Welcome to Brain Injury Association of Oregon (BIAOR)

Governor Ted Kulongoski

Childhood
Ted Kulongoski was born in rural Missouri on November 5, 1940.

After high school, Ted enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served in the 11th and 12th Marine Regiments as a forward observer with the artillery. Following a tour of duty overseas, Ted came home to build a life rooted in hard work, public service and family.

Ted knew that education was the road to all he wanted to accomplish. He took jobs as a truck driver and steelworker, saving enough money to put himself through college and law school at the University of Missouri with help from the GI Bill.

Missouri was Ted´s birthplace, but Oregon became his home. As a young lawyer, Ted started his own firm in Eugene and began a long career fighting for working families. He used the law - and his deep personal understanding of what it means to work for wages - to improve worker safety and protect the right of every Oregonian to enjoy a job that pays a living wage.

Career
In 1974, Ted was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, and four years later to the Oregon Senate. In the Legislature, Ted continued to be a voice for the people and values of Oregon. He used his proven ability to bring people together to strengthen Oregon´s economy, attract new jobs and preserve Oregon´s unique quality of life.

In 1987, in recognition of Ted´s lifelong commitment to fairness and accountability, then-Governor Neil Goldschmidt appointed Ted Oregon Insurance Commissioner. As Insurance Commissioner, Ted helped lead the Oregon Comeback, creating thousands of new jobs and helping Oregon recover from its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Ted also stood firm against unjustified rate increases; protected seniors and consumers against fraud; and made the Insurance Department more consumer-friendly.

Five years later, the people of Oregon elected Ted Attorney General with the highest vote total for any statewide candidate. As Attorney General, Ted worked to steer kids away from crime and toward the values that had made his own life a success - education, accountability, discipline and hard work. Ted joined children´s advocates and community leaders to rebuild Oregon´s juvenile justice system - a system many thought was broken but that Ted turned into a national model that is both fair and effective. Ted also went after corporate polluters - enforcing laws and regulations, and making sure that the polluters, not the taxpayers, pay the bill for cleaning up our air and water.

In 1996, Ted was elected to the Oregon Supreme Court, where he served with distinction for 4 1/2 years. Ted´s service on the Court made him one of a rare few who have served in all three branches of government. Every challenge Oregon faces, Ted has worked to solve as a legislator, executive and judge.

Ted is a lifelong outdoorsman who loves backpacking and fishing in Oregon´s wilderness. He and his wife, Mary, a legal editor, have three grown children.

Dr. Kathleen R. Bell, M.D., Project Director, Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (TBIMS)

Kathleen R. Bell, MD Associate Professor Rehabilitation Physician Medical Director, Rehabilitation Medicine Ambulatory Care Medical Director, and Brain Injury Rehabilitation at the University of Washington

Dr. Bell is The Project Director of the University of Washington Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, and a member of the Academic Affairs Committee. Dr. Bell is active in the AAPMR Brain Injury SIG and is the associate editor of The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. She is the Chair of the Self-Assessment Subcommittee and a member of the Medical Education Committee for AAPMR. Dr. Bell was honored as one of the best doctors in Washington State for 2002.

Dr. Bell earned a B.S.N. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.D. from Temple University. She completed her residency and fellowship in PM&R at the University of Washington.

Dr. Bell's clinical interests include traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic headache, minimally responsive state, brain tumor, stroke, and anoxic brain injury. My goal in working with persons who have had an injury of any kind to their brain is to empower them to assume a productive life through medicine, therapy and mentoring. Research Her research areas are post-acute models of care for brain injury, exercise and depression after brain injury, sleep disorders after brain injury, and medical education.

Selected Publications:

Bell KR, O'Dell MW, Barr K, Yablon SA: Rehabilitation of the patient with brain tumor. Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 1998; 79: S37-S46.

Bell KR, Massagli TM: Subacute brain injury rehabilitation: An opportunity for medical education and training. Brain Injury 10: 1996, 875-881.

Bell KR, Pepping M: Women and Traumatic Brain Injury. Phys Med Rehabil Clinics of North America. 2001; 82: 169-81.

Bell KR, Krause E, Zasler N: Medical Management of Post-Traumatic Headache: Pharmacological and Physical Treatment. J Head Trauma Rehabil 1999; 14: 34-38.

