Members in the News
2024
Dr. Zaliha Binti Omar is recognized and honored by INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CARING COMMUNITIES. Better Living … Adding Life to Years
Dr. Zaliha Binti Omar, M.B,B.S, FRCP,FAFRM,FAMM,DMR RCP, Honorary Professor at University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and Co-Chair of the Nature-Based Rehabilitation Medicine Task Force of the Complementary Integrative Rehabilitation Medicine Networking Group is the recipient of the International Council for Caring Communities (ICCC) Pioneer Award for outstanding achievement and contribution to world betterment from a United Nations associated organization. She will be honored at an awards ceremony at the United Nation in New York on April 24, 2024.
2022
Congratulations to Karl J. Sandin, MD, MPH
ACRM would like to congratulate ACRM member Karl J Sandin, MD, MPH, who received the 2022 American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association National Leadership Excellence Award. This award recognizes Dr.Sandin’s work in physician relations, prior authorization, governance, and quality for AMRPA, the nation’s premier organization advocating for medical rehabilitation patients and the inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units that serve them.
Dr.Sandin practices in-patient neurological and trauma rehabilitation, provides medical direction and consultation, and serves as assistant professor of surgery (trauma) at Creighton University School of Medicine. Congratulations again to ACRM member, Karl J. Sandin, MD, MPH, on this prestigious achievement.
2021
RollingStone interviews Brian Harris on music for stroke rehabilitation and a first-ever prescription-music license deal with Universal Music Group
Brian Harris, MA, Mt-BC, NMT, founding co-chair of the ACRM Arts & Neuroscience Networking Group and co-founder and CEO of MedRhythms was featured in RollingStone on 29 September. MedRhythms is a fast-growing medical startup, founded in 2015, that closed a $25 million funding round in July. It combines music and health care technology to help patients with neurological injuries and diseases improve their ability to walk.
Its tech has gone through trials at major hospitals across the country, eventually leading to the company’s products earning breakthrough-device status from the US Food & Drug Administration. Now MedRhythms has partnered with Universal Music Group to license the first, FDA-approved, prescription-music platform in the United States. Read More >>
Congratulations to Dr. Suzanne Burns
Please join us in congratulating Suzanne Perea Burns, PhD, OTR/L in her new position as Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy at the University of New Mexico. Clinically, she specializes in stroke rehabilitation in the context of the community. Her research foci is two-fold:
- Development and rigorous testing of mHealth apps to improve community living outcomes in people with disabilities
- Ecologically valid approaches to assessing executive dysfunction in adults with mild to moderate stroke
At ACRM, Dr. Burns currently serves as Communications Officer of the Stroke ISIG and Co-Chair of the ISIG’s Health & Wellness Task Force.
PBS NewsHour interviews Dr. Ron Hirschberg
Ron Hirschberg, MD, co-founder of the ACRM Arts & Neuroscience Networking Group, discussed his latest endeavor, Frontline Songs, in a recent interview for the PBS NewsHour. Frontline Songs provides a platform for healing via music to healthcare workers on the frontlines in the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a collaborative and therapeutic process, frontline healthcare providers share their experiences with songwriters and together they create a song that reflects the providers’ experiences back to them in a powerful and healing way. Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier participated and will release a new book in July called Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting. Read more >>
WSJ quotes Dr. Tom Bergquist on Long COVID rehabilitation
Congratulations to Thomas F. Bergquist, PhD, LP, ABPP, FACRM, chair of the ACRM Brain Injury ISIG and associate professor at Mayo Clinic, who was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. In the article titled, New Long Covid Treatments Borrow From Brain Rehab Tactics, Dr. Bergquist explains that cognitive problems experienced by people with long COVID are often the same problems that occur with concussion or traumatic brain injury and how cognitive rehabilitation can help.
