Hon. R. Keegan Federal, Jr. Nominates Donald G. Stein, Ph.D. For Health-Care Hero Award

April 18, 2011 - PRLog -- Dr. Stein’s biomedical research has, for twenty-seven years, been focused on maximizing the recovery outcomes of brain function and cognitive behaviors after traumatic injury to the brain.  His pioneering work defies the notion that the adult brain can only compensate after injury and cannot recover.  Dr. Stein’s discovery has already had an impact on the clinical treatment of stroke, neurological diseases, and other conditions.    

Leading his biomedical research team, Stein was one of the first to demonstrate sex differences in the healing outcomes of severe cortical injury, specifically the impact of significant levels of the female hormone Progesterone in the injured test subjects.  His current investigations show that Progesterone promotes functional recovery through its ability to eliminate cerebral edema, the effects of inflammation, and tissue breakdown.  By systematically studying the brain’s mechanisms for processes such as the reduction of edema (fluid retention), inflammation, proteins created, genes regulated, and a cascade of other negative symptoms, Dr. Stein’s research has greatly expanded what Science now knows about the brain and how the human body heals.

Dr. Stein’s laboratory now studies Progesterone and its metabolites in pediatric, adult, and aged models of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke. His group works with medical colleagues in emergency medicine, neurology, radiology, pediatrics and neuro-ophthalmology. His basic research has led to two independent Phase II clinical trials testing progesterone for moderate to severe traumatic brain injury and now to an NIH-sponsored, nationwide Phase III clinical trial. He has received continuous grant support from a variety of federal agencies since 1965.  The full extent of Dr. Stein’s discovery will be recorded in the history of modern medicine, and has opened a new door in the study of brain function and repair.

Dr. Stein has authored or edited 16 books on the topic. Brain Repair (Oxford University Press, 1995) has now been published in five languages. He is the author of over 350 book chapters, reviews and papers on recovery from brain injury.

Donald G. Stein, PhD, is Asa G. Candler Professor and Distinguished Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.  Before returning to full-time teaching and translational neuroscience research, Dr. Stein served Emory for five years as Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and interim Vice President for Research. He was previously Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School at Rutgers University, Newark, adjunct professor of Neurology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and before that was on the faculties at Clark University and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester.  He received his PhD from the University of Oregon and did his post-doctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then later as a Fulbright Scholar at the Université Claude Bernhard, Lyon, the École Pratique des Hautes Études and the Kremlin-Bicetre Hospital in Paris, France. Stein was a recipient of an American Association for the Advancement of Science Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship to work in the United States Senate and most recently the recipient of two Erskine Distinguished Teaching Fellowships from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.  He is the past President of the International Brain Injury Association and currently serves on its Board of Governors.

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About the Hon. R. Keegan Federal, Jr.:

R. Keegan Federal, Jr., is a civil trial attorney, the founder and senior partner for the law firm of Federal & Hasson, LLP, and a former Superior Court Judge in Atlanta, Georgia. Keegan Federal has extensive experience in the successful resolution of disputes related to: Business Contracts, Torts, and Securities; Personal Injury and Wrongful Death with an emphasis on Brain & Spinal Cord Injury; Divorce and Family Law; Wills, Trusts, and Estates; Employment Contracts, Discrimination and Sexual Harassment; Real Estate; and Legal Malpractice and Licensing, through negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation. More biographical information is available at:
http://www.federalhasson.com/attorney-profiles