Webster J, Bell KR, Hussey JD, Lakshminarayan S, Natale T: Sleep apnea in adult traumatic brain injury: a preliminary investigation. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2001 (Mar); 82: 316-3.

Janet Hart Mott, Ph.D., is a practicing rehabilitation counselor, case manager, and life care planner. Since the first public meeting of the Brain Injury Association of Washington in the early 1980’s she has maintained an active interest in the needs of individuals of all ages who have experienced brain injuries, their caregivers, and their families. As a child she experienced a mild brain injury. As a rehabilitation professional, she has served individuals with brain injuries since 1960. Currently she has family members who have sustained head injuries.

Adam Nelson, PhD, received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in Fresno, California, in 2005, and completed a two-year post-doctoral residency in Neuropsychology at the VA Northern California Health Care System in Martinez. He is a staff member of the Neuropsychology Service at the Portland VA Medical Center, and has been focusing the majority of his time on evaluating the neuropsychological functioning of veterans returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He has been actively involved in coordinating Mental Health services for brain injured veterans at the PVAMC, and will continue to be involved in clinical and research efforts relating to rehabilitation services for veterans with TBI.

Kayla Sandberg-Lewis

Maj Jim Sardo, PhD, Regional VA

Bill Bradbury, Oregon Secretary of State

As Oregon Secretary of State, Bradbury is the state's second-highest-ranking constitutional officer.

His duties including auditing the public accounts, acting as chief elections officer, and managing the state's official legislative and executive records.

Bradbury chairs the Oregon State Land Board (which also includes Oregon's Governor and Treasurer), and was appointed by the Governor to chair the Oregon Sustainability Board.

Bradbury was born and raised in Chicago. He graduated from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH in 1960. He moved to Bandon, Oregon, in 1971, remarking that it was "the most beautiful place he could imagine living." He set up a small business in Bandon before making steps into politics. For 14 years Bradbury served in the Oregon Legislature, representing districts in the southern part of the Oregon Coast, and achieving the leadership post of Senate President. He also went on to direct a local non-profit organization.

Bradbury has long coped with the effects of multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease of the central nervous system. "For me, the challenge is always to make sure I pay attention to taking care of myself," he has said. "As long as I do that, I can be a full participant in public life. It is a continual challenge, one all of us face every day. But it is clearer to me because the consequences of not taking care of myself are not pretty." ^[1]

Dr. Thomas Kelly, neuro chiropractor

Donald Hood has worked in the field of behavioral research since 1986. Mr. Hood developed a training program for families with an adult survivor of brain injury, the Family Advocacy Skills Training (FAST) program and wrote a booklet for the BIA’s “Living with Brain Injury” series, “Preparing for Life after High School: The Next Steps”. He has directed media and school-based components in a community intervention to prevent adolescent tobacco use and is an experienced focus group leader and meeting facilitator with a background in education and adult learning.

Kevin Prier is the project coordinator for the School Transition & re-Entry Program (STEP) at the Teaching Research Institute. He is trained in neurophysiology and has many years of experience in research design and implementation, and data collection and analysis from the University of Oregon, University of Basel, Switzerland, and the University of Montana. His research has ranged from single neuron development to sensory networks to environmental monitoring with honey bees. He comes to TRI from the Oregon Center for Applied Science, where he was the project coordinator for their diversity training project.

Robin Barbier has been a member of many research teams including the Environmental Protection Agency, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Her research has included water quality monitoring, aquatic habitat assessments, and meteorological effects on background radiation. By fluke or by fate her career shifted into social services and she spent the last 6 years working extensively with at risk teens and families. She has recently joined TRI as the Project Coordinator for the Back to School study, where she is responsible for both quantitative and qualitative data collection and management.

Ramona Ahto, is an elder of the 14 Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation. She works as a youth drug and alcohol counselor at the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. She has led many training sessions for health care professionals related to healing rituals as well as the cultural traditions of her people.

