About Ask the Expert

Jeffrey J. Bazarian, MD, MPH Dr. Bazarian is an emergency physician with a strong research interest in traumatic brain injury. He is associate professor of Emergency Medicine, Neurology, and Neurosurgery at the Center for Neural Development and Disease, University of Rochester Medical Center. He is also conducting research to find better ways to diagnose traumatic brain injury, especially concussion. Dr. Bazarian has served on several TBI-related task forces and panels for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation. He is currently involved in an Institute of Medicine panel attempting to determine the long-term health consequence of head injuries among American troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Janet Brown, MA, CCC-SLP Ms. Brown is a certified speech-language pathologist who spent twenty years in practice at the Veterans Administration Medical Center and at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC. She is the current director of Health Care Services at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Celeste Campbell, PsyD Dr. Campbell is a neuropsychologist in the Polytrauma Program at the Washington, DC Veterans Administration Medical Center. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Rehabilitation Neuropsychology at National Rehabilitation Hospital and has served as adjunct faculty for the George Washington University Graduate Certificate Program in Special Education and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Shana De Caro, Esq. is an officer of the American Association for Justice, Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Civil Justice Foundation. She serves as editor of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers' monthly legal update. She has been a member of the Medical Malpractice Review Panels in New York State and is a former law secretary to a Justice of the Supreme Court, Kings County. She has served as a member of the Executive Committee-Chappaqua PTA Special Education Pre-K through 12th Grade. Shana is a trial and appellate lawyer focusing her practice on representing victims of traumatic brain injury and other catastrophic injuries. She has been selected for inclusion in Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in American Law. Shana has been named one of the top 100 trial lawyers in New York by the American Trial Lawyers Association and is an Elite Lawyer. Shana can be reached at De Caro & Kaplen, LLP, 427 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, NY 10570; 914.747.4410 or toll-free at 1.866.BRAIN.LAW.

John D. Corrigan, PhD Dr. John D. Corrigan is a professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Ohio State University, and director of the Ohio Valley Center for Brain Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation. He is the project director for the Ohio Regional Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, a multi-center, longitudinal research program funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Dr. Corrigan chairs the Executive Committee of the TBI Model Systems Project Directors. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. He has served on the Advisory Committee to the National Center on Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is a former member of the boards of directors of the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and the Brain Injury Association of America. Dr. Corrigan has received local and national awards for his service and research in the field, including the Brain Injury Association of America's William Fields Caveness Award and the 2007 Robert L. Moody Prize.

Steven Flanagan, MD Dr. Steven Flanagan is professor and chairman of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, and the medical director of the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center. He was formerly the vice chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the medical director of the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program. Dr. Flanagan has served on medical advisory boards of many national and international committees and has presented at scientific meetings both nationally and internationally, most notably on topics pertaining to brain injury rehabilitation. He has authored numerous chapters and publications and has participated in both federally and industry sponsored research, funded by such organization as the National Institute on Aging.

Gerard A. Gioia, PhD Dr. Gioia is a pediatric neuropsychologist and the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Neuropsychology at Children's National Medical Center, where he directs the Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education (SCORE) Program. He is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine. He has particular expertise in mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). He is the Principal Investigator of several multi-site CDC-funded research studies of mild TBI in children and adolescents. He is a major contributing author to the updated 2007 edition of the CDC's Physician Toolkit for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury entitled "Heads Up: Brain Injury in your Practice" and the toolkit for parents and young athletes entitled "Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports." He was also a panel member of the 2008 International Concussion in Sport Group Consensus meeting in Zurich. He is the 2005 recipient of the Brain Injury Association of Maryland's Frances Bateson Dexter Award for his dedication and outstanding service and support to the brain injury community.

