Category: News

Wow: Our ReBUILD Detroit scholar, Rebecca De La Garza, won best presentation at the national ABRCMS (Annual Biomedical Research Conference For Minoritized Scientists) 2023 Phoenix for her poster presentation, Alexithymia Moderates the Relationship between Memory for Emotion and Companionship. Congratulations and wow, Rebecca and her team of coauthors:
Rebecca De La Garza, Darius A. Vann, Robiann R. Broomfield (doctoral student co-mentor), Gavin D. Sanders, Robin A. Hanks, & Lisa J. Rapport (co-mentor/Advisor)

To boot, last month, Rebecca garnered the Science Research Excellence Award – Second Place at the Annual University of Detroit Undergraduate and Graduate Research Symposium. In our lab, we call this series of events “convergent validity”. Way to go, Rebecca and our team.

Wow. This award encompasses trainees in all the health professions trainees across the spectrum of specialties within the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System (e.g., medicine, psychology, nursing, dentistry, etc.). Read more about the award here.

 

Darius Vann led fellow lab members Gavin Sanders, Rebecca De La Garza, and Robiann Broomfield on a poster submission that garnered a Student Blue Ribbon, Evidence-Based Practice Award from the American Psychological Association (APA) Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (Div. 40).  The study was titled “Computer Equipment in Tele-assessment is Confounded with Performance and Demographic Characteristics.” Darius presented in a session sponsored by Division 40 – Society for Clinical Neuropsychology, 2:00 – 2:50 PM, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Halls D and E.

Not coincidentally, our own very recent alum, Dr. Jeremy Grant, was gracious enough to send Darius a note of congratulations before letting us know that he too won a Blue Ribbon Award: The poster abstract that he completed at his University of Florida postdoctoral fellowship, “Quick-Reference Criteria for Identifying Multivariate Change in Mild Cognitive Impairment”, won the award for Best Research Abstract by an Early Career Professional.

That’s how we roll at our lab :).

       

Darius Vann led fellow lab members Gavin Sanders, Rebecca De La Garza, and Robiann Broomfield in a poster that will be presented at the 2023 APA convention in Washington DC. The study is titled “Computer Equipment in Tele-assessment is Confounded with Performance and Demographic Characteristics.” Darius will present in person in a session sponsored by Division 40 – Society for Clinical Neuropsychology, 2:00 – 2:50 PM, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Level 2, Halls D and E. Come by to see us there.

So much good news it cannot fit into a single headline:

Gavin Sanders has accepted an offer from The University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center for his postdoctoral fellowship. This outcome was Gavin’s quest when he joined us at WSU, and he garnered it just like in the dream (except in real life, it took a lot more hard work than in the dream) :).

Sarah Patrick likewise accepted an offer from her first-choice postdoctoral fellowship at The Ann Arbor VA/University of Michigan consortium, where she is currently on internship.

Gavin Sanders is first author of a publication in Brain Injury:
Sanders, G., Rapport, L. J., Marwitz, J. H., Novack, T. A., Walker, W., Tefertiller, C., . . . Zhang, Y. (2023). Barriers to driving and psychosocial outcomes after traumatic brain injury. Brain Injury, 1-10. doi:10.1080/02699052.2023.2172611. See the abstract on PubMed.

Jeremy Grant is first author of a publication in Applied Neuropsychology:
Grant, J. G., Rapport, L. J., Darling, R., Waldron-Perrine, B., & Bernitsas, E. (2023). Incremental validity of brief and abbreviated neuropsychological tests toward predicting functional outcomes in multiple sclerosis. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 1-11. doi:10.1080/23279095.2023.2176766. Download a free copy of the article here.

Rebecca De La Garza crushed it at the ReBUILD poster day as the first author of our lab project, “Alexithymia Predicts Face Emotion Perception after Acquired Brain Injury.”
Rebecca De La Garza, Robiann Broomfield, Emily Flores, Jo Blocton, Darius Vann, & Lisa J. Rapport. See her poster here

Breaking news: Our Southeastern Michigan Traumatic Brain Injury System (SEMTBIS) research project was renewed for the 2022-2027 cycle of the national collaborative Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS). This $2.4 million grant is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).

