2023 Spring Edition
Chair’s Welcome to 2023
By: Angelle Sander, Ph.D., FACRM
Dear BI-ISIG Colleagues and Friends,
Welcome to a new year of BI-ISIG collaboration and productivity! I am excited to start this year as your new Chair, and I am already so proud of the accomplishments our teams have made. During 2022, our members have inaugurated the Culture and Diversity in TBI Task Force, developed a family education website on disorders of consciousness, disseminated a physician tip card on chronic brain injury, led a special issue of Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation on interpersonal violence and brain injury, updated the definition of mild TBI, developed a pediatric cognitive rehabilitation training, and published and disseminated the 2nd edition of the cognitive rehabilitation manual and companion course! Our members have also partnered with other organizations to develop and disseminate products, including BrainLine, the National Coalition on Children’s Brain Injury, the Scientific Committee of the International Consensus in Sport Group, and the American Congress of Surgeons. This is a large list of accomplishments, and it is not exhaustive of all of the products or partnerships that have emerged from our Task Forces during the past year. Our members are tireless when it comes to working to improve the lives of persons with brain injury and their families, and in educating health professionals in the state-of-the-science rehabilitation interventions. I could not be prouder to lead this amazing group!
I would like to extend a special thank you to our immediate Past Chair, Tom Bergquist, and our outgoing Past Chair, Kristen Dams-O’Connor. I have soaked up knowledge and wisdom from them over the past two years, and this will guide me in my leadership over the next two years. Thank you both for all that you have done for the BI-ISIG!
As we begin this new year together, I want to emphasize that I am here to serve as an advocate for our BI-ISIG. Communication is crucial for our continued success, and I encourage you to voice your ideas for organization, product development, collaboration, and any other topics. My goal is to facilitate your energy and ideas in ways that will benefit our members and the stakeholders that we all serve- including individuals with TBI, their care partners, and rehabilitation and other health professionals. I hope to create a climate in which our Task Force members continue to feel empowered to create great products and to collaborate with each other and with outside organizations to be the leaders in rehabilitation research and practice. I thank our Task Force Chairs and Executive Committee members, as well as all of our BI-ISIG members for their dedication and passion, and I look forward to an amazing year!
Angelle
