NEWS

Dear NNS Members,

It’s almost time for NNS 2023!  As my time as president comes to a close and we finalize plans for the meeting, now is a great time reflect on the year that we’ve had and what we have to look forward to.

In case you’ve forgotten, this year has been largely dedicated to getting our new Strategic Plan rolling.  The plan was finished in the summer of 2022, under the direction of our past president, Dr. Courtney Robertson.  The plan was published on our website in our members resources section (https://www.neurotrauma.org/Members-resources) and includes 13 goals in 5 broad categories to help us move forward toward our priorities of training and mentoring the next generation, growing the society, increasing awareness of NNS, increasing clinical and research discipline engagement, and fostering industry collaboration.  I’m happy to report that we have made strong progress on many of our goals:

1.       Training and mentoring the next generation of neurotrauma specialists:
a.       We’ve started the process of applying for a diversity award from NIH to fund a new diversity VISA in 2024. 
b.       Our Publications Committee, under the guidance of Drs. Bridgette Semple and David Wright made impressive moves toward increasing trainee publications in our associated journals (Journal of Neurotrauma and Neurotrauma Reports – look for an announcement at NNS 2023!). 
c.       Our TEAM, Membership, Publication, and Advocacy Committees together with the president’s office held an impressive 6 virtual roundtables since Fall of 2023 on a variety of topics to increase engagement and worth to our members. 


2.       Grow the society
a.       The By-Laws and Policy Committee have written and are vetting a new DEI statement for the society. 
b.       We’ve increased our collaborations with similarly minded organizations, like the North American Spine Society and the North American Clinical Trials Network, who we collaborated with to create the Robert Grossman Symposium on the Current Management of SCI for our 2023 meeting, with the goal to increase our representation in the SCI field. 


3.       Increase awareness of NNS
a.       Our Finance Committee, particularly Drs. David Loane and Audrey Lafrenaye, worked hard to create a store to sell NNS branded items and increase our visibility: https://national-neurotrauma-society.creator-spring.com/. 
b.       Our Advocacy Committee, under the leadership of Dr. Grace Griesbach, has led us onto the steering committee of the Concussion Awareness Now (CAN) Campaign, to bring awareness to rapid diagnosis and care for concussions. 

Now as we look forward to what is next, we’re very excited for our 2023 Symposium, which is right around the corner!  Co-chairs Drs. Courtney Robertson and Linda Noble with the program committee have planned an exceptional event packed full of great science, great speakers, and great opportunities to network and connect at the Marriott Austin Downtown in Austin, TX, from June 25-28^th.  Sessions on the gut microbiome, epigenomics, cell therapy for SCI, and updating the TBI classification system, among many others, are planned for the meeting.  Not to mention a number of workshops, poster receptions, and social events!  The AANS pre-meeting will happen on Sunday, leading up to our Welcome Reception at 6pm on Sunday – I hope you come by to say hello! 

This year, we’ll also have an NNS booth at the meeting, which will serve as a great spot to find out about membership, volunteer opportunities with our various committees, see some of the products available at the online store, and meet our officers and councilors.  If this will be your first meeting, stop by for a first-time meeting gift!

Finally, our gala dinner and award ceremony are scheduled on Tuesday evening – if you haven’t purchased your tickets yet, get them!  This is a wonderful opportunity to recognize our amazing trainees and junior members for their fantastic science, and to socialize with your fellow meeting attendees.  And following in the tradition of 2022, the post-gala party will feature karaoke! 

I would like to close by once again thanking all the NNS members for their ongoing support of the Society. I’ve had a wonderful time working as your society president, and I hope that the processes and activities the officers, councilors and I have put in place will make a lasting positive change in this society.  I deeply appreciate the chance to be involved at this level, and I very much look forward to what NNS can do moving forward.  I’m excited to see what the NNS Councilors and Officers and the ICS team, will have to offer in 2024.

Best wishes

Kimberly Byrnes

Please join us for our next NNS members-only roundtable discussion titled "NNS Member-Only Roundtable: Career Pathways and Professional Efforts to Increase Neurotrauma AdvocacyGrace Griesbach" scheduled for May 24th, 2023 at 4:00 ET. 

Register now at:  https://bit.ly/41engOl

Organizers
Grace Griesbach
Ramesh Raghupathi

Speakers:

Please join us for our next NNS members-only roundtable discussion titled "Getting your Manuscript Published…on the first submission!" scheduled for April 26, 2023 at 5:00 ET. 