Read More >>
ACRM MEMBERS IN-THE-NEWS
2020
Ford Vox, MD interviewed by CNN on Lewy body dementia
Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are two diseases that many Americans are all too familiar with, but there is another dementia that plagued the late comedian Robin Williams. Lewy body dementia is associated with an accumulation of a protein called alpha-synuclein that “builds up and deposits inside of cells and some classic areas in the brain,” said Dr. Ford Vox, medical director of the Disorders of Consciousness Program at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta and a contributor for CNN. Read More >>
Patricia Heyn Appointed as ACS Project Liaison
ACRM congratulates Dr. Patricia Heyn, Chair-Elect of the Geriatric Rehabilitation Networking Group and Past Chair of the Neurodegenerative Diseases Networking Group on her new appointment as Project Liaison to the PIPS Committee of the American College of Surgeons. She will serve a one-year term providing rehabilitation perspective to the Best Practice Group.
Ashraf Gorgey Application Recommended for Funding
Congratulations to ACRM member, Ashraf S. Gorgey, MPT, PhD, FACSM, FACRM; his FY-19 application to DoD-CDRMP was recommended for funding. The title of the application is “Epidural Stimulation and Resistance Training for Overground Locomotion After Spinal Cord Injury”. The trial is a joint collaboration between Virginia Commonwealth University and McGuire VA Hospital. The study is planning to enroll 20 participants with spinal cord injury over the next 4 years. Dr. Gorgey leads the SCI-ISIG Functional Electrical Stimulation & Technology Task Force.
Dr. John DeLuca Elected to Lead National Academy of Neuropsychology
Congratulations to ACRM member, John DeLuca, PhD, on his recent election to serve as president-elect of the National Academy of Neuropsychology (NAN). He will assume the presidency in 2021. Dr. DeLuca is a neuropsychologist and senior vice president of Research and Training at Kessler Foundation. He is internationally renowned for his leadership in cognitive rehabilitation research in traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis and serves on the ACRM Editorial Board of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Read More >>
Lance Trexler receives Senator Pat Miller Award for his pioneering work
Congratulations to Dr. Lance Trexler, Past Chair of the ACRM Brain Injury Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group (BI-ISIG), for receiving the Senator Pat Miller Award. He was recognized by the RHI Research, Training & Outcome Center for his years of pioneering work in bringing community services to people with brain injury. He was the man behind the creation and implementation of Resource Facilitation through Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation to help people with brain injury return-to-work. It was also under his leadership that RHI achieved a nation-leading 70% success rate.
2019
John Whyte featured in NR Times
Congratulations to ACRM Fellow, John Whyte, MD, PhD, FACRM, who was recently featured in an NR Times article discussing the scourge of the ‘black box’ of rehabilitation, which has been described as our inability to characterize treatments in a systematic fashion across diagnoses, settings, and disciplines, so as to identify and disseminate the active ingredients of those treatments.” Whyte has been a key participant for over a decade in developing a new approach to treatment classification and measurement in rehabilitation and is now chair of the ACRM Rehabilitation Treatment Specification Task Force that continues to promote their implementation. Dr. Whyte and colleagues will present a two-part symposium on the topic during the ACRM Conference in Chicago on 7 November. Read More >>
Alison Cernich appointed Deputy Director of NICHD
Congratulations to Alison Cernich, PhD who will begin her new role as Deputy Director of NICHD on 3 September. Dr. Cernich has been the Director of NICHD’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) since 2015, where she managed a $72 million research portfolio aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of people with disabilities. Dr. Cernich is a national leader in the disability community who has worked with multiple agencies to coordinate and optimize federal resources for medical rehabilitation research. She will lead a featured session at the ACRM 2019 Annual Conference with colleagues from these agencies on 6 November to educate attendees about federal funding opportunities. Read More >>
Mohamed Sakel’s brain injury research featured in The Times of London
The Times of London featured the brain injury research of ACRM member, Mohamed Sakel, last month in the article, “Dizziness linked to depression.” The study of 162 UK military veterans found that vestibular dysfunction is common after combined blunt and blast mTBI and singularly predictive of poor long-term mental health. From a treatment perspective, the study concluded that vestibular rehabilitation may provide relief from postconcussive symptoms other than dizziness and imbalance. This study was one of three presentations Dr. Sakel presented to the House of Commons in October. Read More >>
Daniel Klyce
Sonya Kim
May 2019
Sonya Kim and Daniel Klyce honored by APA
The APA journal, Rehabilitation Psychology, announced a new recognition program to honor the service of the top 5 percent of its editorial board members and reviewers. Please join us in congratulating ACRM members, Sonya Kim, PhD and Daniel Klyce, PhD, ABPP, who were recognized as Rehabilitation Psychology 2018 Editorial Board Members of the Year along with Kathleen Bogart, PhD. They were honored for their contributions to the journal based on their reviewer statistics, consistent high quality and timely reviews, and for overall service to the journal.
