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Dr. Fralish is New ACRM President Kathleen B. Fralish, PhD, Carbondale, IL, was installed as president of the ACRM at the organization’s annual business meeting in Seattle on November 9, 1998. In accepting the President’s Medallion from the immediate past president, Theodore M. Cole, MD, Dr. Fralish told members that the focus of her presidential year “will be on you, the members, becoming more active in the organization by doing things that make a distinct difference in the field of rehabilitation research.” Dr. Fralish is president of the Center for Comprehensive Services, Inc (CCS), a rehabilitation company that provides services for persons with traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she earned both undergraduate and master’s degrees, Dr. Fralish received a doctorate in speech pathology and audiology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Before she founded CCS in 1977, Dr. Fralish worked at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals, the Easter Seal Society of Illinois, and as a speech/language pathologist in private practice. She also taught at Southern Illinois University and directed a federally funded project to train speech pathologists and audiologists to work in rehabilitation settings. She is presently an adjunct professor at the Rehabilitation Institute at Southern Illinois U. The internationally known Center for Comprehensive Services was the first residential rehabilitation program in the country to provide after-hospital services for persons with traumatic brain injuries. The 10 facilities in the Carbondale area provide intensive rehabilitation servicesfor adolescents and adults, as well as long-term supported living options. It has a specially designed program for persons whose brain injuries have resulted in serious unwanted behaviors and it also provides a transitional program for persons with spinal cord injuries. Dr. Fralish is nationally acclaimed for her work in advocating for standards of treatment for traumatic brain injury rehabilitation. She is coauthor of “Innovations in Head Injury Rehabilitation” and frequently contributes chapters to this annually updated text. She is former Chair of the Brain Injury Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and former Chair of the Planning and Development
Committee. In 1994, ACRM presented Dr. Fralish with the Distinguished Member Service Award. She has been a member of the ACRM Board of Governors since 1995 and is a reviewer for the Archives of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation.
Board of Governors Elected The following members were elected to the ACRM’s Board of Governors for 199% 1999 at the ACRM Business Meeting in Seattle in November. It is their joint goal to further the rehabilitation-based work of the ACRM and to continue positioning the organization as a dominant leader in the rehabilitation field. Stephen R. Hinderer, MD, MS, PT, was named President-Elect and Donald H. Ratner, MBA, CPA, was re-elected to a third term as Treasurer. Denise Tate, PhD, and Gary R. Ulicny, PhD, were elected to serve as Members-atLarge from 1998-2001. Following is information about the four board members. Stanley Ducharme, PhD, Philip Morse, PhD, and Karen Wunch, MS, RN, CRRN, CNA, were elected to serve on the 1999 ACRM Nominating Committee. Steven R. Hinderer, MD, MS, PT Dr. Hinderer is medical director of research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan in Detroit, and assistant professor in the Department of PM&R at Wayne State University School of Medicine. A member of ACRM since 1982, he has served as chair of the Program Committee (in 1997), and as chair of the organization’s Measurement and Evaluation Task Force/ISIG, also in 1997. In 1992, he coauthored the ACRM Measurement Standards for Interdisciplinary Medical Rehabilitation. He currently serves on the Research Planning and Development and the Research Dissemination committees. He was elected to the Board of Governors in 1995 as a member-at-large. Donald H. Ratner, MBA, CPA Mr. Ratner has been the vice president of finance and government relations at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago since 198.5.In that position, he is responsible for accounting and budgeting matters, as well as reimbursement, government relations, information systems, telecommunications, and medical records. He has been ACRM’s treasurer since 1994. He also serveson the Board of Directors of the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association and is chairman of its legislative committee.
Denise Tate, PhD Dr. Tate is associate professor in the Department of PM&R at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. A psychologist, she has been involved both in clinical rehabilitation care and research. She is currently acting director of research in PM&R and directs and co-directs several grants funded by NIDRR and the National Institutes of Health. She has been a member of ACRM since 1984; she chairs its Research Development committee and was chair of its Research Committee from 1992 through 1996. Dr. Tate is a member of the Editorial Board of the Archives of PM&R, and also a member of the research committees of the American Spinal Injury Association and the American Spinal Cord Psychologists and Social Workers. Gary R. Ulicny, PhD Dr. Ulicny is president and chief executive offrcer of Shepherd Center in Atlanta, a loo-bed specialty hospital for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and other neuromuscular disorders. He is also president of SSC Affiliates, Inc., a for-profit corporation that includes a pharmacy and supply business as well as a durable medical equipment company. Dr. Ulicny has been a member of ACRM for 8 years and is currently a member of its ResearchPolicy and Legislation Committee. He is a participant in the organization’s Research Mentoring Program, which is designed to link persons new to the field of rehabilitation with individuals who have experience in the area of rehabilitation research.
