|
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Research StaffAdministration Clinical Trials SCI Research ABI Research MS Research Assistive Technology Research David F. Apple, Jr., M.D. Medical Director Emeritus Principal Investigator, SCI Model System of Care Phone: 404-350-7353 Fax: 404-350-7596 email: david_apple@shepherd.org David F. Apple, Jr., M.D., served as Medical Director of Shepherd Center since the hospital's inception in 1975 until 2005, and now holds the position of Medical Director Emeritus. Dr. Apple earned his B.A. at University of Virginia in 1958 where he was President of the College of Arts and Sciences and Chairman of the Honor Council. He earned his M.D. at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1962. Certified in orthopedic surgery, Dr. Apple is recognized as an expert in the field of spinal cord injury. He has written numerous articles on caring for spinal cord–injured patients and holds academic appointments at Emory University and Georgia State University. Among his many awards, Dr. Apple was the recipient of the ASIA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 as well as the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Dr. Apple has served in leadership positions on many national and regional medical societies and associations including the presidency of the American Spinal Injury Association, Georgia Orthopaedic Society, the Society of Physicians of the National Basketball Association and the Orthpaedic Rehabilitation Association, which he founded. Associate Director, Spinal Cord Injury Research Deborah Backus is an experienced physical therapist clinician, educator, and researcher whose primary objective is to facilitate interaction between basic scientists, clinical researchers, and clinicians interested in improving functional recovery in people with neurological dysfunction. Debbie received her B.S. in Physical Therapy from Sargent College in 1986, and focused her clinical care on individuals with movement disorders primarily due to neurological injury and disease. She received her Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2004, and her research interests emanate directly from her earlier clinical experiences. Debbie’s research efforts are centered on gaining a greater understanding of how sensory inputs can be used to facilitate plasticity and improved function in people with nervous system disease and dysfunction, specifically spinal cord injury. She is also interested in applying information from basic science to the evaluation and development of activity based interventions for SCI. As associate director of spinal cord injury research, Debbie strives to facilitate the translation of this research into efficacious and cost-effective treatment interventions and programs as appropriate to maximize the potential for lifelong recovery in people with neurological injury and disease. Ismari Clesson, RN, MSCN, CCRP Ismari Clesson oversees the clinical trials team, which specializes in acute and chronic spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, stroke, pain and urology research. Clesson received a nursing degree from the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing in Atlanta. She joined Shepherd Center in 1989. She has worked as a rehabilitation nurse, manager for outpatient services and was instrumental in the founding of the MS Center and clinical research trials at Shepherd Center. Clesson also served as community and physician liaison for the Center for two years. She was certified as a rehabilitation nurse in 1992 and became a multiple sclerosis certified nurse in 2002. Clesson has been a Certified Clinical Research Professional since 2003. Lesley M. Hudson, MA Lesley Hudson wrote the initial application for funding for the Shepherd Center Model Spinal Cord Injury Program in 1982. Since that time, she has served as co-director of the project, with specific responsibilities for overall operation of the grant, including fiscal management, personnel management and data collection. Hudson has written extensively on the model system, with particular emphasis on the return to work after injury. She was the first Director of Research at Shepherd Center, and served as chair of the Research Review Committee from 1985-1995. Hudson has been on staff at Shepherd Center since 1976. Michael L. Jones, Ph.D. Michael Jones is director of the Virginia C. Crawford Research Institute and has extensive experience in rehabilitation research administration and clinical program development. A behavioral psychologist by training, Jones is responsible for fostering an integrated program of research among the clinical programs at Shepherd Center, establishing research partnerships with other academic and research centers, and expanding support for Shepherd Center's research initiatives. Jones directs Shepherd Center's restorative research initiative and is co-director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Mobile Wireless Technologies, a joint research program between Shepherd Center and the Georgia Center for Advanced Telecommunications Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Darryl Kaelin, M.D. Dr. Darryl Kaelin formerly served for 10 years as Medical Director of Brain Injury Rehabilitation at the Hook Institute in Indianapolis. He completed his M.D. residency in PM&R at Virginia Commonwealth University / Medical College of Virginia. His current practice at Shepherd Center involves both providing inpatient and outpatient services to individuals with neurological impairment including TBI, stroke, and other acquired brain injury, and providing medical oversight and direction at Shepherd Pathways. Dr. Kaelin has published 12 articles in peer-reviewed journals on brain injury medical