Register now at:  https://bit.ly/41engOl

Speakers:

Dr. David W. Wright, (Neurotrauma Society Council and Co-Host) is the tenured Professor & Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.  He directs the Center for Innovation and Discovery in the Acute and Emergent Sciences (IDEAS) and the Emergency Neurosciences Clinical Laboratory in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He is a board certified emergency medicine physician practicing at Emory affiliated hospitals and Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta’s premier Level 1 Trauma Center. He is actively involved in both the preclinical and clinical assessments of traumatic brain injury, stroke and other acute neurological conditions. He holds an adjunct appointments in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Rollins School of Public Health, and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.

Dr. Bridgette D. Semple, Ph.D. (Co-Host) is an Associate Professor and Head of the Pediatric Neurotrauma Group in the Department of Neuroscience at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Her research program broadly focuses on understanding the biological mechanisms by which traumatic brain injuries lead to chronic outcomes (behavioral deficits, epilepsy, inflammation, neuropathology, etc.), particularly when injury is sustained during early life. She is an active member of the NNS Council, Co-Chair of the Publications Committee (Past-Secretary and Past-Chair of the Membership Committee) and a Council member for the International Neurotrauma Society. 

Dr. Helen Bramlett is a Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and a Research Health Scientist at the Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Bramlett is an internationally recognized scientist with over 25 years of experience in the field of CNS injury. She is currently funded by NIH, the State of Florida and the VA. Dr. Bramlett is Editor-in-Chief of Neurotrauma Reports and is on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Neurotrauma, Translational Stroke Research, and Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management.  She is a founding member of InflamaCORE, LLC, a company dedicated to treating and diagnosing inflammatory injury and disease.

Dr. David Loane is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Shock, Trauma, and Anesthesiology Research (STAR) Center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, MD, USA.  Dr. Loane leads a multi-disciplinary research team dedicated to studying brain/systemic inflammation and chronic injury responses following TBI. The mission of his group is to elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying post-traumatic neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and loss of neurological function, and to develop novel treatment strategies for neuroprotection and post-traumatic repair that will translate to the clinic for human head injury. 

Dr. W. Dalton Dietrich is Scientific Director at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and the Kinetic Concepts Distinguished Chair in Neurosurgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.  He received his Ph.D. from the Medical College of Virginia and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University. Dr. Dietrich joined the Department of Neurology in 1981 and in 1997 became the Scientific Director of The Miami Project. Dr. Dietrich also serves as the Senior Associate Dean for Discovery Science, the Co-Director of the Neural Engineering Institute and the Associate Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Dr. Dietrich’s laboratory is focused on clarifying the pathophysiology of brain and spinal cord injury with the goal of developing and translating new therapies to protect and enhance recovery. Over the last 40 years, Dr. Dietrich and colleagues have studied the molecular injury mechanisms underlying neurological disorders including stroke, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. He is the Sponsor of a first-in-man FDA approved clinical trial testing the safety and benefits of human Schwann Cell transplants in people with spinal cord and peripheral nerve injury. His research programs are supported by the NIH, Department of Defense, State of Florida and various Foundations. He has published over 400 peer reviewed publications in high impact journals and mentors graduate and postdoctoral fellows. He serves on several study sections and is Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Therapeutic Hypothermia & Temperature Management and Deputy Editor of the Journal of Neurotrauma. 

David L. Brody, M.D., Ph.D., is the director of the Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine (CNRM) and a professor of Neurology within the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He is a board-certified neurologist with both a research and a clinical specialization in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and neurodegenerative diseases. His research focuses on accelerating better outcomes for U.S. military TBI patients. Dr. Brody is the Editor-in-chief of Journal of Neurotrauma.

Please join us for our next NNS members-only roundtable discussion titled "Neurotrauma Funding Opportunities through the CDMRP" scheduled for April 12, 2023 at 12:00 ET. We are proud to be facilitating a diverse panel of scientists to discuss funding opportunities in the neurotrauma field with CDMRP

Register now at: bit.ly/3UeJ7m8

Featured Participants:

Organizers:
Ramesh Raghupathi PhD
Shaun Carlson PhD
Johannes Dapprich PhD
Eleni Moschonas BA BS

Presenters:

Dr. Melissa R. Miller, Program Manager for the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) and Epilepsy Research Program (ERP)

 

Dr. Sarah N. Fontaine, Program Manager for the Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Research Program (PRARP)

Dr. Dwayne L. Taliaferro, Program Manager for the Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health Research Program (TBIPHRP)

Do you know an early career and/or female neurotrauma researcher who is deserving of wider recognition? Nominations are now open for two key NNS awards.

The Rising Star Award helps to support meeting attendance for scientists within 5 years of completing their postdoctoral or residential training and will be awarded to an applicant that has made a significant contribution in the field of TBI/SCI within the past year and presented at the annual Symposium. 