April 2019
Two ACRM members featured in Captivating! magazine
Congratulations to Ana Calvo, who was featured on the cover of the April Limb Loss Awareness Month issue of Captivating magazine where she shared some advice with those learning to accept a newly acquired disability. Stacy Flynn, ACRM Limb Restoration Rehabilitation Networking Group (LRRNG) Task Force Chair, was also featured in this issue on page 19 as the author of the article, “What Does Limb Loss Mean to You?” Visit the ACRM Limb Restoration Rehabilitation Networking Group webpage and learn how to get involved. Read More
April 2019
Nathan Zasler receives BIAV Legacy Award
Congratulations to ACRM and BI-ISIG member, Nathan Zasler, MD, FAAPM&R, FACRM, BIM-C, who received the Brain Injury Association of Virginia (BIAV) Legacy Award on 6 April. The award recognizes significant, long-term contributions of lasting impact to the field of brain injury.
Dr. Zasler is the CEO and Medical Director of the Concussion Care Centre of Virginia, an outpatient neurorehabilitation practice, and Tree of Life Services, Inc., a living assistance and transitional neurorehabilitation program for persons with acquired brain injury in Richmond, Virginia. Read More
John Morris
Michael Jones
March 2019
Morris and Jones receive CSUN Award for Assistive Technology Research
ACRM members, John Morris, PhD and Mike Jones, PhD, FACRM and colleagues received the CSUN 2019 Dr. Arthur I. Karshmer Award for Assistive Technology Research for their presentation, Use of mHealth Technologies by People with Vision Impairment. The Award recognizes the author(s) of the best submission to the Science/Research Journal Track of the annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference. Award winners are recognized for their exemplary submission, excellence in research, and the advancement of assistive technology. It is with this award that we continue Dr. Karshmer’s legacy of innovative research in the field of assistive technology. Read More
March 2019
Joseph Giacino interviewed in Tonic Magazine
ACRM member, Joseph T. Giacino, PhD, FACRM was interviewed by the online magazine, Tonic, for an article titled, What romantic comedies get wrong about brain damage. Dr. Giacino discussed the cognitive impact of brain injury and how a family’s expectations often differ dramatically from the reality of recovery and rehabilitation. Dr. Giacino is principal investigator for the NIDILRR-funded Spaulding-Harvard Traumatic Brain Injury Model System Center, director of rehabilitation neuropsychology at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Read More
March 2019
Ashraf Gorgey receives Distinguished Alumni Award
Congratulations to ACRM member, Ashraf Gorgey, MPT, PhD, FACSM, FACRM, who was recognized by the University of Georgia College of Education for his career achievements and community leadership. He will receive the Distinguished Alumni Mid-Career Researcher Award during the college’s 14th Annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner on 5 April. At ACRM, Dr. Gorgey leads the SCI-ISIG Functional Electrical Stimulation & Technology Task Force. Read More
February 2019
Tessa Hart receives 2019 Robert L. Moody Prize
Congratulations to ACRM member, Tessa Hart, PhD, FACRM, recipient of the 2019 Robert L. Moody Prize! The award is sponsored by the Center for Recovery, Physical Activity and Nutrition (CERPAN) in the School of Health Professions at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) and the Transitional Learning Center (TLC) of Galveston in recognition of significant contributions in brain injury rehabilitation and research. Dr. Hart is currently the Institute Scientist Emerita and Former Director of the Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Research Laboratory at Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI) and research professor at Jefferson Medical College. Read More
2018
June 2018
Mark Sherer receives Robert L. Moody Prize
Congratulations to long-time ACRM member, Dr. Mark Sherer, PhD, ABPP, FACRM, for being recognized with the prestigious Robert L. Moody Prize for Distinguished Initiatives in Brain Injury Research and Rehabilitation. Dr. Sherer is senior scientist and associate vice president for research at TIRR Memorial Hermann and clinical professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School at UT Health. The Robert L Moody Prize honors individuals or a team of individuals who have made significant contributions in applied brain injury research and rehabilitation. Read More
