BIAA Award Winners Recognized for Contributions to Clinical Care and Research

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has announced that Cindy Ivanhoe, M.D., has been named as the recipient of the 2021 Sheldon Berrol, M.D., Clinical Service Award and Juliet Haarbauer-Krupa, Ph.D., FACRM, will receive the William Fields Caveness Award.

The Sheldon Berrol, M.D., Clinical Service Award is presented each year to an individual who, through a long service career, has made outstanding contributions to improving the quality of care, professional training, and education in the field of brain injury. This year’s winner is Cindy Ivanhoe, M.D. Dr. Ivanhoe is a senior fellow in the American Leadership Forum (ALF), director of the Spasticity and Associated Syndromes of Movement (SPASM) program at TIRR Memorial Hermann. She is a clinical professor in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She is also an admitting physician and consultant to the Brain Injury and Stroke Program at TIRR Memorial Hermann.

“I am honored to join the distinguished list, of so many friends and colleagues, people I admire, who have been awarded the Brain Injury Association of America Sheldon Berrol, M.D., Clinical Service Award,” shared Dr. Ivanhoe. “I must acknowledge the late Dr. Bontke who opened a professional door for me as a mentor, in so many ways, and who even gave me Dr. Berrol’s copy of Plum and Posner. In a time when advocating for patients, clinical ethics and education is challenged and challenging, this award serves as an acknowledgment that the battle is worth it. I want to acknowledge my son and daughter, in birth order, Sam Ennis and Sarah Ennis, who have tolerated whatever example I have set, and in their own way, have made me a better physician. I also acknowledge the patients and their families who remind me of what matters, the value of small victories, and the strength of the human spirit. I continue to learn life lessons from them.”

Dr. Ivanhoe is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and in brain injury medicine. She is most known for her expertise in the treatment of spasticity, pioneering the clinical use of interventions including Intrathecal Baclofen therapy, for which she was an investigator on studies leading to its FDA approval. Her clinical experience has spanned the entire spectrum of brain injury from developmental disabilities, neurosurgical ICUs, and acute rehabilitation to long-term follow up in the community. Her nonprofit, Ivanhoe Foundation (IF), supports endeavors that serve to improve the lives of those with brain injuries and other disabilities in the community. She has been recognized by many associations and organizations for her work as a clinician and her contributions to advocacy, teaching, and education. Most recently, she was named Physician of the Year 2020 by TIRR Memorial Hermann and received the Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award at University of Texas.

The William Fields Caveness Award is presented in recognition of an individual who, through research on both a national and international level, has made outstanding contributions to bettering the lives of people with brain injury. This year’s award winner, Juliet Haarbauer-Krupa, Ph.D., FACRM, is a senior health scientist on the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Team in the Division of Injury Prevention at the CDC Injury Center. She currently holds an adjunct position in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University’s School of Medicine.

“I am honored to accept the William Fields Caveness Award from the Brain Injury Association of America and humbled to join the list of distinguished awardees. Dr. Caveness was a pioneer in the field who focused on improving the lives of individuals living with TBI,” shared Dr. Haarbauer-Krupa. “Since starting in the field in the 1980s, the driving force for my work has been to prevent people from getting a TBI and to optimize the health of children and adults who are living with a TBI. Many thanks to Dr. Angela Ciccia and Dr. Jennifer Lundine for the nomination, as well as to BIAA for recognizing work in the field of TBI.”

Dr. Haarbauer-Krupa has more than 30 years of experience and has written more than 100 publications and presentations in the area of brain injury, with specialties in rehabilitation and pediatric populations. As a health scientist, Dr. Haarbauer-Krupa’s role at CDC is to devise research projects and products to better understand trends in TBI in the U.S. and to improve health outcomes for individuals living with a TBI. She is project lead on the Report to Congress on the Management of Traumatic Brain Injury in Children and a scientific collaborator for clinical decision support and return to school projects in the division.

The awards will be presented at the ACRM annual conference in September.