VCU news

By Laura Arbogast

RICHMOND, Va. – Thirty years ago, Virginia Commonwealth University was one of only a handful of institutions worldwide studying the effects and treatment of traumatic brain injury. As pioneers in neuroimaging and comprehensive long-term care for brain-injury patients, VCU researchers have aided in a dramatic decline in mortality rate.

In 1976, VCU’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation sponsored the inaugural Williamsburg International Traumatic Brain Injury Conference to bring more focus to this field. Now the oldest conference of its kind in the world, this year’s meeting will be held June 7-10 at the Williamsburg Marriott, 50 Kingsmill Road, and will present researchers from across the United States as well as from Denmark and Scotland.

"VCU has made a long-standing commitment to focusing on brain injury and rehabilitation," said Jeffrey Kreutzer, Ph.D., conference chair and director of the VCU Division of Rehabilitation Psychology and Neuropsychology. "We are saving more lives. Our challenge now is to find ways to provide long-term help to the many persons who might not have survived 10 years ago."

"An Historic Event in an Historic City" is this year’s theme that will feature presenters who attended the first meeting in 1976. Bryan Jennett, M.D., professor of neurosurgery at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, will review how far the field has come in his June 7 presentation on "The Evolution of Traumatic Brain Injury Research."

New technologies for treating patients also will be demonstrated. Maria Schultheis, Ph.D., a clinical research scientist at the Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research and Education Corp. in West Orange, N.J., will present a device that uses virtual reality to assess the driving abilities of brain-injury patients. Another group of scientists will demonstrate the use of new portable electronic devices that can enhance brain function following an injury.

Other conference presentations will include:

• "Sports Concussion: From Dings to Dementia" by Jeffrey T. Barth, Ph.D., chief of medical psychiatry/neuropsychology, University of Virginia.

• "Retraining Social Skills after Traumatic Brain Injury" by Rick Parente, Ph.D., professor of psychology, Towson University.

• "Crime, Substance Abuse and Neurobehavioral Outcome" by Kreutzer.

• "Using Food Preparation and Meals Therapeutically" by Kimberly P. Damon, O.T.R., and Tonya E. Henley, M.S., VCU Rehabilitation and Research Center.

Co-sponsors of the event include the International Brain Injury Association, the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Program, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and the John Jane Brain Injury Center.

VCU also hosts the National Resource Center on Traumatic Brain Injury, an online resource for patients and physicians that provides the latest information on new research, medications and procedures.