VCU to Co-Host the Williamsburg International Traumatic Brain Injury Conference

By Sathya Achia Abraham

Virginia Commonwealth University, together with Brain Injury Services and the National Resource Center for Traumatic Brain Injury, will host the 37^th annual Williamsburg International Traumatic Brain Injury Conference, an event that brings together interdisciplinary rehabilitation professionals from around the world to address the rehabilitation of adults and children.

The conference, titled “Rehabilitation of the Adult and Child with Traumatic Brain Injury: Practical Solutions to Real World Problems,” takes place May 2-3 at the Williamsburg Hospitality House Hotel and Conference Center in Williamsburg, Va. There is a fee to attend and registration is now open.

The event includes plenary talks, scientific presentations, poster sessions, group discussions and panel presentations. This year’s Mitchell Rosenthal Memorial Lecture will be presented by Neil Brooks, Ph.D., director of Rehab Without Walls, a rehabilitation and medicolegal practice in Milton Keynes, U.K., and former professor in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Glasgow.

The conference faculty will include internationally and nationally renowned experts who will address topics including behavior management, executive functioning disorders, neuropsychological assessment, assistive technology, aging and survivors’ and family members’ perspectives on brain injury.

“VCU has been a leader in the traumatic brain injury field for more than three decades,” said conference chair and organizer Jeffrey Kreutzer, Ph.D., director of the VCU Division of Rehabilitation Psychology and Neuropsychology and the Rosa Schwarz Cifu Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. “This conference will provide an opportunity to learn about cutting edge treatment and rehabilitation methods and will showcase VCU's expertise."

“Many patients are faced with long-term if not permanent disability that interferes with their ability to work, live independently and maintain relationships. This conference will provide invaluable information which will enable participants to help patients recover and function more independently,” he said.

VCU has hosted the Williamsburg International Traumatic Brain Injury Conference since 1977. The university has long been a brain injury research pioneer, initially focusing on acute care and later expanding into long-term outcomes. Collaborations between the VCU Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Neurosurgery have led to groundbreaking advances in treatment for medical, neurobehavioral and psychological disorders that commonly follow traumatic brain injury.

In addition to VCU, the conference is supported by Brain Injury Services, the first community-based agency in Virginia that specializes in serving individuals with an acquired brain injury, and the National Resource Center for Traumatic Brain Injury, an online resource for patients and physicians that provides the latest information on new research, medications and procedures.

For more information, visit http://www.tbiconferences.org/.