TIRR Memorial Hermann proudly announces that Dr. Cindy Ivanhoe, director of the hospital’s Spasticity and Associated Syndromes of Movement (SPASM) program and former director of Brain Injury Rehabilitation and Stroke program at TIRR, has been selected as the Brain Injury Association of America’s 2025 Luminary of the Year. She was honored at the BIA Luminary of the Year celebration last night in downtown Houston.
The inaugural award honors leaders who have made extraordinary contributions to advancing care, research, and awareness around brain injury—a cause that impacts more than 64 million Americans.
“Dr. Ivanhoe’s vision and expertise have changed the way we treat brain injury and spasticity—not just at TIRR Memorial Hermann, but across the nation,” said Rhonda Abbott, Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of TIRR Memorial Hermann. “Her work exemplifies our mission to provide hope and healing for patients and families.”
A clinical professor at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Dr. Ivanhoe is a nationally recognized physician, researcher, and advocate. She is widely respected for her groundbreaking work in spasticity management, including being among the first at TIRR to introduce botulinum toxin therapies with Dr. Stuart Yablon and advancing treatments such as intrathecal baclofen therapy. She also lobbied extensively for national insurance coverage for these interventions.
For more than three decades, Dr. Ivanhoe has cared for patients across the full spectrum of brain injury recovery, from intensive care to long-term rehabilitation. During her tenure as director of Brain Injury and Stroke program at TIRR, she led expansion of the program from one floor to three, developed a comprehensive consult service at the Texas Medical Center, and extended physician consults into long-term acute care hospitals.
In addition to her clinical leadership, Dr. Ivanhoe has trained medical students, residents, and fellows nationally and internationally, contributed to international education programs, and currently serves on the board of the International Neurotoxin Association. Her leadership and compassion have earned her numerous honors, including Physician of the Year at TIRR Memorial Hermann, the Distinguished Clinician Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and the Sheldon Berrol, MD, Clinical Service Award from BIAA.
“Being recognized as Luminary of the Year is deeply humbling,” said Dr. Ivanhoe. “But this award really shines a light on the resilience of people living with brain injury and the incredible team at TIRR Memorial Hermann who make recovery possible every day.”
TIRR Memorial Hermann provides rehabilitation to individuals with brain injuries of all levels of severity, including traumatic brain injury, non-traumatic brain injury and brain injuries combined with bodily injury such as spinal cord injury, multiple fractures or amputations. For more information visit the TIRR Memorial Hermann Brain Injury Rehabilitation page.