April 2018
Sarah Morrison interviewed on the BIZ
A traumatic accident in college confirmed Sarah Morrison’s career trajectory to become a physical therapist. In 2017, after spending much of her professional career at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Dr. Morrison became president and CEO. Follow the link to learn more in this inspiring interview from David Rubinger, publisher of the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s BIZ television show. Read More
March 2018
Michele York recognized as a Woman of Excellence
As part of their annual celebration of Women’s History Month, the Baylor College of Medicine developed the Women of Excellence award to recognize Baylor faculty and staff who exemplify excellence as well as values of respect, integrity, innovation and teamwork. Congratulations to ACRM member, Michele York, PhD, ABPP-CN, who was recognized last month with this award. Dr. York is a board certified clinical neuropsychologist, associate professor and section head of neuropsychology in the Department of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine. Read More
March 2018
Wayne Gordon receives the Mount Sinai Jacobi Medallion
ACRM board member and past president, Dr. Wayne Gordon was awarded the prestigious Jacobi Medallion on 15 March for his distinguished achievement in the field of medicine and extraordinary service to Mount Sinai Hospital, School, and alumni community. It is one of the highest honors that Mount Sinai bestows and recognizes a commitment to compassionate care and the advancement of medicine. The awards presentation was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Read More
2017
September 2017
Congratulations to Dr. Shilpa Krishnan
The ACRM Neurodegenerative Diseases Networking Group would like to congratulate Dr. Shilpa Krishnan who was awarded with the highly-competitive 2017 NIDILRR Switzer Research Fellowship. She will investigate Patient-Centered Pressure Ulcer Outcome Preferences: A Mixed-Methods Study. Dr. Krishnan serves as secretary of the Neurodegenerative Diseases Networking Group.
5 July 2017
Angela Colantonio interviewed by ESPN
Angela Colantonio, ACRM member and co-chair of the BI-ISIG Girls & Women with ABI Task Force was quoted last week in ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue 2017. The article highlights how leading guidelines for sports concussion continue to ignore key differences in how women and men experience brain injuries. The article also cites the 2016 Archives of PM&R review of scientific literature on concussion since 1980, which found that of the 221 papers published, only 7 percent reported data by sex. Read More
May 2017
Congratulations to Award Winners Kathleen Bell and Flora Hammond
Two ACRM members and investigators from NIDILRR-funded Model Systems Centers will be honored for their contributions to both the specialty and to people with disabilities by the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R). Kathleen Bell, MD, from the University of Washington Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model System Center, will receive the Frank H. Krusen, MD, Lifetime Achievement Award. Flora Hammond, MD, principal investigator for the Brain Research in Aggression and Irritability Network (BRAIN): Building Evidence-Based Approaches to Managing Traumatic Brain Injury, will receive the Distinguished Member Award. Read More
31 May 2017
Sue Ann Sisto featured on PIX11 News
Stony Brook, NY—Four years ago, Casey Ellin dove into the surf at Jones Beach near Long Island, New York, fractured three vertebrae and was paralyzed from the neck down. Now, after four surgeries and nonstop physical training, he is participating in a unique study at Stony Brook University, led by ACRM member, Sue Ann Sisto. “Locomotor training is an intervention that is proposed to activate the muscles below the level of the injury,” Dr. Sisto said. Casey has achieved noticeable improvements in his arm motion, respiratory capacity, blood pressure control and more. Read More.
