a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) 35 years ago, she obtained a Bachelor of Science in occupational therapy (OT) from Chicago State University in Chicago, Illinois, a Master of Science and Master of Public Health from Columbia University in New York City, and a Ph.D. from VCU. She has 30 years of clinical practice, 20 years of research, and 14 years of teaching experience in OT, RC, and health services. Dr. Talley has authored/co- authored 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and five book chapters primarily focused on racial and ethnic minorities and caregivers with TBI and other disabilities. She has secured over $500,000 in grant funding as a principal or co-principal investigator for TBI and community-based research. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA). She is the former president of the board of directors for the Brain Injury Association of Virginia (BIAV) and a former member of a national committee for veterans with special disabilities that reports directly to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. She has presented at numerous conferences around the nation and internationally on her research and her experience of living with a TBI and becoming suc- cessful, productive, and happy after injury. Amy K. Wagner, M.D., is a tenured professor, Vice-chair of Faculty Devel- opment, and UPMC Endowed Chair for Translational Research in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

108 EXAMINING TBI AS A CHRONIC CONDITION Pittsburgh. She holds appointments in the University of Pittsburgh’s Depart- ment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Neuroscience and Clinical and Translational Science Institute. She is Associate Director for Rehabilitation Research at the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research. Dr. Wagner has defined her work with rehabilitation-centered biomark- ers research as Rehabilomics Research (www.rehabilomics.pitt.edu). Dr. Wagner’s clinical research (dopamine systems, hormones, inflammation, neurotrophins) explores genetics and serum-based biomarkers to support personalized treatment selection, clinical decision-making, and prognostica- tion after TBI. Her experimental research incorporates immunotherapies, neuropharmacological agents, and rehabilitation-relevant cognitive training paradigms to understand their effects on functional recovery. She was the 2018–2019 National Neurotrauma Society President and the Neurotrauma 2019 Conference Chair. She is a 2020 inductee into the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Wagner has published over 130 original research and 70 invited articles and chapters and is the editor in chief of the textbook Acute Care Neuroconsultation and Neurorehabilitation Management (ISBN: 978- 3-031-42830-2). Her extensive transdisciplinary and translational research portfolio of federally funded research (including National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, the National institute for Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, and the Department of Defense) has garnered, to date, approximately $36 million for her TBI and cardiac arrest research. She is also an active member of the Neurocritical Care Society sponsored Curing Coma Campaign, an international research and advocacy effort to improve long-term recovery for individuals with disorders of consciousness. Dr. Wagner mentors numerous research trainees and directs the Brain Injury Medicine Clinical Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Clinically, she treats patients undergoing inpatient neurorehabilitation and is an acute care brain injury medicine consultant for neurologically devastated patients hospitalized at the Uni- versity of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Tamara L. Wexler, M.D., Ph.D., is a neuroendocrinologist, internationally known for her work on post-TBI pituitary hormone deficiencies. She is a clinical professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU, an Adjunct Professor of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company. She received her M.D. and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania and completed her Internal Medicine residency and Endo- crinology fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She was the founding Director of the NYU Langone Medical Center Pituitary Center and has served as an Attending Physician in Internal Medicine at the Mas- sachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Wexler recently completed a term on the PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

APPENDIX C 109 Endocrine Society Clinical Guidelines Committee, and now serves on the Endocrine Society Innovation Development Fund Advisory Board and on the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabo- lism Leadership Council. She is a speaker and moderator at academic medical centers and international conferences on neuroendocrine sequelae of brain injury. Her publications appear in the Journal of Neurotrauma and the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, among others. PREPUBLICATION COPY—Uncorrected Proofs 

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