Spring 2023 Edition

Over 45 years, the research conducted and published by Mark Sherer, PhD, and his many collaborators has changed the way we treat patients with brain injury. He has made major contributions to the development of clinical services for people with brain injury and to research that informs the clinical care we deliver.

Dr. Mark Sherer has spent his career expanding compassionate, state-of-the-science clinical services for people affected by brain injury, through high-impact contributions to clinical research, program development, education and dissemination.

A peer-reviewed article published in The Lancet in April 2021¹ and co-authored by Gerard E. Francisco, MD, described the highly promising results of an international, multicenter study investigation of the effect that combined vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and intensive upper limb therapy has on the recovery of arm mobility after ischemic stroke. Based on the study results, TIRR Memorial Hermann has announced plans to open a Vagus Nerve Stimulation Clinic.

Legislation passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Jan. 5, 2023, designates TIRR Memorial Hermann a National Rehabilitation Innovation Center. The Dr. Joanne Smith Memorial Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2022 recognizes a leading class of pioneering rehabilitation research facilities across the United States that set the standard for ongoing study and clinical care. The act helps ensure that best practices and cutting-edge research are disseminated widely to maximize patient outcomes.

Researchers are mapping the signals to learn which areas of the brain are activated when the study participants express their feelings during creative movement, daily movements or as they attempt to regain the ability to move.

TIRR Memorial Hermann’s roots go back to the 1950s, when the polio epidemic was at its height in the United States. Founded as one of the first polio treatment centers in the nation, TIRR was freed by the discovery of a polio vaccine to apply its rehabilitation expertise to catastrophically injured patients..

Radha Korupolu, MD, MS, associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and an attending physician in the Spinal Cord Program at TIRR Memorial Hermann, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health R34 planning grant to examine mindfulness meditation training in patients with spinal cord injury who are also experiencing chronic pain.

Despite advances in rehabilitation medicine’s understanding of the pathophysiology of SCI and the management of its acute and chronic complications, functional outcomes in Latin America are disproportionately variable between countries, with worse outcomes in the countries with fewer resources.

Peggy Turner, CTRS, attended a VIP luncheon held in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Title IX clause of the Federal Education Amendments, signed into law in 1972.

TIRR Memorial Hermann, the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and the UTHealth Institute for Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases will host colleagues from around the world to present and discuss the latest science, clinical applications and device development with the goal of improving the lives of people recovering from stroke.

Heather Taylor Receives ACRM Margaret Nosek Award, Angelle Sander Named Chair of ACRM’s Brain Injury Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Recognizes Patient Care Unit at TIRR Memorial Hermann with Beacon Award for Excellence, TIRR Memorial Hermann Provides Support for Two Inclusive Houston-Area Parks, Nielsen Grant Funds TIRR Empowered Advocates Mentoring Project, Sandra Breitengross Bitter Joins TIRR Memorial Hermann’s Independent Living Research Utilization Program, TIRR Memorial Hermann Earns High Recognition by U.S. News & World Report, Six Pilot Health Organizations Selected for Schwartz Center’s Inaugural Healing Healthcare Initiativ...

We are honored to be designated a National Rehabilitation Innovation Center by the U.S. Congress and President Joe Biden through the passage of the Dr. Joanne Smith Memorial Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2022. Over 10 years in the making, the act recognizes pioneering rehabilitation research facilities and ensures the dissemination of evidence-based practice to shape the future of post-acute care in ways that optimize patient outcomes.

A listing of publications and presentations featuring leaders and researchers of TIRR Memorial Hermann.