Stroke ISIG 2020 Election

The Stroke ISIG Nominating Committee is excited to announce the 2020 slate of outstanding candidates who will serve on the Stroke ISIG Executive Committee, if elected. If you are a voting member of the Stroke ISIG and do not receive an email invitation to participate in the election by 6 July 2020, please contact Cindy Robinson for assistance.

FOR SECRETARY THE CANDIDATE IS:

Kimberly Hreha, EdD, MS, OTR/L (INCUMBENT)
Stroke Clinical Research Coordinator
University of Washington

I am interested in continuing my position as Secretary for the Stroke Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group. Over the past two years, I have enjoyed being a member of the Executive Committee and taking minutes for our monthly meetings. Participating in this meeting has provided me with opportunity to listen to each taskforce’s updates, interact with leadership, and experience first-hand the dedication this group has to developing and improving initiatives to better serve the members of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the stroke population. I have always been an organized and detail-oriented person; therefore, this is an ideal role for me. I would enthusiastically welcome another two- year term as Secretary.

FOR EDUCATION OFFICER THE CANDIDATE IS:

JR Rizzo, MD, MSCI (INCUMBENT)
Stroke-ISIG Vision Task Force Co-Chair
Assistant Professor and Director of Innovation and Technology
PM&R, Rusk Rehabilitation; Dept of Neurology; Dept of Mech Eng.; Dept of Biomed Eng.
Director, VMIL and REACTIV (Laboratories)

Thank you so much for considering my nomination to serve as the inaugural Education Officer for the Stroke-ISIG. I am an Assistant Professor and Residency Research Director at Rusk Rehabilitation within New York University’s School of Medicine. My research focuses on the study and treatment of motor control after acquired brain injury (ABI) and the study and design of assistive technologies for those with visual impairment. I received the Deborah L. Wilkerson Early Career Award from ACRM in 2018, and National Stroke Association and ACRM Young Investigator Award in Post-Acute Stroke Rehabilitation Award in 2017. I have been a member for almost six years and started serving since my initial days. In 2012-13, I launched the Stroke Vision Task Force with Pamela Roberts. We have had a very successful run with peer-reviewed publications and multiple national presentations on our scholarly products. I now continue this group with Kimberly Hreha, as Co-Chair. I am an active member of the Program Committee and continue to serve.

Most importantly for this position, Education is central to my mission in my role with 5 primary appointments across the NYU community, working in medicine, engineering and many basic science fields. I have also designed and co-piloted an innovative clinical research platform at NYU SOM that is used in our Dept of PMR and is garnering attention by other Depts presently. As it relates to recruiting leading speakers for the best speaker content, I have been involved in many conference efforts where not only I have led programming but also aggregated and reviewed submissions to make speaking decisions; I truly enjoy this process. Overall, I have a very strong commitment to ACRM and the Stroke-ISIG and truly appreciate your consideration for this position and in this election process.

FOR MEMBER-AT-LARGE THE CANDIDATE IS:

Debra S. Ouellette, MS, OTR/L, BCPR, SCLV (INCUMBENT)
Senior Occupational Therapist
Casa Colina Hospital and Centers For Healthcare

I have been a member of ACRM beginning in 2005, over my membership years I have had the opportunity to develop inter-professional relationships, network with others with the common goal of providing the best to our rehabilitation clients.   I believe in rehabilitation and the mission of improving lives of those disabled through interdisciplinary rehabilitation and the research that we all perform to achieve this goal which is in line with ACRM’s mission.  Having been an occupational therapist for over 35 years,  with the mission of  providing the best treatment and assessment to my clients, along with educating an inter-professional staff has been my goal, this aligns with the Stroke ISIG goal of  being a leader in stroke rehabilitation. Being a member of ACRM has lead to participation  in studies to improve Stroke care in our rehabilitation communities such as the current V-SASS multisite study.

Being a Clinical Director at my facility I have the role of educating and promoting high standards of rehabilitation practice with all of the staff that treat stroke clients.  Demonstrating participation in the community of professionals is an important component of being a leader in the field of rehabilitation.

I have been a member of the Stoke ISIG and performed the role of Member At Large along with participation in the ACRM Training Institute   As member at large I support the Stroke ISIG in all areas as an “as needed” representative and facilitator of the goals of the Stroke ISIG. It is my  belief that it is important to support all Stroke practitioners by reviewing and recommending research priorities, advocating for stroke rehabilitation and disseminating the information to the community beyond ACRM.

I look forward to continuing the role of Member At Large to support the Stroke ISIG in all of its endeavors to support the rehabilitation community.

FOR MEMBERSHIP OFFICER THE CANDIDATE IS:

Maria Cecilia Alpasan, OTR/L, CPHQ (INCUMBENT)
Quality and Education Coordinator
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Cedars-Sinai

Cecille has over 25 years of experience in rehabilitation across the continuum of care as a practicing occupational therapist. The last 10 years have been devoted to responsibilities in the areas of quality and education as it relates to rehabilitation. Cecille brings with her a strong sense of the importance of collaboration and creativity which helps with her duties. Her priorities include activities related to regulatory, patient safety, utilization review, performance improvement, as well as educational initiatives such as staff development and  post-professional programs across all therapy disciplines. She is also active in community education, and specifically in the CSMC stroke support groups. Cecille is passionate about health literacy and the use of technology in all aspects of patient education.

She is a member of the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC) and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)’s Roster of Fellowship Reviewers and the Fellowship Program Review Committee. She is on her first term as a member of the California Hospital Association’s Post-Acute Care Advisory Board. She has been part of the ACRM’s Program Planning Committee for the past 2 years.

Cecille has a Master of Arts degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern California, and is also a graduate of the University of the Philippines. She is currently working towards her doctorate in Health Sciences Administration.