Dr. Robin Hanks, Professor and Chief of Psychology and Neuropsychology at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan is the Project Director for the SEMTBIS, overseeing collaboration with the national TBIMS sites, and Lisa Rapport will be the primary investigator on the site-specific study. Other key collaborators include Professor and biostatistician Scott Millis, as well as Peter Lichtenberg, Director of the Institute of Gerontology, who will serve as the consultant on the grant. Historically, many NeurAL students have used the support and resources of the SEMTBIS (e.g., access to the large, rigorously-vetted participant pool with moderate to severe TBI) to complete their research projects.

We’re very proud of NeurAL members Sarah Patrick and Gavin Sanders, who matched for internship at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and the VA Cincinnati Health Healthcare Centers, respectively.

Congratulations to Gavin Sanders and his invaluable wingperson, Robiann Broomfield, for garnering a research grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The grant will help to fund Gavin’s dissertation research, “Recognition and Memory for Facial Affect After Traumatic Brain Injury.”

Woo hoo for Lauren, who garnered her top choice postdoctoral fellowship at the Boston VA Medical Center. Hard-earned and well deserved, LJR-II. Lauren will have rich clinical and research experience there, including opportunities to continue her dissertation research on memory for emotion after acquired brain injury.

Jeremy is currently completing his predoctoral internship at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center, and he will finish in June 2022.

Jeremy won a competitive postdoctoral fellowship grant from the Florida Department of Health (Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program), which will fund his research, “Novel Training in Interventions for Treatment Adherence in Underserved Diverse Patients at Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease.”

Lauren’s dissertation: “Memory for Emotional Expressions in Adults with Acquired Brain Injury” and her committee: Lisa Rapport (Chair), Mark Lumley, Robin Hanks (WSU School of Medicine), and Scott Langenecker (University of Utah, Psychiatry).

• Lauren will be presenting a portion of her results at the upcoming conference of the International Neuropsychological Society: “Relationship Between Self-Reported Affect and Emotion Perception Following Acquired Brain Injury” (Poster Session 10, Friday 2/4, 3:30 pm – 4:45 pm).

Jeremy’s dissertation: “Predictors of Cognitive Reserve in Multiple Sclerosis” and his committee: Lisa Rapport (Chair), Mark Lumley, Eva Bernitsas (WSU, Neurology), Brigid Waldron-Perrine (University of Michigan), and Keith Whitfield (former WSU Provost, now UNLV President).

• Jeremy will be presenting a portion of his results at the upcoming conference of the International Neuropsychological Society, as a Paper Presentation in a symposium: “Cognitive Enrichment Moderates the Relationship Between Cognitive Dysfunction and Education Quality in Multiple Sclerosis” (Paper Session 15, Movement, Friday 2/4, 3:30-4:55 pm. The INS talks will also be available as recordings online.

 

Congratulations to NeurAL alumnus Dr. Michael Williams, who was awarded a federal grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). The title of this 3-year grant is “Impact of Chronic Pain on Outcomes Following Traumatic Brain Injury.” The research will examine the extent to which chronic pain influences outcomes (i.e., functional independence, societal participation, and life satisfaction) following traumatic brain injury (TBI). In addition, the study will gather consumer perspective on pain treatment and interest in non-pharmacological interventions to inform development of novel interventions for adults with comorbid chronic pain and TBI.

He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Houston.

He completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 2016. While at WSU, he was a trainee in the Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) and won a Ford Foundation fellowship. He completed his internship in Behavioral Medicine and Neuropsychology at the University of Washington School of Medicine (Seattle); postdoctoral fellowship in the Adult Rehabilitation and Clinical Neuropsychology program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Katrail Davis will be attending Louisiana State University’s Clinical Psychology Program, working in the research lab of Dr. Matt Calamia. She was awarded LSU’s prestigious  Huel Perkins Research Fellowship, which will cover her tuition and 12-month stipend over 4 years.

New articles accepted:

Kanser, R. J., Rapport, L. J., Hanks, R. A., & Patrick, S. D. (2021). Time and money: Exploring enhancements to performance validity research designs. Applied Neuropsychology-Adult, 1-8. doi:10.1080/23279095.2021.2019740. Free download of the article at Taylor & Francis Publishing.

Kanser, R.J., Rapport, L.J., Hanks, R.A., & Patrick, S.D. (2021). Utility of WAIS-IV Digit Span indices as measures of performance validity in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. The Clinical neuropsychologist, 1–14. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2021.1921277.  Free download of the article at Taylor & Francis Publishing.