May 2017
Sonya Kim Awarded NMSS Pilot Research Grant
Congratulations to ACRM member, Sonya Kim, PhD, CRC, BCB who was awarded the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Pilot Research Grant. The purpose of this research is to perform a psychometric validation of the posttraumatic growth (PTG) scale in caregiving partners of persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Dr. Kim is a clinical instructor of neurology and rehabilitation medicine and research scientist at the New York University Medical Center. She serves as chair of the new ACRM Complementary, Integrative Rehabilitation Medicine Group and chairs a work group of the Measurement Networking Group’s Applied Cognition Task Force.
2016
August 2016
Passing the Torch at Shepherd Center
 Gary Ulicny |
Sarah Morrison |
Shepherd Center President and CEO, Gary Ulicny, PhD, announced his forthcoming retirement from Shepherd Center on 31 March 2017 after 22 years at the rehabilitation hospital. The vice president of clinical services, Sarah Morrison, PT, MBA, MHA, will succeed him.
“Gary Ulicny has led Shepherd Center through a period of tremendous growth and success,” said James Shepherd, co-founder and chairman of the board of Shepherd Center. “He has fostered a culture of excellence that Sarah Morrison will carry on.”
Dr. Ulicny is a past president of ACRM (2010-2011) and Sarah Morrison has been a member since 2011. Read More
August 2016
ACRM Members Honored by BIAA Caveness and Berrol Awards
The Brain Injury Association of America is pleased to announce this year’s award winners. The William Fields Caveness Award is presented to an individual who, through research on both a national and international level, has made outstanding contributions to bettering the lives of people who have sustained a brain injury. The 2016 recipient is ACRM member, Marcel Dijkers, PhD. The Sheldon Berrol, MD Clinical Service Award is presented to an individual who, through a long clinical service career, has made outstanding contributions to improving quality of care, professional training and/or education in the field of brain injury. The winner of the 2016 Sheldon Berrol, MD Clinical Service Award is ACRM members, Mel Glenn, MD. Read More
2014
May 16 2014: Georgia
Lifetime Achievement Award
Former ACRM President, Gary Ulicny, PhD, FACRM, received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Health-Care Heroes Awards sponsored by Atlanta Business Chronicle. He has served more than 20 years as the president and CEO of Shepherd Center, the world’s largest spinal cord injury and brain injury hospital. Gary’s dedication to a holistic treatment philosophy for Shepherd Center’s patients and their families is one of the reasons he is this year’s award recipient. LEARN MORE/VIEW VIDEO
24 April 2014: California
Honoring a lifetime of advocacy
ACRM is proud to congratulate the 2014 IBIA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, ACRM’s very own, Marilyn Price Spivack. Known at ACRM as a powerhouse of influence and compassion, Marilyn is co-founder and past president of the National Head Injury Foundation, a neurotrauma outreach coordinator at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, and a committed advocate for brain injury research. No other is more deserving of the honor she received at the opening of the IBIA World Congress in San Francisco last month for her significant contributions to the field and a lifetime of advocacy for individuals and families affected by brain injury.
27 January 2014: New York
Current ACRM treasurer and former president, Wayne Gordon, 
PhD, ABPP/Cn, FACRM was featured Monday in the NY Daily News discussing the potential symptomology and treatment for concussion, which accounts for about 85 percent of all traumatic brain injuries. Dr. Gordon is a professor of rehabilitation medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York, specializing in the treatment of adults and children with brain injuries. He has worked in the field for 40 years. LEARN MORE
2013
November 2013: Republic of Cyprus
Fofi Constantinidou, PhD, ACRM International Networking Group Chair, received the 2013 Experienced Research Award by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation. The award was presented by the president of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, during a formal ceremony.
Dr. Constantinidou is a professor of language disorders and clinical neuropsychology and director of the Center for Applied Neuroscience at the University of Cyprus. She was recognized for her work on the Neurocognitive Study for the Aging, a longitudinal project with Cypriot adults over the age of 65. This large-scale project with over 500 participants integrates neuropsychological, psychosocial, and biological data to quantitatively assess the exact contribution of modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors to cognitive decline, the development of theoretical models of cognitive reserve, and the contribution of neurocognitive training to cognitive health. LEARN MORE