education, pharmaceutical treatments, spasticity and service reimbursements. He has also led numerous, non-published medication trials sponsored through pharmaceutical funding. Dr. Kaelin has delivered presentations at regional and national conferences in the areas of spasticity management, pharmaceutical management of brain injury and medical business practice issues. Stephen N. Macciocchi, Ph.D., ABPP Stephen Macciocchi's primary research interests are in the area of brain injury. He serves on several editorial boards of journals devoted to brain injury and rehabilitation research. He has also served as Co-Director of Shepherd Center's Traumatic Brain Injury Model System and currently has a National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) grant focused on influence of co-morbid brain injury on persons with spinal cord injury. Macciocchi is also interested in the diagnosis and treatment of sports concussion and currently serves as a neuropsychological consultant to the University of Georgia Department of Sports Medicine. Finally, Macciocchi is responsible for facilitating development of research within Shepherd Center's Clinical Neuropsychology Fellowship training program, which he directs. Ronald T. Seel, Ph.D. Ronald T. Seel is Director of Brain Injury Research at Shepherd Center. He completed his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Seel was competitively awarded a post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Psychology at VCU/MCV. He was a co-recipient of the 2001 Association of Academic Physiatrists Excellence in Research Writing Award. He is the co-author of the Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory, a statistically validated assessment tool that measures the effects of acquired brain dysfunction on everyday living. Seel facilitates staff education, consults on research studies, leads studies, seeks support, and builds inter-center collaborations in his capacity as Director of Brain Injury Research. Stephen Sprigle, Ph.D., PT Ben Thrower, M.D. Since 1995, the Multiple Sclerosis Institute at Shepherd has worked with researchers at Harvard Medical School and Emory University to test new MS compounds, investigate new drug therapies and search for a genetic marker for immune activity in people undergoing various MS therapies. Dr. Thrower serves as the Medical Director of the MS Institute at Shepherd Center. He previously served as the Medical Director of the Holy Family Multiple Sclerosis Institute in Spokane, WA. In Spokane he was the Chair of the Inland Northwest Chapter of the NMSS. In 2000, he was awarded the Norm Cohn Hope Chest Award by the National MS Society, recognizing his work with the MS community. In 2005, he was the first physician inductee into the Georgia Chapter of the National MS Society Volunteer Hall of Fame. Dr. Thrower is a clinical instructor of neurology at Emory University and participates actively in clinical research. He serves on the board of directors of the Georgia Chapter of the National MS Society and has served on the board for the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Institutes. Combining his professional interests with his love of motorcycles he founded the non-profit organization HAMS, Hogs Against MS. His wife, Karen, is a pediatrician. They have three children, Stephanie, Nathan and Sam. Keith Tansey, M.D., Ph.D. Research Faculty Departments of Neurology and Physiology Emory University School of Medicine Attending Physician, Spinal Cord Injury Clinic Atlanta VA Medical Center Phone: 404-603-4274 Dr. Keith Tansey joined Shepherd Center as Director of Spinal Cord Injury Research in 2008 and simultaneously was appointed to the Departments of Neurology and Physiology at Emory University School of Medicine and to the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Dr. Tansey completed his B.S. and M.S. in Biology and Biomechanics at Stanford University and then completed his M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where his dissertation research focused on spinal cord physiology. He completed his residency training in neurology at Washington University in St. Louis and then fellowships in spinal cord injury research and neurorehabilitation at Washington University and at the University of California Los Angeles. He returned to UT Southwestern and directed the Spinal Cord Injury Program there before he moved to Shepherd Center. Dr. Tansey is board certified in Neurology and Spinal Cord Injury Medicine. He has won several teaching and research awards including one from the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) and he has presented his research work to the National Neurotrauma Society, the American Society for Neurorehabilitation, the Society for Neuroscience and at several international scientific meetings. Dr. Tansey also served as a Research Consortium Associate for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. Dr. Tansey is interested in neural plasticity and repair (re-training of remaining neural connections and generation of new neural connections) that leads to functional recovery after spinal cord injury and how those processes could be improved. He is specifically interested in neural circuits for motor functions like locomotion, but also neural circuits related to pain and autonomic nervous system function. He is working to combine interventions like activity based therapies with pharmacology, electrical stimulation, and even cellular transplantation to improve neural recovery after injury. Dr. Tansey has combined animal model and human research to gain better insight into these questions and to more rapidly translate basic science research ideas into clinical studies. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
