Dr. Ira Rashbaum is the Chief of Stroke Rehabilitation at Rusk where he cares for adult stroke inpatients and outpatients. He also provides care for adults with general outpatient rehabilitation needs, including chronic pain and musculoskeletal disorders. In particular, he has an expertise in diagnosing and treating psychosomatic pain. He has served as chairperson of the Study Guide Committee of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, a position that placed him at the cutting edge of all aspects of rehabilitation medicine. He has been selected as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor every year since 2012. In this interview, Dr. Rashbaum discusses the importance of the multidisciplinary team to stroke care and the treatment of medically complex patients. 

Sofiya Prilik, MD is a Clinical Instructor at Rusk Rehabilitation and practices general and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. Dr. Prilik’s work extends to two subacute facilities which work closely with Rusk and provide an opportunity to follow her patients throughout the continuum of care. After moving to the US at the age of 17, Dr. Prilik received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from NYU where she was awarded membership in the Phi Betta Kappa honorary society and was the recipient of the Founders Day Award, and her medical degree from SUNY Downstate.  In this interview, Dr. Prilik discusses two critical elements of medical care today: education and patient empowerment and how these translate to all those she works with in the clinical setting.

Maria Tafurt is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Rusk Rehabilitation. She is the Site Director at Rusk and Hospital for Joint Diseases where she manages an interdisciplinary staff that includes occupational and physical therapists, speech and language pathologists, psychologists and neuropsychologists, recreational therapists, and child life professionals. She has authored or co-authored sixteen articles, abstracts and international presentations in her field. In this interview, she discusses innovative pediatric integrative approaches as well as electrical stimulation after stroke and the importance of teamwork to achieve optimal success. 

Joseph Taravella, MS, PhD is a licensed child and family clinical psychologist who serves as the Supervisor of the Pediatric Psychology Services and Co-Director of Psychology Intern Training at Rusk Rehabilitation. Along with a private practice in midtown Manhattan, he proudly serves on the Board of Directors for Kid Angel Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps underserved children and families from distressed communities, and is co-founder of Forward Footsteps, LLC, a publishing company with a focus on children, caregivers, and diversity with his colleague, Dr. Stacey Bromberg. In this interview, Dr. Taravella provides tremendous insights into dealing with grief, cyber bullying, and his own education from being on staff at Rusk. 

Jodi Herbsman, MS, PhD is the Program Manager of Acute Care Therapy Services at Rusk Rehabilitation where she manages the daily operations of Physical and Occupational therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, and Psychology services. Her position entails providing support, guidance, and supervision to acute care managers and assisting them with management of operational issues as needed. Among many interesting topics discussed in this episode, Dr. Herbsman delves into the importance of therapy in the acute care setting and her research in the areas of delirium and early mobility for these patients. 

Dr. Amit Bansal and Dr. JR Rizzo, two physicians at Rusk Rehabilitation, provide quick summaries of their presentations at this year's Annual Assembly. 

Dr. Julie Silver is an Associate Professor and the Associate Chair for Strategic Initiatives at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and is on staff at Spaulding Rehabilitation hospital. She is recognized nationally and internationally as an innovator, academician, teacher, and an award-winning author who has published multiple books including two new books: the Essentials of PM&R which is here at the conference today at the Elsevier booth, and Before and After Cancer Treatment: Heal Faster, Better, Stronger (Johns Hopkins Press) which was just released and is for cancer survivors.
The Boston Globe recognized Dr. Silver’s important contributions to healthcare and society and awarded her the Top Innovator in Medicine. The Discovery Channel featured her work and the STAR Program in the show Innovations. She has been a guest on the Today Show, the CBS Early Show and Dr. Oz. Her work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the London Times and NPR. Each year hundreds of healthcare professionals from all corners of the nation come to Boston to attend the continuing education courses that she directs at Harvard Medical School titled “Career Advancement and Leadership Skills for Women in Healthcare “ and “Writing, Publishing and Social Media for Healthcare Professionals”. Her courses are among the highest-rated at Harvard.

Margaret (Meg) Waskiewicz is the supervisor of the Adult Outpatient Neurological occupational therapy unit where she primarily treats complex vision and concussion patients and has had an active role in the concussion center at Rusk.  Along with her clinical experience she also is an adjunct professor teaching both at NYU and LIU-Brooklyn. She will be speaking in the fall at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine conference and at the American Academy of Physical Medicine &Rehabilitation Annual Assembly Session. Last year, she was in China to provide education on the role of occupational therapy in rehabilitation and in a hospital setting. In this interview, Meg discusses acute and chronic visual problems stemming from traumatic brain injury and how occupational therapy modalities are being used in China.

