Blog
Meet Our Members: Maria Bandres
Maria is a PhD Candidate at Washington University in St. Louis, working in the Plasticity, Monoamines and Recovery of Function Laboratory directed by Dr. Jacob McPherson. She joined ASNR in 2021 to expand her knowledge and network within the clinical rehabilitation field. Maria was also very interested in ASNR’s professional development opportunities for trainees and how our Annual Meetings are optimally sized to allow attendees to make one-on-one connections with others in the field. We were excited to award her the 2023 Presidential Abstract Award, and she was also selected as a member of our 2021 cohort of Diversity Fellows.
ASNR is Enhancing Diversity in Neurorehabilitation Through our Diversity Fellowship Program
The American Society of Neurorehabilitation (ASNR) is dedicated to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in our organization and within the field of neurorehabilitation. These values will help ensure we produce the best science and provide the best medical treatment for patients. In accordance with our commitment to diversity, ASNR established the Diversity Fellowship Program in 2021 to support underrepresented individuals by providing travel, training, and mentorship support.
Meet Our Members: Adarsh Mavathaveedu
We are excited to welcome Adarsh Mavathaveedu, one of this year’s new ASNR Members. Adarsh is a pre-medical student majoring in neuroscience at the University of Rochester (Class of 2024). He joined ASNR to expand his knowledge of applied neuroscience as well as learn more about the career options available to him upon graduation. In our interview, Adarsh shares more about his career and his research.
Meet Our Members: Jordan Acosta
Jordan Acosta is a Graduate Research Assistant in the Sensorimotor Neuroimaging Laboratory at Colorado State University where she is preparing to finish her master’s degree in Health and Exercise Science. We were excited to welcome her as a new ASNR Member this year! Jordan joined ASNR because the collaboration, networking, and sharing of new ideas in neurorehabilitation is such an incredible opportunity. You can learn more about Jordan and her research in our interview below.
An Inside Look at ASNR’s 2023 Annual Meeting
This year’s Annual Meeting of the American Society for Neurorehabilitation (ASNR) brought together 275 attendees from across the country and around the world! We were excited to reconnect with old friends and welcome 107 first-time attendees to the meeting.
Career Pathways : Dorothy Barthélemy, PhD, MSc, pht
“My path to higher education was not really mapped out in advance,” said Dr. Dorothy Barthélemy. In high school, she loved to learn, she did well in her classes, and she was on a competitive handball team - a sport that is very popular in Europe, especially in Scandinavia. She participated in a lot of sport competitions, and with that came injuries, bursitis in both knees, multiple ankle sprains, and she was almost as often on the physiotherapist's treatment table as on the sports field.
Get Ready for ASNR 2023!
Are you prepared to make the most of your experience at ASNR’s annual conference this year? We are looking forward to a fantastic few days of meeting new people, reconnecting with colleagues, learning from our expert presenters, and engaging in stimulating conversations in the historic city of Charleston, SC.
Regaining Language After Stroke with Neurorehabilitation
When a person has a stroke, their life often changes dramatically in just an instant. This was the case for Patrick Prock. After experiencing a stroke in October of 2019, Patrick was diagnosed with profound global aphasia—he had lost the ability to communicate using words. Aphasia is an acquired impairment in language caused by stroke or other injury to the areas of the brain responsible for language production and/or processing. Global aphasia is the most severe form of aphasia, affecting speaking, comprehension, reading, and writing as a result of damage to multiple language-related brain regions.
ASNR Membership Provides Valuable Benefits
Whether you are just starting out your career in neurorehabilitation or are a seasoned professional in the field, the American Society of Neurorehabilitation (ASNR) can provide valuable resources and connect you with a vibrant community of scientists, clinicians, and other rehabilitation professionals.
Meet Our Members: Nicole Haikalis Aguilar
Nicole Haikalis Aguilar is a Ph.D. Candidate working in the Motor Rehabilitation and Learning (MRL) Laboratory at Arizona State University, where she studies placebo effects of non-invasive brain stimulation on motor learning. She has been a member of the American Society of Neurorehabilitation (ASNR) since 2021, and ASNR was delighted to award Nicole our 2022 Diversity Travel Fellowship. Diversity is critical for advancing neurorehabilitation, and this fellowship supports underrepresented individuals by providing complimentary registration to our Annual Meeting and funding for meeting-related travel expenses.