The Rosalind Franklin Award, sponsored by Mary Ann Liebert Publishers, aims to recognize a female researcher that has made a notable scientific contribution in the field of neurotrauma and has made recent impactful contributions to education, mentoring or advocacy.

Nominations for both awards are due by March 31, 2023, and more details on how to apply can be found via the links above. 

NNS is now taking applications to participate in the 3rd Annual NNS Mentor:Mentee program for ALL NNS MEMBERS. Please share this news with your trainees/programs/potential mentors!

The program is intended to provide perspective and promote engagement from all neurotrauma-associated fields as a pathway to developing a satisfying career. 

This program is a collaboration between TEAM (Training, Education, and Mentorship) and Membership Committees. 

The purpose is multifold. 

1. To provide our members with a diverse set of mentors 

2. To retain our members in the neurotrauma field and engage them in NNS

3. To provide a mechanism for members to soundboard ideas, seek specific advice, increase their network, explore career alternatives, expand their knowledge/skillset, etc. 

 

Sign up as a mentor, mentee, or BOTH!

 

Learn more and access the application using the link below! If you have problems accessing the Mentor:Mentee Application, please email theresathomas@ arizona.edu.

 

Registration deadline: Friday, May 19, 2023

Register Here

We’re looking forward to another successful year!

 

Sincerely, 

 Theresa and the TEAM Neurotrauma Committee

Note: Mentees must be current NNS members to be matched for the 2023-2024 Program

Pamela VandeVord, Treasurer (2022-2023)

Position: Professor, Associate Dean of Research and Innovation

Affiliation: Virginia Tech College of Engineering

Research focus: Neurotrauma, neuroinflammation; glia, chronic behavioral outcomes, mechanotransduction; Injury Biomechanics; Bioengineering

Past roles with NNS: Annual Conference Session Chair, Reviewer, Conference Planning Committee

Who or what inspires you: My students! Mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students is something that I enjoy as I love hearing from different perspectives to find new innovative solutions. Discussing diverse and creative approaches to our research keeps me on my toes and inspires me to keep advancing our field.

Your goal(s) for this term: As the treasurer, of course, I want to make sure the society is financially healthy. An additional goal that I hope to contribute to is increasing membership, especially engaging young investigators. They are the future of NNS!

Olga Kokiko - Cochran, Secretary (2022-2023) 

Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience

Affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Chronic Brain Injury Program, Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University

Research focus: Inflammation following TBI; stress response and sleep patterns

Past roles with NNS: Membership Committee 2015-present; Councilor 2019-2022; Secretary 2022-2023

Who or what inspires you: My kids inspire me every day. In fact, my kids are the reason that I got interested in the effects of stress and sleep disruption lol! They really do keep me grounded though and remind me that life is busy and complicated. Most people are managing multiple responsibilities and that can be stressful. It’s no different for TBI or SCI survivors. Although I am a basic scientist by training, I try to stay focused on research topics that will translate to clinical populations. If I can do one thing that helps TBI survivors, then that’s a success. Maybe that means simply raising awareness about the potential impact of stress and other life experiences during chronic recovery.

Your goal(s) for this term: My primary goal as Secretary is to support the membership. To do that, I encourage all members to get involved with the Society. Our committees have expanded and include both standard and student members. This is a great way to learn about the Society and contribute to its future growth. It’s also great for networking and building relationships with other people in the neurotrauma field. I am thrilled to see an expansion in membership benefits. I think this will help to attract new members and retain existing members. We have a lot of room for growth though. I’d love for each standard member to invite one collaborator to the annual Symposium. With that approach, there should be an increase in the amount of cross disciplinary research discussed and presented.

Help support the National Neurotrauma Society’s (NNS) advocacy initiatives, including those that will take place this summer during the upcoming NNS Symposium, by participating in the upcoming 5k-Run-Walk anytime between March 1 and 31st.

Take advantage of these weeks in February to build up teams!

You can also register now and run/walk anytime during March.

To learn more about this fundraiser click on the link below:

https://nns.regfox.com/neurotrauma-5k-fun-runwalk

Please join us for our next NNS members-only roundtable discussion titled "I have my PhD, now what?" Scheduled for February 28, 2023 at 16:00 ET. We are proud to be once again bringing together a diverse panel of scientists to discuss managing careers at all stages in the neurotrauma field.

