Seminar Series

Clinical associate professor, Department of Rehabilitation Science                                                                        UB School of Public Health and Health Professions

Seminar Topic

Reprogramming Skeletal Muscle for Enhanced Recovery from Peripheral Nerve Injury

Seminar Summary

Peripheral nerves have the capacity to regenerate; however, functional motor recovery is limited. Clinical and Preclinical studies suggest that there is a critical period for when reinnervation needs to occur in order for function to return. We are investigating using NANOG, a transcription factor, to expand the critical period for when functional reinnervation is possible.

Biographical Sketch
Kirk Personius, PT, PhD, is a clinical associate professor in the UB Department of Rehabilitation Science. He also holds an appointment in UB's Neuroscience program. His research focuses on how communication between motor neurons and muscle fibers guides the development of the neuromuscular junction and how this communication breaks down during disease, trauma and aging. Dr. Personius received his PT degree from Northeastern University, his PhD in Physiology from the University of Arizona and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Adam Sheppard, AuD, PhD
Assistant professor, Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences 
UB College of Arts and Sciences

Robert Burkard, PhD 
Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Science  
UB School of Public Health and Health Professions

Seminar Topic
Threshold and Suprathreshold Measures of Hearing

Presentation Summary
Audiologic assessment has two main purposes: (1) The characterization of hearing ability for medico-legal reasons, and (2) Identification of communicative impairment followed up by (hopefully) remediation. In this presentation, we will briefly discuss established site-of-lesion audiologic tests, including both threshold and suprathreshold measured. For the last part of the presentation, we will discuss poorly understood auditory disorders that are seemingly undetectable by established site-of-lesion tests and future diagnostic directions.

Assistant professor, Department of Rehabilitation Science
UB School of Public Health and Health Professions

Research assistant professor, Department of Medicine
UB Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences

Seminar Topic
Treating Chronic Pain with Behavioral Medicine

Presentation Summary
Radziwon will discuss the nature of chronic pain, how it differs from acute pain, the impact of chronic pain, and the role of psychological principles. He will describe the cognitive-behavioral model of treatment demonstrating skills that are often beneficial and the utility of these strategies in managing pain that has not responded to standard treatments. 

Biographical Sketch
Christopher Radziwon is a psychologist in the Division of Behavioral Medicine and the Department of Rehab Medicine at ECMC. He works to develop and refine treatment manuals designed to help clinicians test and disseminate standardized interventions in order to consistently administer effective treatments. 

His research goals have focused on understanding the treatment response--to clarify how cognitive behavioral therapy CBT exerts its effects. 

In addition, he has more than 10 years of clinical experience assessing and treating patients struggling with chronic pain. His practice provides behavioral treatments for medical patients with chronic illnesses ranging from traumatic brain injury, migraines, low back pain and multiple sclerosis to irritable bowel syndrome. He believes the goal of behavioral counseling for chronic pain is less about lowering pain levels on a scale and more about helping patients develop strategies and skills that improve their quality of life. 

Assistant professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning
Director of Research, IDEA Center
UB School Architecture and Planning

Seminar Topic
Advancing Inclusive Design: Linking Research to Practice

Presentation Summary
Rooted in a critique of designer-centric practice and embracing an ethic of social responsibility, the inclusive design focuses on developing form from function to increase the usefulness and responsiveness of our physical world for a more diverse range of people. This presentation will provide an overview and working knowledge of the inclusive design paradigm. It will introduce related knowledge bases, how that knowledge gets translated to design practice and best practice examples. 

Biographical Sketch
Jordana L. Maisel, PhD, is director of research at the IDEA Center and an assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at UB. She is PI/co-PI on numerous sponsored research projects and has led research in the areas of public transportation, inclusive design, street infrastructure, post-occupancy evaluations, and accessible housing policy. Maisel co-authored The Goals of Universal Design. She earned her B.S. in human development from Cornell University and her master's degree in urban planning and PhD in industrial and systems engineering from UB. 

Assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation
Director, Integrated Cognitive Rehabilitation Program
University of Rochester Medical Center

Seminar Topic
Intro to Cognitive Rehabilitation: Insights from a Neuropsychologist

Seminar Summary
This presentation will highlight the history and evolution of cognitive rehabilitation with a focus on current practice. It will offer insights into an existing interdisciplinary cognitive rehab program at the University of Rochester Medical Center and present clinical outcomes and patient-specific experiences. 

Biographical Sketch
Dr. Martinez is a clinical neuropsychologist with more than 11 years of experience in the neuropsychology field. She is the Director of the Integrated Cognitive Rehabilitation Program at the University of Rochester Medical Center and runs the outpatient Neuropsychology Service within the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at UR Medicine.

Prior to joining PM&R, Dr. Martinez ran a successful private practice that provided diagnostic and assessment services for children, adolescents and adults in the greater Washington, DC area. 

Presently, Dr. Martinez provides direct patient care serving the diagnostic categories of chronic disease (i.e. MS, spinal cord injury, stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain tumors, and other neurological conditions). She is focused on helping individuals improve their performance, adjustment, and a general sense of efficacy in their lives. Her clinical interests include cognitive rehabilitation, neuropsychological and neurocognitive evaluations and adjustment from medical illness. 

Director of strategic initiatives and professional development
UPMC Centers for Rehab Services

Seminar Topic
Identifying and Addressing the Needs of Survivors of Critical Illness

Seminar Summary
Each year, over 4 million people survive ICU care and many of these survivors are discharged home with physical, cognitive and mental health problems that can last months to years. Post-intensive care syndrome, or PICS, is the term that is now used to describe the constellation of problems that can impact a person's ability to return to participating in activities both in the home and community following hospital discharge. This talk aims to familiarize participants with the problems associated with PICS, review key standardized measures to identify these problems and discuss an interprofessional post-acute clinic model to address patients at risk for developing PICS. 

Biographical Sketch
Hallie Zeleznik, PT, DPT is the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Professional Development for UPMC Centers for Rehab Services in Pittsburgh, PA. She is a Board-Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist with over 20 years of clinical experience and specific expertise in rehabilitation in the areas of brain injury, stroke, vestibular disorders, concussion, and post-intensive care syndrome. Her professional roles involve clinical practice, program development and implementation, quality improvement, leadership, and clinical mentoring and teaching. She serves as a faculty member for UPMC Centers for Rehab Service's Neurologic & Geriatric Residency Programs and is both a clinical and adjunct faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh department of physical therapy. Hallie has served in a variety of roles for the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy including the Knowledge Translation Taskforce addressing the Clinical Practice Guideline: A Core Set of Outcome Measures for Adults with Neurologic Conditions Undergoing Physical Therapy. She has also served a 4-year term on the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties' Neurologic Specialty Council from 2017-2020. Currently, Hallie is the co-chair of the Academy of Neurologic Physical Therapy's Move Forward Knowledge Translation Taskforce, and the co-chair of APTA-Acute Care's Core Measures Clinical Practice Guideline Knowledge Translation committee.

Assistant professor, Department of Rehabilitation Science
UB School of Public Health and Health Professions

Seminar Topic
Brain Injury Behind Closed Doors: Prevalence, Risk Factors, Consequences and Management

Seminar Summary
One in four women aged 15-49 suffer physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. Repeated acquired brain injuries (ABI) from intimate partner violence (IPV) are a serious public health concern worldwide. In the US, three out of four female IPV survivors have sustained at least one IPV-related ABI and nearly two out of four IPV survivors suffered from repeated ABIs and its silent and chronic sequelae. This talk discusses the prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of intimate partner violence-related head trauma and highlights the importance of trauma informed approaches to assessment and treatment for this undeserved group.

Biographical Sketch
Ghazala Saleem is an assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Science at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. She is also the Director of Brain Function and Recovery Lab. Dr. Saleem earned both her master's in occupational therapy and her research doctorate in movement sciences from Columbia University.  Following her doctorate, she completed a year-long postdoctoral training in clinical research at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Saleem also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pedicatric brain injury and neurorehabilitation from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is a trained/licensed occupational therapist with extensive clinical experience in pediatrics and neurological disorders.