Sonja Blum, MD, PhD, of Rusk Rehabilitation, primarily focuses on the clinical diagnosis and management of cognitive and psychiatric aspects of memory disorders. Her current research focus is on understanding the natural course and predictors of recovery of memory function after brain injury. In this interview, Dr. Blum discusses different injuries that can cause memory disorders and the therapies used to address them. 

​Megan Evangelist is a clinical specialist in occupational therapy. Her career in the acute rehabilitation setting began at the University of Rochester Medical Center, followed by two years experience as a burn and trauma therapist in acute care at the University of Vermont Medical Center. Along with her regular duties and responsibilities, she has made numerous poster presentations at the American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference & Expo, the New York State Occupational Therapy Association annual conference, the Johns Hopkins Critical Care Rehabilitation Conference, and most recently at the American Delirium Society annual conference. In this interview, Megan discusses the treatment of patients with delirium, ways to improve patient care, and opportunities to enhance a unit's workplace culture.

Dr. Renat Sukhov serves as Clinical Associate Professor and Associate Medical Director of Pediatric Rehabilitation Service at Rusk Rehabilitation. He specializes in pediatric rehabilitation medicine with medical expertise also in the areas of spasticity therapy, acupuncture, hand rehabilitation, musculoskeletal disorders, swallowing disorders, neuromuscular rehabilitation, and concussion. In this interview, Dr. Sukhov discusses the challenges and opportunities of integrative medicine as well as treating patients who require complex care. 

Steven Flanagan, MD is Professor and Chairman of Rehabilitation Medicine and Medical Director of Rusk Rehabilitation. His specialty is brain injury. In his first interview, Dr. Flanagan provided tremendous insights into a number of critical topics in rehabilitation medicine and the broader health domain including healthcare reform, early mobilization in critical care, increasing quality and decreasing costs, access to care, international training/education, and treating medically complex patients. In this episode, Dr. Flanagan once again provides a first-hand look at several key areas including strategies for healthcare leaders to deal with consolidation, big data, electronic health records, postgraduate training, comparative effectiveness research, and best practices from the international domain. 

John R. Corcoran, MS, PhD is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Rusk Rehabilitation where he specializes in rehabilitation and pain management. He serves as the Site Director for Rehabilitation Therapy Services and is a Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities Medical Rehabilitation Surveyor who surveys rehabilitation hospitals both nationally and internationally. He also has a faculty appointment with the American Physical Therapy Association and teaches Health Policy and Administration in the Leadership in Physical Therapy's Program LAMP Leadership division. In this interview, Dr. Corcoran discusses various team approaches for pain management to minimize length of stay and to avoid hospitalization, as well as the importance of early mobilization in intensive care settings. 

​Dr. Jung Ahn serves as Associate Medical Director of Rusk Institute, Clinical Director & Inpatient Director of Rusk Institute, and Rehabilitation Medicine Service Chief at NYU Langone Medical Center. He is a graduate of Catholic University Medical College in Seoul, Korea. His Rehabilitation Medicine Residency training occurred at NYU Langone Medical Center where he also had a Spinal Cord Injury Medicine Fellowship. In this interview, Dr. Ahn reviews treatment for patients who have suffered from a spinal cord injury and the relationship between etiology and functional outcomes in cases of transverse myelitis.

Maneshka Perera is a Senior Occupational Therapist at Rusk Rehabilitation. She has worked with individuals with spinal cord injuries for the past six years and currently serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the New York Chapter of the Spinal Cord Injury Association. She has helped to cultivate a manual intervention that was developed by a physical therapy colleague to address trunk weakness in neurological patients, and is working towards integrating the technique into the occupational therapy scope of practice. She also has  co-authored a publication in OT Advance for occupational therapy practitioners, highlighting and introducing the technique and its ability to have an impact on activities of daily living. In this interview, Maneshka discusses successful efforts in treating patients who experience trunk weakness resulting from their injury. She also describes how teaching patients and their caregivers to incorporate the spinal mobility technique along with other resistive, aerobic and pulmonary exercises based on each individual’s level of injury is critical to success. 