Register now at: http://bit.ly/3jJF1of

Featured Participants:

Organizers:
Ramesh Raghupathi PhD
Shaun Carlson PhD
Johannes Dapprich PhD
Eleni Moschonas BA BS

Presenters:

Janna Harris, PhD. Senior Manager Advisory Services Consulting, The Jackson Laboratory

I build and lead diverse teams to tackle complex scientific challenges and move research forward. I have a PhD in Neurobiology and 20 years of experience in basic and translational neuroscience research. As a consultant I provide support to clients through an interactive process, working collaboratively to address the most pressing issues facing their research programs. Advisory Services Consulting at the Jackson Laboratory leverages a 90-year history of expertise in the areas of Preclinical and Translational Research, Vivarium Design and Operations, Best Practices, and Performance Improvement. Previously, I led the Brain Injury and Aging Laboratory and directed the Animal MRI Core at the University of Kansas Medical Center. I always try to stay connected with the ultimate goal of my work: to improve the lives of patients living with neurological injury and disease.

Cara Altimus, PhD. Senior Director, Center for Strategic Philanthropy at Milken Institute & Managing Director, BD2

Experienced scientist and philanthropic advisor with expertise in the R&D process and scientific program development. Demonstrated success in creating scientific initiatives in new and existing research areas through multi-stakeholder community engagement. Passionate about biomedical research, the people who make new discoveries, and expanding research of (and in) the brain.

Shruti Muralidhar, PhD. Research Scientist at Deep Genomics

I am a neuroscientist and science communicator. As part of my day-job, I am a Research Scientist at Deep Genomics, looking at preclinical research to advance Oligonucleotide therapies. When the lab coat comes off, I am interested in the intersections of science, neuroscience, policy and law. I am also the founding member of two ventures - IndSciComm, a collective formed to improve scientific awareness in India and help Indian researchers interact with the public. BiasWatchIndia - a movement to document women representation and combat gender-biased panels in Indian STEM conferences, meetings and talks.

Vivian Nuhodzic, PhD. Advanced Workflow Specialist - Confocal, Leica Microsystems Inc

I am a neuroscientist by training, currently working to advance scientific discovery using microscopy techniques. As an Advanced Workflow Specialist, I work directly with academic and industry researchers to develop advanced microscopy solutions for life science research. In particular, I have expertise in confocal, multiphoton, and STED microscopy techniques in translational medicine and basic research. I am passionate about seeing scientific discoveries and producing the most beautiful representations through real science art.

Johannes Dapprich, PhD. CEO at NeuroPair, Inc

Dr. Johannes Dapprich is founder and CEO of NeuroPair, Inc., an early-stage therapeutic company aiming to regenerate and re-connect neurons after acute spinal cord injury through an injectable gel formulation, using magnetically aligning nanoparticles to create a fiber scaffold in the injury site in order to stimulate and guide axonal regrowth. In another company he founded, Generation Biotech, Johannes commercialized technology for next-generation sequencing and tissue typing through collaborative work in the lab of Shirley Tilghman at Princeton University, with Rider and Rutgers University, the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Charité in Berlin, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Johannes has extensive experience with university / industry relations and tech transfer issues through his engagement with the University Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP), where he served as program manager for projects that help streamline industry / academic negotiations and tech transfer. He joined Orchid from SEQ Ltd., a pioneer company attempting to build a next-generation single molecule DNA sequencer and partly based on his work in single molecule biophysics at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Elaine Brock JD, MHSA. C3Authority LLC

Elaine L. Brock is President and Senior Partner of Contracts, Compliance, and Conflict of Interest Authority LLC. C3Authority provides comprehensive, effective, and creative services and solutions covering all aspects of research administration, university-industry relationships, policy, and regulation. Clients include Georgia Tech Univ., Wayne State Univ, the Univ. of Michigan, the Univ. of Virginia, Iowa State Univ, Clarkson Univ., Oregon State Univ., Dignity Health (Tucson, AZ) and other large health systems, Codetta Bio, Inc, NeuroPair Inc, and other small businesses, the Extracorporeal Life support Organization, the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, and other non-profit organizations. She is affiliated with Coppersmith Brockelman PLC and Polsinelli PC and is the Contract Accords Manager for the University Industry Demonstration Partnership where she oversees the development of guidance documents to assist university and industry collaborators in arriving at common understandings of key issues and current topics. Elaine has extensive experience in research administration, contracting, program review, university-industry relationships, policy development, and implementation of regulations. For many years, Elaine was the Senior Associate Director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects at the University of Michigan. Elaine was also the inaugural Director of the University of Michigan Medical School Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Research. Elaine served as the Director of the caBIG® Data Sharing and Intellectual Capital Knowledge Center from 2008-2012 dealing with data sharing, processes, model agreements, and related issues. Elaine taught “Research Contracts and Industrial Agreements: Domestic and International” as an Adjunct Professor in Johns Hopkins University’s M.S in Research Administration program. She has served on statewide, regional, and national committees including the Contracts and Intellectual Property Committee and the Board of Directors of the COGR and has been a frequent presenter to various audiences on topics including conflict of interest, clinical trial agreements, contracting best practices, export controls, data, and technology transfer.