Future Leaders in Brain Injury Conference
Watch the recording of the 2024 conference here!
We are thankful for all of our speakers and attendees who participated in the 2024 Future Leaders in Brain Injury Conference!
Check back at this page for next year's annual conference and opportunities to get involved with planning the conference.
2024 Conference Schedule
Main Room:
12pm-12:30pm EST: Overview Lecture
Alissa Totman, MD MPH
12:30pm-1:30pm EST: Exploring Medical Specialties in Brain Injury Panel
Nabela Enam, MD
Rahul Mahajan, MD PhD
Gabriel Friedman, MD
1:40pm-2:40pm EST: Rehabilitation Professional Panel
Natalie Fiore, OT
Laura Kasparian, MS CCCSLP
Anna Marie Sulminski, SLP
Anna Dreyer, PT
2:50pm-3:35pm EST: Advocacy Session
Craig Phillips, MRC BA
3:35pm-4:20pm EST: Neuromotor Recovery Lab Research Presentation
Lou Awad, PT, DPT, PhD
Alternate Room:
12:45pm-1:30pm EST: Neuroradiology Lecture
Alissa Totman, MD MPH
1:40pm-2:40pm EST: Resident Physician Panel
Rebecca Greenspan, DO
Allison Zhong, MD
Saksham Gupta, MD
Breakout Rooms:
4:30pm-5:30pm EST: Mentoring Sessions
Meet Our Speakers!
Alissa Totman, MD, MPH
Overview Lecture
Alissa Totman, MD, MPH is an Instructor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at Harvard Medical School. She received her MD from the Stanford School of Medicine, completed her residency in PM&R at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and completed her fellowship in Brain Injury Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her clinical focus is on optimizing functional outcomes through early multidisciplinary rehabilitation in the acute care setting. She is also invested in educating the next generation of leaders in Brain Injury through her role as Executive Director of Synapse National.
Nabela Enam, MD
Physician Panel
Dr. Enam completed her residency in physical medicine & rehabilitation at Kessler/Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) and a fellowship in traumatic brain injury at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Since then, she has joined as faculty at UPMC where she continues to care for brain injury patients and address their neurorehabilitation needs through acute care hospital consultation, outpatient and inpatient work. I'm thrilled to know there are so many students interested in brain injury. This is an ever-growing field and I'm excited to share my experiences to help foster a stronger understanding of this patient population. I look forward to hearing from attendees and answering any questions they may have.
Rahul Mahajan, MD, PhD
Physician Panel
I am a Neurologist in the Neurocritical Care Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where I help to take care of patients with acute brain injuries. I treat patients admitted to the Neuro-ICU, manage patients suffering acute stroke in our own hospital or across the region via teleneurology, and I see patients after their brain injuries in the Neurorecovery Clinic to aid their recovery and optimize their secondary prevention of further neurologic injuries. I completed Neurology Residency and Neurocritical Care Fellowship at the Mass General Brigham Harvard Neurology training programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to clinical training, I completed Medical School, PhD training in Physiology & Biophysics, and undergraduate work in Biomedical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia. I am looking forward to encouraging promising students to join the important efforts to aid patients in the prevention, treatment, and recovery from acute brain injuries.
Gabriel Friedman, MD
Physician Panel
Gabriel Friedman is a sixth year neurosurgery resident at Massachusetts General and has a dedicated interest in developing neural prosthetics for restoration of motor function following traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and stroke. He has conducted extensive research in this field with Dr. Ziv Williams at MGH and Dr. Hugh Herr at MIT. Prior to residency, he graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed undergraduate studies at Pomona College in California. Gabriel is looking forward to discussing the role of neurosurgeons in management of patients who have experienced brain injury and answering any questions from those interested in pursuing this career path.
Rebecca Greenspan, DO
Resident Physician Panel
Rebecca (Becca) Greenspan studied biology with a minor in health and wellness at SUNY Binghamton. She graduated from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2020 and completed an internship in internal medicine at Berkshire Medical Center in 2021. She currently serves as the academic chief resident of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency program at MetroHealth/Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She will be starting her Brain Injury Medicine fellowship at Harvard/Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in July 2024. She is excited to connect with others that are as enthusiastic as her about the field of brain injury!