Dr. Abhishek Jaywant receives NIH Career Development Award to Study Intervention for Post-Stroke Depression and Executive Dysfunction
Hemiparesis, mobility limitations, and speech disturbances are among the most readily apparent and common symptoms after a stroke. But many individuals recovering from a stroke may also suffer from “invisible” symptoms that have significant impacts on daily functioning and quality of life: depression and cognitive (executive) dysfunction. Approximately a quarter of stroke survivors experience a “depression-executive dysfunction syndrome” characterized by persistent depressive symptoms and deficits in executive cognitive skills such as attentional control, multitasking, and working memory.
Career Pathways: Dr. Rachel Hawe, PT, DPT, PhD
As a high school student, Dr. Rachel Hawe wasn’t sure what she wanted to do in the future. While she enjoyed math and science, she had little exposure to engineering and couldn’t see herself in the traditional engineering roles she was aware of. That changed when a friend mentioned biomedical engineering. She was initially drawn to the idea of designing prosthetics and was excited to apply her skills in math and science to medical applications.
ASNR Virtual Mentorship Program Stories: Dr. Benjamin Philip
My name is Benjamin Philip, PhD, and I’m an Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, Neurology, and Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. I started my career as a neuroscientist, and when I transitioned into translational research, the American Society for Neurorehabilitation (ASNR) was the perfect home for me. Right now I’m an early career faculty member running a small laboratory that focuses on the brain mechanisms of handedness, the brain consequences of peripheral neurological injury, and how these two intersect to improve rehabilitation for patients with an impaired dominant hand.
Join ASNR Members Virtually or In-Person to Learn How to Better Manage Your Career
The Women in Neurorehabilitation Special Interest Group (SIG) of the World Federation of Neurorehabilitation (WFNR) is proud to present its first special symposium at the World Congress of Neurorehabilitation to be held in Vienna on December 17, 2022. This symposium titled ‘Strategies to managing your career as a woman in neurorehabilitation’ will be presented by panelists Sangeetha Madhavan PT, PhD, from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Jyutika Mehta, PhD, CCC-SLP, from Texas Woman's University, and Catherine E. Lang PT, PhD, from Washington University in St. Louis.
Meet Our Members: Andrew Monaghan
Andrew Monaghan is a Ph.D. Candidate working in the Gait and Balance Disorders Laboratory at Arizona State University. He joined ASNR in 2020 to expand his network within the field of neurorehabilitation, and to have the opportunity to keep up to date with the latest developments and disseminate his research findings. In this interview, Andrew shares more about his career and his innovative rehabilitation research.
Career Pathways: Dr. Tom Carmichael
There isn’t just one path to success in the field of neurorehabilitation. Many researchers and clinicians have found their way to tremendously fulfilling and exciting careers by taking indirect routes and sometimes making unexpected shifts along the way. The career of American Society of Neurorehabilitation (ASNR) President S. Thomas Carmichael, MD, PhD, has spanned the realms of clinical care, biomedical research, and academic leadership and administration.
Dr. Catherine Lang Receives NIH MERIT Award
The field of rehabilitation is making great strides in developing and translating rigorous assessment and measurement methods to enhance clinical practice and provide meaningful real-world benefits for patients. Catherine Lang, PhD, is a leader in neurorehabilitation who is pioneering the use of wearable sensors to directly measure the performance of upper limb activities in daily life for individuals after stroke, and the potential applications of her new research extend far beyond stroke
rehabilitation.
Faces of ASNR: Harrison Redpenning, Meetings & Communications Manager
Every member of the American Society of Neurorehabilitation (ASNR) has benefited from the behind-the-scenes efforts of Harrison Redpenning, our Meetings and Communications Manager.
Whether you are looking for updates on ASNR’s Annual Meeting, renewing your membership, or seeking career development workshops and resources, Harrison is dedicated to keeping the ASNR website up to date and running smoothly to meet our members’ needs.
ASNR Welcomes New Executive Director 
The American Society of Neurorehabilitation (ASNR) is pleased to announce that Brennan Summers has been selected to serve as the Executive Director, effective August 15, 2022. Brennan brings to this position over 20 years of experience working in customer service and hospitality, and he is passionate about helping others. He is taking over leadership responsibilities from JoAnn Taie, who has served as ASNR’s Interim Executive Director Since November of 2021.
