Translational Neuroscience & Colorado Educator's Conference
Speakers
Currently scheduled to present:
Nazanin Bahraini, Ph.D.
Nazanin Bahraini, Ph.D. is Director of Education with the VISN 19 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado Denver, School of Medicine. Her primary area of research interest is focused on the interplay between neurological and psychological trauma and in particular, the compounding effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychiatric co-morbidity on suicide risk. She is Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator for multiple federally funded projects examining psychiatric and functional outcomes in Veterans with TBI and co-morbid psychiatric disorders as well as the effectiveness of novel treatments for mTBI and associated psychiatric and behavioral co-morbidities. She has consulted with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment regarding ways to improve and standardize surveillance of suicide related deaths in the state of Colorado, and has collaborated with national mental health leaders in the VA and DoD to identify clinical practice guidelines for suicide risk assessment and management. In addition to these efforts, Dr. Bahraini has several peer-reviewed publications and has presented nationally on topics related to TBI, psychiatric co-morbidity and suicide risk.
Chuck Bombardier, Ph.D.
Charles Bombardier is a Professor and Head of the Division of Clinical and Neuropsychology in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He earned a BS in psychology from the University of Washington in 1979 and a PhD in clinical psychology from Washington State University in 1987. He completed his internship and post-doctoral fellowship in medical psychology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. In 1989 he joined the faculty the University of Washington and began his clinical work and research at Harborview Medical Center, one of the UW teaching hospitals. Dr. Bombardier specializes in the rehabilitation of persons with traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis. During the last 10 years, he has studied the prevalence and impact of depression in people with TBI as well as the efficacy of numerous approaches to treating major depression after TBI. He has been the principal investigator or co-investigator on trials of antidepressant medications, physical activity promotion, exercise, telephone counseling and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Dr. Bombardier has received federal research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
Tim Feeney, Ph.D.
Tim Feeney is the Executive Director of Transitional Services for Youth and Families, and for 20 years was the Project Director of the New York Neurobehavioral Resource Project. Both programs developed to support individuals with neurological impairments, brain injury and significant behavioral challenges to live successfully in the community. Tim has co-authored over 50 scholarly journal articles and book chapters on brain injury, co-authored the book Collaborative Brain Injury Intervention: Positive Everyday Routines with Mark Ylvisaker, and speaks and consults the world over on issues related to supporting individuals with brain injury. Over the course of the past 25+ years, Tim has worked in a variety of capacities in human services including: special education teacher, program director of a state program for individuals with autism, coordinator of educational services, coordinator of behavioral services, staff psychologist, consulting behavior specialist, and an Assistant Professor of Special Education.He has been responsible for the procurement and coordination of over $10,000,000 in grant-funded programs serving individuals with challenging behaviors, autism, and persons with brain injury and challenging behaviors.
Theresa D. HernÁndez, Ph.D.
Theresa D. Hernández received her B.A. in 1983 and her Ph.D. in 1988 from the Psychology Department at the University of Texas at Austin. She completed a predoctoral fellowship at Cambridge University in England. Her post-doctoral fellowship was in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University in the School of Medicine. Dr. Hernández holds the position of Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She also has an appointment at the VISN 19 MIRECC (Veterans Integrated Service Network 19, Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center). Dr. Hernández program of research is aimed at developing treatment strategies that effectively and positively impact neurobehavioral function during periods in which the recovery process is apparently "less vulnerable" to intervention, with a priority being to to identify and rigorously test novel treatment strategies. In addition to receiving a 2011 Integrative Medicine Award from Prevention Magazine, the Department of Defense (DOD) is currently funding a collaborative study of hers.
Jeffrey S. Kreutzer, Ph.D., ABPP
Jeffrey S. Kreutzer is a Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Medical College of Virginia Campus. He serves as Director of Virginia's federally designated Traumatic Brain Injury Model System and coordinates VCU Health System outpatient services for families and persons with brain injury. A founding member of the Brain Injury Association of Virginia, Dr. Kreutzer is a neuropsychologist and family therapist with more than two decades experience developing, implementing, and evaluating brain injury services. He has published more than 160 peer reviewed papers and is the primary developer of the Brain Injury Family Intervention, an empirically based education, skill building, and psychotherapeutic program for families. Dr. Kreutzer is the Editor-in-Chief of the recently published Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology, and in 2010 he received the Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Neuropsychology Award from the National Academy of Neuropsychology.
Karen McAvoy, Psy.D.
Karen McAvoy is dually credentialed as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and a School Psychologist in the state of Colorado. After a 20 year career that spanning positions such as School Psychologist, Coordinator of the Brain Injury Team, Coordinator of Mental Health Services and Coordinator of Manifestation Determinations for Cherry Creek School District, Karen joined the Colorado Department of Education in 2010. As a Brain Injury Specialist/Consultant for CDE, Karen has written policy and guidelines for Colorado school districts related to mild to severe brain injury, special education determination of brain injury and assessment and intervention for students with brain injury.