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 graduated from Brown University and from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine and has a Masters of Public Health. Dr. Bazarian was one of the first emergency physicians nationally to be awarded a five-year Career Development Award from the National Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke. The focus of his research was traumatic brain injury epidemiology and outcomes.
Over the years, Dr. Bazarian’s research interest has shifted to finding better ways to diagnose traumatic brain injury, especially concussion. He assembled a diverse group of researchers within the University to tackle this problem, creating a truly translational research team. These efforts earned him an R01 award in 2007 from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development to develop a blood test for brain injury, making him one of only a handful of emergency physicians nationally to have such a grant.
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.
James M. Ecklund, MD
Dr. Ecklund is currently the chairman of the Department of Neurosciences at Inova Fairfax Hospital, Virginia’s largest Trauma Center. Prior to coming to Inova in 2007, he served the last ten years as professor and chairman of the Neurosurgery Program of the National Capital Consortium, which includes Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and National Naval Medical Center and the Uniformed Services University. He obtained his undergraduate education at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He attended medical school at the Uniformed Services University and subsequently completed neurosurgical residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1993.
Dr. Ecklund is a general neurosurgeon with primary clinic interests in neurotrauma, complex spine, and cerebrovascular disease. His research interests include neurotrauma with an emphasis on blast and penetrating injury. He directs a neurotrauma laboratory at the Uniformed Services University, has more than 100 publications and abstracts, and has lectured throughout the world in more than ten different countries. Until his recent retirement, he held the rank of COL in the US Army, and was deployed as a neurosurgeon to both Afghanistan and Iraq. His Neurosurgery Program received the vast majority of the American neurotrauma casualties from the Global War on Terrorism.
Dr. Ecklund has held numerous leadership positions within neurosurgical and national organizations including Chairman of the Membership Committee for the AANS, Chairman of the Joint Committee for Military Neurosurgeons of the AANS and CNS, President of the Washington Academy of Neurosurgery, and Program Director for the 11-19th International Spine and Peripheral Nerve workshops among others. He has also served on multiple oversight and advisory boards for the Veterans Administration, Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, NATO, Neurotrauma Foundation, and Brain Trauma Foundation. He has won numerous awards.
Maria Mouratidis, PsyD
Dr. Mouratidis is a licensed neuropsychologist and currently the command consultant and subject matter expert for Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health at the National Naval Medical Center.
She received her BA in psychology and MA in clinical psychology from Loyola College in Maryland, and her PsyD from Agrosy University. She completed both her psychology internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine and was recruited to the National Naval Medical Center from the faculty of Yale University School of Medicine.
At the National Naval Medical Center, Dr. Mouratidis is the command consultant and subject matter expert for Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health. Previously, she created and led the Traumatic Stress and Brain Injury Program to provide assessment and treatment for service members with Traumatic Brain Injury and/or psychological disorders. As the head of the Traumatic Stress and Brain Injury Program, she was responsible for providing clinical inpatient and outpatient services, training psychology and psychiatry interns and residents, coordinating behavioral healthcare services for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom patients, and being an integral member of the hospital’s casualty care team. As the Command Consultant and Subject Matter Expert, Dr. Mouratidis regularly briefs members of Congress, Pentagon officials, foreign dignitaries, represents the National Naval Medical Center in collaborations with local, state, and federal partners. She is actively involved in the development of the concept of operations of the new Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. Dr. Mouratidis is regarded as a national expert and lectures widely on the areas of Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health.