Joseph T. Giacino, PhD is Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School (HMS). At Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (SRH), he serves as Director of Rehabilitation Neuropsychology, the Disorders of Consciousness Program and the Neurorehabilitation Laboratory and is Co-Director of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Outcomes Center. He also holds appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Rehabilitation Sciences Doctoral Program at the MGH Institute of Health Professions and the HMS Center for Bioethics. His research is aimed at developing high-precision neurodiagnostic procedures, multidimensional clinical outcome assessment approaches and targeted therapeutic interventions for persons with severe acquired brain injury and disorders of consciousness. His teams have produced widely-recognized assessment tools such as the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised and identified the only available treatment (ie, amantadine hydrochloride) proven to accelerate the pace of recovery following severe TBI. He serves as Principal or Co-Principal Investigator on four federally-funded collaborative grants, including the Spaulding-Harvard Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (NIDILRR, 2012-2022), Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in TBI (NINDS and DoD, 2013-2025, Outcomes Core Co-Lead), TBI Endpoint Development (DoD, 2014-NCE 2022, Outcomes Core Co-Lead) and Central Thalamic Stimulation for Traumatic Brain Injury (NINDS, 2015-2022). He is a Past-President (2010-2011) of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM), Co-Chair of the NINDS TBI Common Data Element Steering Committee and a member of the International Initiative for Traumatic Brain Injury Research (InTBIR). He led the expert panels that developed the diagnostic criteria for the minimally conscious state (Aspen Workgroup, 2002), the 2018 Practice Guideline Update on Disorders of Consciousness (American Academy of Neurology-ACRM-NIDILRR) and the 2020 ACRM-NIDILRR Minimum Competency Recommendations for Programs that Provide Rehabilitation Services for Persons with Disorders of Consciousness. Dr. Giacino has published over 170 articles and book chapters and is the recipient of the ACRM Brain Injury Special Interest Group’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Brain Injury Association of America’s William Fields Caveness Award and the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Robert L. Moody Prize.

Dr. Bodien completed her graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where her research focused on using multimodal brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation to probe the underlying neurobiology of schizophrenia. She is currently a Research Scientist in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Bodien’s research activities include designing and validating standardized behavioral assessments of consciousness and investigating the utility of advanced neuroimaging paradigms for improving diagnosis and prognostic precision of disorders of consciousness.

Dr. Bergin completed postdoctoral research at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard University and graduate work at the University of Queensland in Australia where his research investigated the influence of pain on human movement. As Manager of the Neurorehabilitation Laboratory, Dr. Bergin is responsible for the day-to-day operations of all laboratory activities under the direction of Dr. Giacino. He is currently pursuing his MBA (part-time) in Health Sector Management at Questrom School of Business at Boston University.

Current Positions:

• Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, MGH Institute of Health Professions
• Affiliate faculty, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery
• Clinical Ethicist, Massachusetts General Hospital

Previous Lab Position: Research Intern and Doctoral Candidate (2014-2017)

Caitlin Rajala is a Research Coordinator for the Traumatic Brain Injury Social Participation Initiation and Reintegration Tool (TBI-SPIRIT) and assists with the Resiliency after Acquired Brain Injury: Defining and Enhancing Biopsychosocial Function (I-RISE) study. Caitlin has an MS in Dance Science and Education from the University of Edinburgh Scotland and an MS in Kinesiology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s School of Public Health. Her prior research experience includes observational cohort and intervention studies related to physical activity and health behavior change, and Multiple Sclerosis research that aimed to identify changes in MS progression using proprioceptive measures. Her primary interests involve chronic illness management and adaptation in community and clinical settings.

Cammie coordinates the Traumatic Brain Injury Social Participation Initiation and Reintegration Tool (TBI-SPIRIT) study and assists on the Resiliency after Acquired Brain Injury: Defining and Enhancing Biopsychosocial Function (I-RISE) study within the Neurorehabilitation Laboratory. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Cognitive Behavioral Neuroscience at Simmons University with a minor in Jazz vocals. Prior to her work at Spaulding, Cammie was a research assistant at Boston Children’s Hospital’s Biobehavioral Pediatric Pain Laboratory. She was also funded by the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation to conduct research on the genetic underpinnings of the dissociative subtype of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD-D). She co-founded the Neuroscience and Psychology Liaison at Simmons University. Her career interests span research and clinical disciplines, with a particular interest in the mind, brain, and body connection.

