Categories: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Military Connection: Legion to Host PTSD Symposium: By Debbie Gregory

The American Legion is holding a symposium on TBI/PTSD titled, “Advancing Care and Treatment for Veterans with TBI and PTSD. The symposium will be held on June 24, 2014, in Washington D.C.

This past February, the American Legion, one of the country’s largest Veteran organizations, conducted a survey that polled more than 3,000 Veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After months of analyzing the collected data, the findings from the study are set to be released at the symposium.

Along with unveiling the survey results, the symposium “Advancing Care and Treatment for Veterans with TBI and PTSD” will also have four panel discussions on the topics of TBI treatment, PTSD treatments, complementary and alternative medicine, and caregiver support.

Panelists for the discussion on TBI treatments include:

Col. Dallas Hack, M.D. – U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Maryland, specializing in combat casualty care
Dr. Ann Germain – Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh
Col. Sydney Hinds, M.D. – director of the veterans brain injury center at the Defense Centers for Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury

The panelists on PTSD treatments will include:

Army Col. Charles Hoge [Ret.], M.D. – Research Consultant for Neuropsychiatry at the Office of the Surgeon General
Dawne Vogt, Ph.D –Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD specializing in Women’s Health Sciences
Lt. Col. Dennis McGurk – Deputy Director of the Army’s program for research in Military Operational Medicine

The panelists on complementary and alternative medicine will include:

Dr. Stephen C. Ezeji-Okoye, M.D. – Deputy Chief of Staff at VA Palo Alto Healthcare System
Dr. Jennifer Strauss, Ph.D. – Women’s Mental Health Program Manager for VA Mental Health Services
Dr. Robert Koffman – Senior Consultant for Integrative Medicine and Behavioral Health, National Intrepid Center of Excellence, Department of Defense.

The panelists on caregiver support medicine will include:

Roberta Wedge – Director of Institute of Medicine, study on PTSD treatment in military and veteran populations
Terri Tanielian – Senior Social Research Analyst at the RAND Corporation
Linda Kreter – Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wise Health, Inc.

The American Legion’s “Advancing Care and Treatment for Veterans with TBI and PTSD” symposium is an invitation-only event. After the symposium, the results of the American Legion’s TBI/PTSD survey will be posted at legion.org, where you can currently find the results of the Legion’s September 2013 report on TBI and PTSD treatments, “The War Within.”

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