Saksham Gupta, MD
Resident Physician Panel
My name is Saksham Gupta, MD, and I am a senior neurosurgery resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital with research interests in access to neurosurgery in low-resource settings and brain tumor clinical outcomes. I graduated from Harvard Medical School in 2019 (MD) and Johns Hopkins University in 2015 (BA), and am currently enrolled in the part-time MPH program at HSPH. I enjoy speaking with trainees of all levels and am looking forward to engaging with students interested in the neurosciences at this conference.
Allison Zhong, MD
Resident Physician Panel
Allison is currently a PGY-2 Neurology resident in the combined MGH/BWH Neurology Residency. She went to UC Berkeley for undergraduate where she studied Chemical Biology and Linguistics, and went to medical school at New York Medical College before moving to Boston. She has always had a love for the neurosciences, but she became interested in brain injury while working at the VA prior to medical school and through the practices of her medical school mentors. She hopes to focus her practice on traumatic brain injury in the future and is excited to help expose others to this quickly expanding and exciting field of medicine through this conference.
Anna Marie Sulminski, SLP
Rehabilitation Professional Panel
I am a Speech-Language Pathologist specializing in speech, language, cognition at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. I graduated from Bowling Green State University with my Masters of Science in Speech-Language Pathology in April 2022. My clinical experiences include assessing, assisting in diagnosing, and treating a wide range of individuals ages 2 to 99 in the areas of speech, language, cognition, swallowing, AAC, and voice. One of my favorite parts of my job is educating patient’s family members on their loved one’s current communication deficits and how they can assist with eliciting communication. It is so rewarding to help patients find their voice with various forms of communication!
Anna Dreyer, PT
Rehabilitation Professional Panel
Anna Dreyer is a physical therapist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, working with individuals with brain injuries. She graduated with a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Boston University and is working towards becoming a Board-Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist to further her expertise in the field.
Natalie Fiore, OT
Rehabilitation Professional Panel
Natalie is an occupational therapist and Certified Brain Injury Specialist with 7 years of clinical and leadership experience across the healthcare continuum with a primary practice focus in the acute care setting. She graduated with her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy in 2017 from Rush University in Chicago. In her current role, Natalie is a senior occupational therapist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She is looking forward to speaking at the conference as part of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation panel and is excited to emphasize the importance of a team approach to brain injury care.
Laura Kasparian, MS CCCSLP
Rehabilitation Professional Panel
Laura Kasparian received her BA in Cognitive Science from Yale University in 2006 and her MS in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Boston University in 2012. She has been with the acute care SLP team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital since 2013 where she specializes in dysphagia diagnostics and treatment of medically complex patients. She is involved in research in both dysphagia and aphasia and has presented at national conferences. Laura is excited to speak at the Future Leaders in Brain Injury Conference as she loves to share her knowledge and get others excited about working with this population as well!
Craig Phillips, MRC, BA
Advocacy Session
My name is Craig J. Phillips. I have a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Kentucky. On February 6, 2007 I created Second Chance to Live to encourage a holistic (body, soul, spirit, mind and emotions) approach to an ongoing brain injury recovery process. My interest is to not only encourage a holistic and ongoing recovery process in individuals living with brain injuries, but also to impact how professionals and providers approach their care of/to individuals living with brain injuries. That is why I am grateful to be able to present. For more Information, click on my: Biographical Information for Craig J. Phillips MRC, BA
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Lou Awad, PT, DPT, PHD
Research Lecture
Dr. Awad is a physical therapist, rehabilitation scientist, and the founding director of Boston University’s Neuromotor Recovery Laboratory. He is an associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Boston University, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering. He is also a research faculty member in Boston University’s Center for Neurophotonics and Center for Neurorehabilitation, a member of the research faculty at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, a founding core faculty member of the Harvard MOVE Lab, and an Associate in the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University and the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. In addition, Dr. Awad is Associate Editor for the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation and the IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology and is a scientific advisor to multiple federal and private agencies and institutions, including service as a standing member of the Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Sciences (MRS) Study Section of the National Institutes of Health and scientific advisor for ReWalk Robotics (now Lifeward), MedRhythms, and REEV. Dr. Awad has extensive speaking experience at international and national conferences.