Ally Sterling coordinates recruitment and data collection for the Spaulding-Harvard Traumatic Brain Injury Model System study. She graduated with a dual BA in neuroscience from Columbia University and Talmud from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, followed by an ScM in medical sciences from Brown University and a Master of Bioethics from Harvard Medical School. Prior to her current position at Spaulding, Ally worked on a capstone project on assessment of decision-making capacity in patients with acquired brain injuries. She is particularly interested in neuroethics, clinical ethics, and medical decision-making. In the future, Ally plans to attend medical school.

Kelsey Goostrey coordinates the TRACK-TBI network studies at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. She graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 2018 with a BA in Psychology, and completed her Masters in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2021. Prior to her current position at Spaulding, Kelsey worked as a research coordinator at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the Neuro-Trauma ICU. Kelsey is interested in prognostication, as well as the development and validation of prediction models. Her future plans are to pursue a career as a Data Scientist.

Lydia coordinates the Rehabilitation and COVID-19 Recovery (RECOVR) Study. She graduated from the University of Rochester in 2021 with a BS in Neuroscience and a BA with Research Honors in Psychology. Prior to her current position at Spaulding and as an undergraduate, Lydia worked as a Research Associate and Physician Assistant Liaison in the Strong Memorial Hospital Emergency Department and as a Research Assistant in the Internalizing Disorders and Emotional Adjustment Lab. She is interested in the socio-cultural factors that influence mental healthcare utilization, as well as the physical and psychological impact of severe COVID-19 illness. Lydia plans to attend medical school in the future.

Katherine Golden is currently completing her PhD in Rehabilitation Science at MGH Institute of Health Professions (IHP) with a research focus on optimizing rehabilitation outcomes following severe brain injury. She graduated from Boston College in 2018 with a BA in Biology and from MGH IHP in 2021 with her doctorate in occupational therapy. Katie first joined the Neurorehabilitation Lab in 2019 as a student research extern. She now serves as a part-time research coordinator assisting with data collection for the Spaulding-Harvard Traumatic Brain Injury Model System. With the assistance from her research mentors, Dr. Giacino and Dr. Bodien, Katie plans to continue her study of brain injury, rehabilitation outcome measurement, and clinician use of evidence-based practice to optimize the role of therapy in brain injury recovery.

Abigail Waters is a graduate student researcher in the Neurorehabilitation Laboratory. She is currently a fifth year doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at Suffolk University, with the Clinical Neuroscience of Cognitive Control Laboratory. Abigail contributes to several projects related to moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury and disorders of consciousness. She is also completing her dissertation with TRACK-TBI data, which will investigate the white matter connectivity of predictive interoception coding networks in the brain, as predictors of recovery in mild TBI.

Current Position: Neuropsychology Graduate Student, Hofstra University

Current Position: Medical Student, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Current Position: Neuropsychology Graduate Student, University of Iowa

Current Position: Occupational Therapist, Encompass Health Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts

Current Position: Graduate Student, Coma Science Group, University of Liege

Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Central Institute of Mental Health (Germany)

Current Position: Scientific Coordinator, International Olympic Committee Research Center for Prevention or Injury and Protection of Athlete Health, CHU de Liege

Current Position: Speech Language Therapist, Boston VA

Current Position: Clinical Data Manager, Neurological Clinical Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital

Current Position: Physical Therapist, Spaulding Hospital Cambridge

Current Position: Neuropsychology Graduate Student, University of Iowa

Current Position: Head of Clinical Trials, MedRhythms, Inc. Portland, ME

Current Position: Registered Nurse, NeuroICU, Massachusetts General Hospital

Current Position: Clinical Research Program Manager, Cancer Precision Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

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Current Position: Research Manager, Universite catholique de Louvain, Belgium

Current Position: Healthcare Data Analyst, Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts

Current Position: Clinical Research Coordinator II, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Current Position: Mobile Developer and Quality Assurance Analyst, Northgate Digital, Pennsylvania