Winter 2014 Edition

TIRR Memorial Hermann opened its doors in 1959 as the Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR), one of the country’s first rehabilitation hospitals. Over the span of 55 years, the institution has grown into a national leader in interdisciplinary rehabilitation, clinical care, education and research. Last fall, the hospital celebrated another milestone when the TIRR Memorial Hermann Research Center was completed and diverse research programs came together under one roof for the first time, creating new synergy between researchers, disciplines and programs.

That collaborative approach is mirrored in our research program. The new TIRR Memorial Hermann Research Center houses professionals in four seemingly disparate labs who work together synergistically to bring innovations to the bedside, the therapy gym, the outpatient care setting and the community. Investigators in the Neurorecovery Research Center, the Brain Injury Research Center, the Spinal Cord Research Program and the Independent Living Research Utilization program share the common goal of transforming lives and instilling hope in people whose lives have been significantly altered by illness or injury.

Entitled “Multicenter Evaluation of Memory Remediation after TBI with Donepezil” (the MEMRI-TBI-D Study), the 10-week trial will evaluate the effects of 10 milligrams of donepezil, administered daily, on verbal memory problems among adults with TBI in the subacute or chronic recovery period. The study will enroll 160 persons with TBI and functionally important memory problems at four study sites across the country during the four-year period of open enrollment.

Actively engaged in research, Thomas is currently working on a collaborative project to examine the experience of amputees who see themselves in the mirror for the first time following their amputation. “This is a powerful patient experience that crosses multiple disciplines, including physical therapy, occupational therapy and nursing,” she says. “Our research partner at TWU has examined the experience of women after mastectomy in ways that help them recover and form a new view of themselves. We’re very interested in investigating how these findings might apply to patients who have undergone upper- or lower-extremity amputation.”

Hair cortisol sampling enables evaluation of the average levels of serum cortisol produced over the month preceding sampling. Cortisol circulating in the bloodstream is incorporated into hair at the time it is produced by hair follicles. Once it is incorporated into the hair, it does not diffuse out of it as hair grows or as it is exposed to the elements or hair products (e.g., shampoo, conditioner). As a result, the amount of cortisol in the hair serves as a stable marker of the average levels of cortisol circulating in the blood at the time during which that hair is produced.

In order to derive maximum benefit from robot-assisted rehabilitation, it is critical that the implemented control algorithms, which govern how the robotic device and the participant interact, promote the participant’s active engagement in therapy.  My research group at Rice University has been developing novel approaches for ensuring cognitive engagement of the patient during robotic rehabilitation of the upper limb following stroke or incomplete spinal cord injury. In this article I present several techniques that we have used, including the development of objective measures of motor impairment that can be used for frequent feedback to the therapist and patient regarding their progress,...

Meilani Mapa, MD, assistant professor and vice chair of the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, represented TIRR Memorial Hermann and UTHealth PM&R at The University of Texas System Clinical Safety and Effectiveness Conference and Recognition Event held in September 2013 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Antonio. The conference, entitled “Building the Bridge: Public Policy and Public Health Effect Health Care Reform,” brought together doctors, clinicians and students from across the UT System. Dr. Mapa presented her quality improvement project “Reducing Acquired...

Carl E. Josehart, Chief Executive Officer of TIRR Memorial Hermann, shares a message for the Winter 2014 edition of the TIRR Memorial Hermann Journal.