Dr. Flora Hammond Honored at Annual Brain Injury Conference

RICHMOND, Va. - May 8, 2019 - PRLog -- The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) at the Medical College of Virginia and the Brain Injury Association of Virginia (BIAV) announce Dr. Flora Hammond as the winner of the 2019 Mitchell Rosenthal Memorial Lecture Award, sponsored by Dr. Nathan Zasler, Founder, CEO and CMO, Tree of Life Services.

The award was presented on May 6, 2019 in Richmond during Heading Forward Together, an annual conference for professionals working in the brain injury field. The event, supported as part of Virginia's Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Model Systems program, was attended by practitioners and other members of the brain injury community from across the country.

The TBI Model Systems program supports innovative projects and research in the delivery, demonstration, and evaluation of medical, rehabilitation, vocational, and other services designed to meet the needs of individuals with traumatic brain injury. There are only 16 designated TBI Model Systems programs in the United States, with VCU being one of them. They are national centers of excellence and leaders in medical research and patient care, and provide the highest level of comprehensive specialty services from the point of injury through eventual re-entry into full community life.

Dr. Hammond is the Chair of the TBI Model Systems Program Executive Committee and a board certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician who is an active clinician, researcher, and administrator. She is professor and Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Indiana University School of Medicine; Chief of Medical Affairs and Brain Injury Medical Director at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana.  She is also the Project Director of the Indiana Traumatic Brain Injury Model System. Dr. Hammond's research and advocacy focuses on the long-term issues confronting individuals with disability and treatment effectiveness. She has authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Hammond was selected for her outstanding dedication to helping others and advancing knowledge and practice in brain injury care.  "Dr. Flora Hammond has set her professional sights high and duly deserves the award recognition in Dr. Rosenthal's memory," said Dr. Zasler.

The Mitchell Rosenthal Memorial Lecture Award first debuted in 2008 to honor the major contributions of the late Dr. Rosenthal to the traumatic brain injury rehabilitation field. Dr. Rosenthal made countless important contributions to the field of brain injury rehabilitation and was a key influence in shaping the field. He worked tirelessly to help patients and families dealing with the consequences of brain injury. Besides his enormous contributions to the field, he was the primary organizer of the original Heading Forward Together conference in 1977.

Contact: Anne McDonnell, Executive Director, Brain Injury Association of Virginia
804-355-5748
http://www.biav.net