ACRM Commemorates Its 75th Anniversary in Seattle Puget Sound, in all its splendor, provided the most exquisite backdrop for ACRM’s 75th Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, November 8-10, 1998. The brilliant shades of light that greeted conference attendees each day were analogous to the history of ACRM in its evolution over the past 75 years. This history encompasses the brightest minds in the field of rehabilitation for three quarters of this century. The Congress’ fortune has truly been a membership rich in individuals who have significantly impacted the positive development of the field and, likewise, the association’s position as the only multidisciplinary organization that supports the field of rehabilitation. The 1998 program, entitled “EvidenceBased Rehabilitation: Building Bridges BeArch
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tween Payers, Providers, and Consumers,” was another exceptional educational opportunity. Larry Cervelli, 199X program chair, and his committee developed an excellent program during which attendees examined current issues related to the practice of rehabilitation medicine by attending courses, breakfast forums, and paper poster sessions. Presidential Address ACRM President Theodore M. Cole, MD, who opened the meeting with his presidential address, reaffirmed ACRM’s commitment to its focus on rehabilitation research and delineated the steps board members have taken to support that focus. Dr. Cole provided an encapsulated version of his address in the “Open Line to the President” column, which is in the Fall 1998 issue of Rehabilitation Outlook (Vol. 3 No. 3). The full text is published in this issue of the Archives. Coulter Lecture Following Dr. Cole’s address, John F. Ditunno Jr., MD, presented the Coulter Lecture, “Predicting Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury: A Rehabilitation Imperative.” Dr. Ditunno is the director of the Regional Spinal Cord Injury Model System Center (RSCIMSC) at Thomas Jefferson University and professor of rehabilitation medicine at Jefferson Medical College (JMC) in Philadelphia. He retired from JMC last year after 28 years of service, including serving as chair of the department and Michie Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine. He now devotes his time to RSCIMSC and to the pursuit of research, particularly multicenter trials, and to mentoring residents and faculty.
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Keynote Address After the Coulter Lecture, Ellen J. MacKenzie, PhD, presented the keynote address, “Science Informing Program and Policy in Rehabilitation: The IOM Blueprint.” Dr. MacKenzie is a professor of health policy and management and Serener associatedean for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore. Gala Event Capping off the events of the first day of the conference was the anniversary gala dinner dance. That evening attendees came together in their finest to enjoy a sumptuous meal and dancing. During the gala, Dr. Cole directed attendees’ attention to a historical exhibit tracing the 75-year history of the Congress. Four posters offered a timeline of the Congress from 1923 to today. The timeline can be found in the Winter 1999 issue of Rehabilitation Outlook (Vol. 3 No. 3). Additionally, Jessica Robins Miller, ACSW, 1998 ACRM Awards Committee chair, presented ACRM’s prestigious awards to 1998 recipients. Thanks were extended to the 75th Anniversary Task Force for all of its efforts to organize this special anniversary for the Congress. The task force consisted of Robert Meier, MD (Chair), Karen Hart, PhD, Don Olson, PhD, Martin Grabois, MD, Steve Hinderer, MD, and Ms. Miller.
Poster Prize Winners Listed here are ribbon winners as selected by ACRM’s Awards and Prizes
Committee for best posters displayed at the 75th Annual Meeting in Seattle. From scientific posters exhibited on Sunday, November 8, the committee designated: 1st place: Paul Borsa: “A Model for Predicting Functional Outcome Using Selected Patient-Reported and Performance Based Measures of Knee Functions.” 2nd place: Gordon Aldernik: “A Preliminary Study of Gait in Elderly Women with Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy.” 3rd place: Jeffrey Palmer: “Bolus Aggregation in the Oropharynx Does Not Depend on Gravity.” From scientific posters exhibited on Monday, November 9, the committee designated: 1st place: J. Richards Scott: “Satisfaction With Life Following Spinal Cord Injury: A Normative Study.” 2nd place: Diana Rintala: “Future Directions for Spinal Cord Injury Research: Consumer Involvement in Setting Research Priorities.” 3rd place: Marcel Dijkers: “Factors in Quality of Life for a Spinal Cord Injured Sample: A Pilot Study.” For the best innovative and nontraditional clinical practice or programming poster, the committee selected: 1st place: Ange Cataneo Knutson: “CostTrained Technicians: A Cost Effective Approach in the Changing Healthcare Environment.” 2nd place: Alan Vanbiervliet: “Take Control: Multimedia Guide to Spinal Cord Injury. ” 3rd place: Nancy Zyrkowski: “Achieving Clinical and Cost Improvements by Applying Rehabilitation Strategies to the Continuum in Joint Replacement.”