APPENDIX B:
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Linda D. Cowan, co-chair, is George Lynn Cross Research Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health. Her research activities have been primarily in the areas of neurological disorders in infants and children, cardiovascular diseases, and research methodologies. She is currently working with a doctoral candidate on a study of risk factors for injury in middle and high school football players. Dr. Cowan has served on several IOM committees dealing with vaccine-related issues.
Michael V. Johnston, co-chair, is Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Kennedy Krieger Institute, as well as director of both the Division of Neurology and Developmental Medicine and the Neuroscience Laboratory. Dr. Johnston is an attending physician at both Johns Hopkins Hospital and Kennedy Krieger Children’s Hospital. Dr. Johnston and his group perform clinical and basic laboratory research focused on developing therapies to reduce brain injury in infants and children as well as to promote recovery by enhancing brain plasticity. His laboratory was one of the first to describe the mechanisms through which the neurotransmitter glutamate triggers brain injury from lack of oxygen, trauma, and other insults.
Jeffrey T. Barth holds the John Edward Fowler Professorship in Clinical Neuropsychology, an endowed chair in the Eminent Scholar’s Program, University of Virginia Medical School. He is Chief of the Division of Medical Psychology and Director of the Neuropsychology Center in the Departments of Psychiatric Medicine and Neurological Surgery. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his research on the neuropsychological sequelae of mild traumatic brain injury and the use of sports-related concussion as a laboratory assessment model for brain trauma.
Jill Brooks is Director of the Neuropsychology Program in the Department of Neurology at the Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Group. The Neuropsychology Program provides diagnostic evaluations to elucidate brain and behavior relationships. Dr. Brooks’ research interests are in clinical neuropsychology and concussion in sports.
Joseph “Trey” Crisco is Director of the Bioengineering Laboratory, Associate Professor of Orthopaedics, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Engineering at Brown University, Providence, RI. He is Director of Research for the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) and serves on the medical advisory committees for USA Baseball and US Lacrosse. Dr. Crisco’s primary research focus is on injury mechanisms ranging from muscle contusions to advanced imagining modalities of in vivo joint mechanics. His work is supported by the Whitaker Foundation and the NIH, with over sixty peer-reviewed manuscripts and ninety abstracts.
Ruben J. Echemendia is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Psychological Clinic at The Pennsylvania State University. His clinical and research interests include clinical neuropsychology and sports neu-
ropsychology. He is particularly interested in the diagnosis and recovery of function after mild traumatic brain injury. Dr. Echemendia is the Director of Penn State’s Cerebral Concussion Program, a multi-sport prospective study of concussion. He is the Co-Director of the National Hockey League Neuropsychological Testing Program and a consultant to the Pittsburgh Penguins Hockey Club.
Shawn D. Gale is Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Virginia Health System. His clinical activities include neuropsychological assessment and consultation of various neuropathlogical conditions, consultation with inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation treatment teams, and in designing appropriate treatment plans and monitoring treatment outcome. His research interests include neuroimaging and clinical outcome as it relates to the neuropathological, neurocognitive, and neurobehavioral effects of CNS injury and disease.
Kevin Guskiewicz is Associate Professor and Director of the Sports Medicine Research Laboratory in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of North Carolina. Over the past eight years, his research has focused on sport-related concussion, investigating the effect of sport-related concussion on postural stability and cognitive function and the long-term effect of soccer participation on neurocognitive performance in college players. Dr. Guskiewicz has been the recipient of eight funded research grants, and has published 20 journal articles and three textbook chapters related to mild head injury in sport. In 1997, he chaired the 1997 NATA Pronouncement Committee on Mild Head Injury in Sport, and served as editor for the Journal of Athletic Training’s Special Issue on Concussion in Athletes (October 2001).
Albert C. Hergenroeder is Associate Professor or Pediatrics and Chief of the Section of Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine; Chief, Sports Medicine Clinic, Texas Children’s Hospital. He is Board Certified in Pediatrics, Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine. He is a team physician for one college and three high school athletic programs. His expertise is in clinical management of sports injuries.
David A. Hovda is Professor of Neurosurgery and the Director of the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center. Over the years his research has focused on the pathobiology of traumatic brain injury and, specifically, on the factors that contribute to cellular vulnerability and consequences when mild traumatic brain injury occurs early in life. He is councilor and past-president of the National Neurotrauma Society and has served as consultant for the National Football Leagues, several biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms, and on advisory panels for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
James P. Kelly is Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology at Northwestern University and Medical Director of the Chicago Neurological Institute. He received the 1997 James Brady Award from the Brain Injury Association of Illinois. Dr. Kelly helped develop severity and return-to-play criteria for the American Academy of Neurology.
Donald T. Kirkendall is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopedics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physical Education, Exercise & Sports Sciences. He is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and serves on the Editorial Board for the Soccer Journal of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. His research interest is in the physiology of exercise.
Muriel D. Lezak is Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Neurosurgery at Oregon Health Science University. Dr. Lezak has a long-standing interest in assessment of mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI), particularly as they relate to practical, everyday functioning and to rehabilitation procedures and prospects. Her interest in the neuropsychological ramifications of soccer was sparked by the opportunity to work with the Dutch neuropsychologist Eric Matser on the
analysis and interpretation of data from a research series involving Dutch soccer players, both professional and amateur. Her publications include articles on TBI assessment, assessment for rehabilitation, and the psychosocial problems associated with TBI; she has edited a book on TBI and may be best known for her book, Neuropsychological Assessment.
Robin L. Roof is a Research Associate in CNS Pharmacology at Pfizer. She has 12 years experience conducting research, as well as 30 publications in the area of gender differences in brain injury. Dr. Roof conducted the original research that demonstrated the neuroprotective effects of the sex-related hormone progesterone in the early 1990s. She has since published a number of papers describing neuroprotective roles of progesterone and estrogen as well as gender differences after brain injury.