Gregory L. Goodrich, PhD Dr. Goodrich received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology in 1974 from Washington State University. His career with the US Department of Veterans Affairs began in 1974 and he is currently supervisory research psychologist (Psychology Service) assigned to the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center. He also services as the program coordinator for the Optometric Research Fellowship Program at the VA in Palo Alto. Dr. Goodrich has been an active member of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired serving as its president, and past president. He currently serves as a member of the research advisory committee of Lighthouse International and a member of the national program advisory committee of the American Foundation for the Blind. Greg is also a research consultant to Neuro Vision Technology Systems. His primary areas of research are low vision reading and mobility and outcome studies. Most recently his research has focused on the treatment of polytrauma veterans with visual loss returning from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Brian D. Greenwald, MD Dr. Greenwald is currently an assistant professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, he is the medical director of Brain Injury Rehabilitation at the Mount Sinai Hospital's Rehabilitation Center in New York City. He is the medical director for Rehabilitation Specialists, a day and residential program for people with brain injury, in Fair Lawn, NJ (www.rehab-specialists.com). He is also a consultant for brain injury program at Park Terrace Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rego Park, Queens (www.park-terrace.com), and the co-project director for the New York Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (www.tbicentral.org) (http://msktc.washington.edu/tbi/index.html). Dr. Greenwald has been serving on the Board of Trustees for the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey since 2002 (www.bianj.org). Dr. Greenwald has published multiple articles in the areas of brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Currently, he is involved in several research studies to improve the care of people with brain injury.

Michael V. Kaplen, Esq., is a partner in the New York law firm, De Caro & Kaplen, LLP. He is the chairperson of the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council and the immediate past president of the Brain Injury Association of New York State. He has been named a New York Super Lawyer for the years 2006, 2007, and 2008 and one of the top 100 trial lawyers in New York State by the American Association of Trial Lawyers. Mr. Kaplen's legal practice focuses primarily on representing persons with brain injury caused by automobile accidents, medical malpractice, and other forms of negligence. He is a noted national author and lecturer on Legal Issues and Advocacy in the field of traumatic brain injury. He publishes a web blog on the latest news and information on traumatic brain injury at www.braininjury.blogs.com.

Michael Paul Mason Michael Paul Mason has served as an editor for two literary publications, and has appeared on several national media outlets, including the Lehrer Newshour, CBS News, and NPR's Morning Edition. His writings have appeared in several newspapers and magazines, including Discover, The New York Times, and The Believer. Mason remains active as a lecturer and speaker. Mason has also built a reputation for noteworthy journalism. When Mason's article, "Dead Men Walking", appeared in Discover magazine, it ignited a national debate about the treatment of brain injured soldiers. Mason has since traveled to Iraq to report on healthcare and humanitarian issues. Mason's first book, Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath is an exploration into the harsh realities endured by brain injury survivors. While currently a brain injury projects manager at the Neurologic Rehabilitation Institute at Brookhaven Hospital, Mason continues to advocate on behalf of Americans with brain injury and is involved with several national legislative initiatives. He is currently at work on a non-fiction book called The Human Assembly: The Discovery, History, and Industry of our Parts, Tissues, and Organs. Learn more at www.michaelpaulmason.com.

Elaine Phillips, MSP, CCC-SLP, has 17 years of experience in the field of brain injury, both as a speech-language pathologist as well as managing the outpatient brain injury rehabilitation program at Roger C Peace Rehabilitation Hospital in Greenville, SC. In addition, she is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist-Trainer and is Board President of the Brain Injury Alliance of South Carolina. Elaine is the research consultant for the BrainLine project

Carolyn Rocchio Mrs. Rocchio is a nationally recognized advocate, author, and speaker in the field of brain injury. Her expertise in brain injury developed as a result of a 1982 auto crash in which her son sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. She is the author of Ketchup on the Baseboard: Rebuilding Life After Brain Injury and is the founder of the Brain Injury Association of Florida.

Nathan D. Zasler, MD, FAAPM&R, FAADEP, DAAPM, CBIST, is an internationally respected physician specialist in brain injury care and rehabilitation. He is CEO and Medical Director of the Concussion Care Centre of Virginia, an outpatient neurorehabilitation practice, as well as, Tree of Life, a living assistance and transitional neurorehabilitation program for persons with brain injury in Glen Allen, Virginia. He is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and fellowship trained in brain injury. Dr. Zasler is a Clinical Professor of PM&R at VCU in Richmond, Virginia, as well as a Clinical Associate Professor of PM&R at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. He also serves as a consultant in neurorehabilitation to the Northeast Center for Special Care in New York. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians, and a diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management. Dr. Zasler is a practicing clinician who is involved with community-based neurorehabilitation and neuromedical assessment and management of persons with brain injury, neurodisabililty, as well as chronic pain. www.tree-of-life.com.