Kevi Ames, PT, received her degree in Physical Therapy from Boston University in 1991, and her Advanced Vestibular Competency from Emory University in 2001. Her career has focused primarily in adult neurology and vestibular evaluation and treatment. She currently practices at the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center at Progressive Rehabilitation Associates, as well as teaches nationally for Great Lakes Seminars and NeuroCom International. She is active in the American Physical Therapy Association as a "Member Mentoring Members" and is pursuing her DPT through Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions.

Julie Allen, OT

Pat Sublette

Russ Spearman

Wendy Williams, Director Community Development with BrainTrust Canada.

Wendy’s career in rehabilitation spans more than 18 years providing support and rehabilitation services persons with acquired brain injury.

Wendy’s previous position with the Alberta Hospital Ponoka, allowed her to develop specific expertise in cognitive rehabilitation focusing on memory and compensatory strategies. Wendy’s published work is regularly cited in leading texts relating to cognitive rehabilitation following brain injury.

In Wendy’s 13 years with BrainTrust Canada she has developed an expertise in continuing education and community based training that has led to teaching sessions on acquired brain injury to several discipline streams at the College level.

Wendy has also developed several highly successful public education programs focused at bringing knowledge regarding brain injury to the public’s attention.

Rebecca Curtis, State of Oregon Mental Health

Herbert Gross, MS, MD, a neurophysiologist and neuropsychiatrist, has been interested in brain injury since he suffered a prolonged headache after a boxing match at age 13. From 1954 through 1957 he studied the effects of changes blood brain flow and in 1958 had a fellowship at Sloan-Kettering Institute in NYC to study the effects of brain cancer. At a fellowship at Letchworth Village for the Mentally Retarded (NY) in 1962 and later while surveying and lecturing at Atascadaro State Hospital for the Criminally Insane (CA) in 1982, he raised the issue of mild to moderate brain injury as a cause or co-cause of certain problems; he was bewildered when no active interest was shown. This led him to push forward as new technologies became available to attempt to show that the thinking and feeling suffering of certain individuals could be functionally demonstrated by computer-assisted EEG and by SPECT & PET brain scanning. He was the first physician to successfully introduce PET studies in brain injury trials in Southern California. He encouraged neuropsychologists to develop and use more mature standardized tests to meaningfully assess higher order brain functioning, so that subtle but very frustrating reduction in everyday brain efficiency would no longer be overlooked, or worse, rationalized as a personality problem. Although his focus has remained on trauma as a cause, during the past three years his interest and study of the immunologic effects of mold protein and toxins on brain functioning has expanded.

Sharon Stapleton

Molly Sullivan acts as the lead for the WIN project with the Oregon Department of Human Services' Competitive Employment Project and is a national consultant on employment and benefits planning issues for Griffin-Hammis Associates.

Molly has been assisting people with disabilities in employment for over a decade as a job developer, program manager and benefits planner. Prior to coming to work for the Competitive Employment Project, Ms. Sullivan worked for 3 years for the Oregon Advocacy Center as a Social Security Administration certified Community Work Incentives Coordinator.

Sherri Rita acts as the co-lead for the WIN project. Sherri has worked as a disability rights and child/youth advocate for the past eight years in California as a legal fellow with Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund in Berkeley; an Associate Managing Attorney with California’s Protection and Advocacy agency; and as Deputy Director of the Yolo Family Resource Center. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University Of San Francisco School Of Law and is licensed to practice in California and Oregon.

Jan Johnson, MS, is a former board member for BIAOR, and served on the advisory committee for 3 years. She is the owner and director of Community Rehabilitation Services of Oregon.

Kathy Moeller

Will Levin, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who has worked with brain injured survivors in Eugene since 1980. He was a founding partner and currently is Consulting Psychologist at Community Rehabilitation Services of Oregon, a private agency dedicated to assisting brain injured individuals achieve their optimal quality of life. As Co-Founder of mPower, a Eugene behavioral research company, he has directed the design, development and evaluation of the Wellness Workshop, an interactive multimedia educational program for teaching self-help skills for coping with stress and emotional distress.

