Kessler Foundation Sponsors International TBI Conference

International Conference on Culture, Ethnicity and TBI Rehabilitation in Washington DC, March 12-13, 2009

September 16, 2008 Rehabilitation providers often struggle to effectively serve survivors and family members who come from very different cultures and speak different languages. This conference will bring together brain injury rehabilitation experts from different countries and cultures to discuss and share ideas regarding effective assessment, intervention, and research practices. Program faculty include speakers from Asia, Australia, South America, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, and the United States. A full spectrum of topics relating to neurobehavioral, cognitive, functional, vocational, psychosocial, family, and medical aspects of rehabilitation will be addressed via lectures, workshops, panel presentations, and posters. Sessions will also focus on health care disparities, successfully conducting research with multiethnic populations, and meeting the clinical care needs of diverse patient populations. The conference registration fee is $245 USD and registration forms are now available.

Audience: Multidisciplinary providers who serve both outpatients and inpatients with brain injury and other neurological disorders; rehabilitation researchers and program administrators

Poster Presentation Abstract Submissions: Abstracts relating to original research, research reviews, conceptual presentations, and descriptions of innovative clinical and service programs are invited. Abstracts must be written in English and received by November 1, 2008. The body of the abstract text must not exceed 300 words. Authors may submit more than one abstract for consideration. Research submissions should describe objectives, research design, setting, primary outcome measures, results, and implications. Authors of abstracts relating to innovative programs are encouraged to provide outcome data. Priority will be given to data-based submissions. Poster submission forms and instructions are now available.

Sponsors: Virginia Commonwealth University Traumatic Brain Injury Model System, Brain Injury Services, Inc., National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, International Brain Injury Association, VCU Center for Health Care Disparities and Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Community Integration for Persons With TBI at TIRR Memorial Hermann, and the Kessler Foundation.

Co-Sponsors: Center for Capacity Building on Minorities with Disabilities Research, American Psychological Association, Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research, National Resource Center for TBI, Ohio State University.

Hotel Information: The luxurious Marriott Crystal City is offering a discounted room rate of $209 (USD) http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wasgw-crystal-gateway-marriott/

Contact for Questions and Information: Juan Carlos Arango-Lasprilla, Ph.D. at

[email protected] (804) 827- 0663 (USA).