Nathan D. Zasler, MD, FAAPM&R, FAADEP, DAAPM, CBIST
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. His main areas of clinical and research interest include neuromedical issues in acquired brain injury (particularly mild TBI, neuropsychopharmacology and low level neurologic states), differential diagnosis in acquired brain injury community-based care issues, as well as chronic pain rehabilitation including headache.
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.
Carolyn Rocchio
Carolyn 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, as well as numerous publications and book chapters. She is the Founder of the Brain Injury Association of Florida, a current member of the Defense Health Board Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Panel and the Health Resource Services Administration Traumatic Brain Injury Technical Assistance Center Advisory Committee. She formerly served on the Traumatic Brain Injury Standards Advisory Committee for CARF, the Executive Committee of the Brain Injury Association of America, the Florida Board of Physical Therapy Practice as well as various other federal and state appointments.
She is the recipient of numerous awards for advocacy, including the Jim and Sarah Brady Award for Public Service, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Department of Health, John Young Lecture Series at Craig Hospital of Colorado and the Advocacy and Public Policy award from the North American Brain Injury Society.
Sarah Wade
Sarah Wade is the wife of retired Army Sergeant Edward “Ted” Wade. Following the attacks of September 11, he was called on to serve first in Afghanistan and later in Iraq. On February 14, 2004, his humvee was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on a mission in Al Mahmudiyah. He sustained a severe TBI, suffered a transhumeral traumatic amputation, multiple fractured bones, soft tissue shrapnel injuries, and complications due to acute anemia, hypergycemia, and infections. Though SGT Wade remained in a coma for more two months, and withdrawal of life support was discussed, he made a remarkable recovery.
SGT Wade was one of the first major explosive blast polytrauma cases from Operation Iraqi Freedom that the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs had to treat. Sarah suspended her studies to serve as an advocate for her husband, since access to the necessary care often required intervention from the highest levels of government, or changes to federal law. In addition, she has acted as his primary caregiver and case manager for the last four years.
Born and raised in Washington, DC, Sarah and Ted currently have a home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She has moved around with her husband, who has been treated at eight medical facilities, since his evacuation to Germany.