Wendy Williams, Director Community Development with Brain Trust Canada

How to File for SSI/SSDI and get it - Sharon Maynard and Kim Tucker

Sharon Maynard, JD, Swanson, Thomas & Coon, Portland, OR
Saturday

After graduating from UCLA in 1984, Sharon worked as a researcher and consultant for the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, and as a secretary and office manager. She received her J.D. degree in 1992 from Albany Law School in New York. Sharon's practice before joining the firm in February 2001 was indigent criminal defense. She spent 8 years working as a trial attorney for Metropolitan Public Defender (MPD), the largest provider of indigent defense services in Oregon. The last year and a half at MPD, Sharon defended people in civil commitment hearings, involuntary commitment proceedings initiated by the state.

Sharon Maynard will be speaking on the Social Security Administration application process. Applying for disability benefits from Social Security can be intimidating and confusing. Learn the process, how Social Security evaluates your claim, and what you can do to increase the chances of your application being granted.

Dr. David Spiro, OHSU, Chief, Pediatric Emergency Medicine; Children and brain injury

Tyler Blitz and

Dr. Charles Kilo of GreenField Health

Charles M. Kilo, MD, MPH
Internal Medicine

[email protected]

A partnership: that is how I view the patient/physician connection. The whole process of care should be a positive, enjoyable experience, even as we work together to deal with a patient’s difficult issues. Part of GreenField Health’s mission is to provide caring, personal service. I take that seriously. I view my role as one of advocate and advisor - I enjoy my patients’ active involvement in their care. I am a general internist (physician for adults) with an interest in infectious diseases, and it is a pleasure to work with our fantastic team of professionals at GreenField Health to meet the complex needs of our patients.

My practice is limited in size so that I can also focus on the other aspect of GreenField Health’s mission: to promote health care quality and innovation to better meet the needs of our community. GreenField is involved in advocacy, teaching, and consulting services all aimed at improving health care quality while making care more affordable. Our consulting group works with other organizations and practices that want to raise their standards of care.

My beautiful wife, Mary, and two wonderful children, Anna and Benjamin, keep me young. We love the tremendous diversity and quality of life that Oregon has to offer. I am a cyclist and runner and as a family we enjoy hiking and kayaking.

Founder and CEO, GreenField Health, 2001-present, Portland, OR
Fellow and Senior Faculty, 2000-present, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Cambridge, MA
Vice President, 1995-2000, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Cambridge, MA
Master of Public Health, 1996, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Fellow in Infectious Diseases, 1993-1995, Harvard Medical School Infectious Diseases Training Program, Boston
Chief Resident in Medicine, 1992-1993, Barnes Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis
Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine, 1987-1990, Barnes Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis
Doctor of Medicine, 1987, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis

Board certification: American Board of Internal Medicine 1990, recertification 2000

Dr Hiesler and Dr. Snell, QLI

Dr. Bryan Andresen

Caregiver Training and education with interactive skits– Legacy Caregiver Alliance

ImPACT - ImPACT Concussion Management Software is a sophisticated research-based software tool developed to help sports-medicine clinicians evaluate recovery following concussion. ImPACT evaluates and documents multiple aspects of neurocognitive functioning including memory, brain processing speed, reaction time, post-concussive symptoms, and an injury documentation system. The ImPACT System is available for Desktop or Online Administration. http://www.impacttestoffice.com/

Martin J. (Marty) McMorrow - Marty McMorrow obtained his MS degree in Behavior Analysis and Therapy from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and is currently Director of National Business Development for the MENTOR Network. He has over 30 years experience in program design and delivery of human services with many different clinical groups and in many different capacities from researcher to administrator to friend. In that time, he has tried to share what he has learned in more than 60 professional papers, several books and training programs, and in presentations to family, professional, and advocacy groups. Marty co-developed the social skills training program Stacking the Deck, the language training program Looking for the Words, and numerous other behavioral clinical interventions with his colleagues at the Department of Treatment Development, which was supported by the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. He also designed, implemented, and evaluated the Personal Intervention Neurobehavioral Program at the Center for Comprehensive Services in Carbondale, Illinois, which is now a part of the MENTOR Network. Marty’ primary interest is in translating behavioral technology into proactive and applicable programs and interventions that will make a difference in the lives of persons being helped, as well as the persons doing the helping.

This is the subject matter of his books entitled, Getting Ready to Help: A Primer on

Interacting in Human Service, which is available from Paul Brookes Publishing (2003)

and The Helping Exchange: PEARL, which is now available from Lash Publishing

(2005).