The RRTC on Spinal Cord Injury is head by the Spinal Cord Injury Research Center located at the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Washington, DC. NRH is a free-standing rehabilitation facility specializing in treating persons with SCI through inpatient and outpatient care and day treatment programs.
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Project Director: Suzanne Groah, MD, MSPH
RRTC Role(s): Overall Project Director for the RRTC
Principal Investigator R1, R3, Co-Principal Investigator, R2
T3Training DirectorEmail: suzanne@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Director of Spinal Cord Injury Consultation Liaison Service and of Spinal Cord Injury Research at the National Rehabilitation Hospital.
- Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Georgetown University.
- Subspecialty certification in SCI from the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Subspecialty Examination item writer since 2007.
- Identified among the 2009-2010 “Best Doctors in America” for the District of Columbia.
- Nominated for the NSCIA SCI “Hall of Fame” in 2008.
- Project Director of the National Capital Spinal Cord Injury Model System (2006-2011).
- Project Director of the 2003-2009 SCI RRTC.
- Previous expert panel member for the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Consortium Guideline on Bladder Management, current expert panel member for the upcoming PVA Consortium Guideline on Carbohydrate and Lipid Disorders in SCI.
- Chair of the American Spinal Injury Association Research Committee.
- Craig Neilsen Foundation ad hoc board member and grant reviewer.
- Reviews articles regularly for the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spinal Cord, American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine and Journal of NeuroTrauma.
RRTC Role(s): Advisory board member
Consultant for consumer and cultural issues related to T1
Helps develop culturally-appropriate consumer-focused materials
Email: tom@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Founded Cafecitos, a community organization in the District of Columbia that seeks to build friendship between the local Latino and Anglo communities.
RRTC Role(s): Advisory Board Member
Email: gilmore@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Executive Director, Prince George’s Tennis and Education Foundation
- Key player in developing and testing NRH peer mentoring program
- Raising SCI awareness, increasing understanding of persons with SCI among clinicians, teachers, and children
- Wheelchair athletics, tennis, youth development
RRTC Role(s): Advisory Board Member
Email: sydney@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Standardized (simulated) patients for teaching clinical and interpersonal skills in the area of SCI
- Video peer-modeling, video self-modeling, “How To” videos.
Manon Maitland Schladen (Lauderdale), MSE
RRTC Role(s): Co-Director of Training focused on both consumers (Project T1) and health professionals (Project T2)Direct all media efforts: instructional design; online product conception, testing and development
Email: manon@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Assistant Director of Knowledge Translation and Educational Media for National Rehabilitation Hospital SCI Research Center
- Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Project Management (PMP since 2003)
- Knowledge translation, human computer interaction, computer-mediated courseware, video self- and peer-modeling
RRTC Role(s): Directs project T1 developing materials to help SCI consumers manage their heart health, control obesity, and avoid pressure ulcersCoordinates statistical analyses for projects R2, R3
Develops online health management tools
Email: alex@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Training Director, 2003-2009 SCI RRTC
- Research faculty at Georgetown University Department of Psychology
- Russian Academy, Institute of Psychology trained and affiliated
- Differential psychophysiology, psychology, robo-therapy (assistive technology)
- Psychosocial intervention programs for elderly people with cognitive impairments
To view Dr. Libin’s complete bio, please click here.
RRTC Role(s): Project Coordinator, R3
Email: alison@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Co-Principal Investigator, 2003-2009 SCI RRTC
- American Spinal Injury Association Annual Meeting 2007 award-winning paper on preserving bone health after acute SCI
- Practicing physical therapist, Co-owner, Neurological Physical Therapy, PLLC, Alexandria, VA
- President, American Physical Therapy Association, Washington DC chapter
RRTC Role(s): Advisory Board Member
Email: mark@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Section 508 accessibility, web design, disability storytelling, film, multimedia, training of service animals
RRTC Role(s): Project Coordinator T1, T2
Email: inger@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Project coordinator, 2003-2009 SCI RRTC
- Peer Mentoring
- Database development: Model Systems (traumatic) SCI; Spinal Cord Disease (SCD), Stroke
- Public Health Multimedia
RRTC Role(s): Advisory Board Member
Email: robert@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Director of Development, National Rehabilitation Hospital
- Pressure ulcer prevention in SCI
RRTC Role(s): Advisory Board Member
Email: shannon@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Serves as SCI Navigator for Model System at National Rehabilitation Hospital
- Peer mentoring, “How To” videos
RRTC Role(s): Directs project T2, developing materials to help doctors and other clinicians better understand the heart and skin health needs of persons with SCI to provide high quality care
Email: cynthia@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Associate Director, Georgetown University-NRH Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Program
- Develops, tests, administers graduate medical education programs
- MedStar Health System Medical Education Research Certification scholar
- Practicing physiatrist, fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation since 2003
RRTC Role(s): Supports high-level statistical methods (R1, R3)
Email: nawar@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Director, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, MedStar Research Institute
- Director, Georgetown University Medical Center General Clinical Research Center Biostatistics Core
- Assistant Professor of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center
- Clinical trials and longitudinal studies, treatment of missing clinical data, consideration of ethnic and racial disparities, non-traditional predictors of physical disability and chronic diseases
RRTC Role(s): Senior research assistant R1, R2, R3, T3
Email: miriam@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Research assistant for 2003-2009 SCI RRTC
- Patient recruitment, data management for theSpinal Cord Disease/Disorder database at National Rehabilitation Hospital
- Survey administration and tracking; data collection, management and organization; qualitative research skills including interviewing and transcription
RRTC Role(s): Directs all R1 non-invasive cardiac radiology for both NRH and University of Miami (UM) Miller School of Medicine
Trains radiology technicians from both NRH and UM
Interprets radiology tests for all research participants
Helps educate cardiologists and primary care practitioners in RRTC research findings
Email: allen@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Co-Director, Noninvasive Cardiovascular Imaging at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the Washington Hospital Center
- Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine
- Colonel in the United States Army Medical Corps, Legion of Merit from the United States Army in 2008
- Member, board of directors for the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT)
- Founding editor-in-chief, SCCT Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
- President-Elect, Society of Atherosclerosis Imaging and Prevention
RRTC Role(s): Project Coordinator (NRH), R1, R2
Email: emily@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Exercise testing: Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) bicycles and metabolic testing equipment
- Gender and racial differences in quality of life and depression before and after cardiac rehabilitation
RRTC Role(s): Research and training media designer, all projects
Email: brenda@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Media design: print, electronic, interactive
- Photographer/videographer
- “How To” videos, leverage of public social media (e.g. Youtube, Facebook, Twitter)
RRTC Role(s): Advisory Board Member
Email: katherine@sci-health.org
Key experiences and interests:
- Pressure ulcer prevention programs
