BI-ISIG 2019-2020 Media Committee
Mary E. Russell, DO, MS, CLCP
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Medial Director, Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation
TIRR Memorial Hermann – The Woodlands
Assistant Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Dr. Russell is the Medial Director of Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann- The Woodlands and Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She received a Master’s degree in biomedical engineering, with an emphasis on musculoskeletal biomechanics, from the University of Iowa. She then received her medical degree from Des Moines University and completed her residency at the Baylor/University of Texas Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Alliance. She cares for inpatients and outpatients recovering from traumatic brain injury, stroke and neurotrauma. Her clinical interests include spasticity management and brain injury medicine. She is a member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Association of Academic Physiatrists and American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Ghazala T. Saleem, EdD, MS, OTR/L
WEB ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Assistant Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Science
University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Dr. Saleem is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Science at University at Buffalo, State University of New York. She received her research doctorate in movement sciences from Teachers College, Columbia University. Following her doctorate, she completed a year-long fellowship in clinical research at Harvard Medical School. She simultaneously completed a two-and-a-half-year postdoctoral fellowship in the area of pediatric brain injury and physical rehabilitation from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Kennedy Krieger Institute. She earned her Master’s in occupational therapy from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. She is a trained/licensed occupational therapist with extensive clinical experience in pediatrics and neurological disorders. Her research interests include understanding the mechanism of human motor control/learning and neuromodulation via behavioral and neuroimaging techniques in children with acquired brain injury. She is also interested in using motor learning and neuromodulatory interventions to optimize function and recovery in pediatric brain injury. Her current research focuses on studying postural control and related motor disorders in children with mild traumatic brain injury. Another focus of her research is in identifying biomarkers and employing noninvasive brain stimulation approaches in pediatric moderate to severe brain injury, including disorders of consciousness.
Michelle Smith, MPH
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
Assistant Research Scientist
Rusk Rehabilitation Department of Research
Michelle Smith is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Rusk Rehabilitation Department of Research, where she manages the day-to-day activities of various neuro-rehabilitation studies including the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems database. Her professional background and interests are in health communications with the goal to provide vital information to patients in order to help improve their health, in particular, in increasing health literacy. She received her Master’s in Public Health with a focus on health promotion, utilizing health behavior theory to develop health-related programming that appreciates the various barriers and facilitators to good health. She is currently co-Investigator on a mixed-methods research study to understand the experiences of living with Traumatic Brain Injury as a chronic condition from persons living with TBI and their caregivers.
Nicci Kuhl, OTD, OTR/L, CBIS
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Assistant Professor
Drake University in Des Moines
Dr. Kuhl is an assistant professor at Drake University in Des Moines, IA and teaches in the occupational therapy doctorate program. She received her Master’s degree and post-professional Doctorate in occupational therapy from the University of South Dakota. She continues to practice in adult inpatient rehabilitation with a focus on brain injury and wheelchair seating and positioning. She is the chair of the Research and Education Committee for the Iowa Occupational Therapy Association. Her current research interests include investigation of the Quality Indicators assessment and developing normative data for the “Jacket test.” She is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist and a member of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, American Occupational Therapy Association, Iowa Occupational Therapy Association, American Congress of Rehabilitative Medicine, and Neuro-developmental Treatment Association.