Tara Denham, MS founded the renowned Vestibular Physical Therapy Center at Rusk Rehabilitation. A physical therapist, she is the Outpatient Physical Therapy Program Manager at the Rusk Rehabilitation Ambulatory Care Center and is a faculty member at NYU Langone. Tune in to hear a great discussion on vestibular therapy and the role it plays in concussions, as well as on evidence-based research in this area and the importance of effective training. 

Joseph Rath, PhD is Associate Director for Psychology Research at Rusk Rehabilitation, Training Director of the Rusk Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship in Rehabilitation Research, and clinical assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at NYU School of Medicine. In this episode, Dr. Rath explains the clinical applications of problem-solving research in neuropsychological rehabilitation and the valuable work he is doing for veterans diagnosed with Gulf War illness.

Bonnie Marks, PhD has 12 years of clinical and rehabilitation experience in helping individuals become more successful in achieving their life goals. She has worked at Rusk Rehabilitation in several positions including Psychology and Brain Injury Day Treatment as a licensed Psychologist and Cognitive therapist. In this interview, Bonnie discusses her work in cognitive remediation and the emotional effects of brain injury among other areas. Her holistic focus on mindfulness in meditation examines the neurophysiologic effects on the brain and mood of the relaxation response.

Jeffrey M. Cohen, MD is a Clinical Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University School of Medicine and an Attending Physician in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at, NYU-Langone Medical Center. He is the Chief of the Medically Complex Specialty Program, Director of the Limb Loss Program, and Rehabilitation Director of the Neuromuscular Disease Center and the Diabetic Foot and Ankle Clinic at NYU. In this interview, Dr. Cohen discusses his work with patients and how a various strategies are critical in helping to reintegrate patients to their communities. 

Wayne Stokes, MD is a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and also director of musculoskeletal education for NYU Langone’s residency program in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.  Dr. Stokes specializes in the comprehensive diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of musculoskeletal problems. In this interview, Dr. Stokes discusses the exciting new musculoskeletal fellowship, the tremendous benefits of a leading academic medical center, and his work in sports medicine from supporting the New York City marathon to area sports teams. He also reviews the importance of exercise as medicine and the future of health in this regard. 

Preeti Raghavan, MD directs the Motor Recovery Research Laboratory, whose mission is to develop innovative strategies to restore hand function after stroke and other neuromuscular disorders. She and her multidisciplinary team investigate how brain injury affects motor skills and how sensorimotor integration can be used to enhance motor learning and control. In this interview, Dr. Raghavan provides an in-depth look at her leading research in stroke rehabilitation, employing strategies to engage patients in their care and in utilizing the unaffected arm to promote plasticity and affected arm recovery. 

John-Ross (JR) Rizzo, MD is a physician scientist at Rusk Rehabilitation where he is an Assistant Professor. He leads the newly formed Visuomotor Integration Laboratory where his team focuses on eye-hand coordination as it relates to acquired brain injury. Dr. Rizzo has been recognized as a Top 40 under 40 by Crain’s for his industry-leading innovation and dedication to transforming the lives of those with vision impairment worldwide. In this interview, Dr. Rizzo discusses his cutting-edge brain injury research and how alterations can uncouple eye-hand coordination. His work is a major step in designing better outcomes for those with brain injury and understanding and combatting visual impairment.  

Mara Sproul, MS, is a registered nurse with experience in rehabilitation, pediatrics, geriatrics, cardiology, and nursing administration. As the Concussion Center Program Manager at NYU Langone, she manages, coordinates and implements all aspects of patient care through the multidisciplinary center. Mara discusses how her nurse training has assisted her in caring for patients in an individualized manner and promoting better outcomes.

Prin Amorapanth, MD, is a clinical fellow in brain injury medicine at Rusk Rehabilitation. His fellowship provides him with training in the rehabilitation and management of patients with a wide range of acquired brain injuries in multiple settings. In this interview, Dr. Amorapanth discusses various topics related to the care of brain injury patients, including using transcranial electrical stimulation to improve emotional regulation and attention.

Heidi Fusco, MD, is a Brain Injury Physiatrist at Rusk Rehabilitation at NYU Langone Medical Center. She treats patients with brain injury in the acute, post-acute, subacute, and outpatient setting. Dr. Fusco provides her insights into treating brain injury patients from a variety of angles and how translational medicine is a critical function to provide success.