Description
Contributors
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Jennifer Frontera, MD, FNCS
I come from a small family of neurologists, so one might say that becoming a neurologist was in my genes. My father is a practicing general neurologist and my brother is an epileptologist. From a young age, I accompanied my father to his practice in Kingston, New York, where I learned about various afflictions of the brain. These experiences led me to follow in his footsteps.
I specialize in vascular neurology, which is stroke care, and neurocritical care. My passion has always been treating people who are in critical condition and helping those with severe neurological injuries return to their meaningful and productive lives. I care for people who have had brain and spine trauma, a stroke, or hemorrhage. I offer guidance and support to them and their families, since I believe that strong social and emotional support is critical to patients’ recovery and wellbeing.
My research focuses on early brain injury following subarachnoid hemorrhage, long-term, functional outcomes following intracranial hemorrhage, and palliative care for critically-ill patients. Since the inception of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, my research has focused on neurological complications of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. I am a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Brain Health Neurology and COVID-19 Forum, which aims to advance knowledge, understanding, and care of COVID-19 patients with neurological disorders worldwide.
I have published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and am editor of the handbook Decision Making in Neurocritical Care. I enjoy teaching residents and medical students and have been blessed with the opportunity to serve on the board of directors of the Neurocritical Care Society and lecture around the world.
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Stephan A. Mayer, MD, FCCM
William T. Gossett Endowed Chair of Neurology
Henry Ford Health System
Stephan Mayer is Chair of Neurology for the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. He previously served as director of Neurocritical Care for the Mount Sinai Health System in New York and director of the Neurological Intensive Care Unit at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Dr Mayer earned his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College. He completed a residency in neurology and a fellowship in critical care neurology at the Neurological Institute of New York, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He is board certified in neurology and a founding member and past president of the Neurocritical Care Society. Dr Mayer has published more than 230 original research articles, 180 review articles, and 340 abstracts, and he has written 7 books, and co-edited the most recent edition of Merritt’s Textbook of Neurology. He was principal investigator of the FAST Trial, a worldwide multicenter clinical trial evaluating ultra-early hemostatic therapy for brain hemorrhage, and he served as principal investigator of the NIH-funded New York Presbyterian Hospital hub of the Neurological Emergencies Treatment Trials (NETT) network. His work in helping victims of severe brain injury has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and the book Cheating Death by CNN medical correspondent Dr Sanjay Gupta.
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Joseph T. Giacino, MD, PhD
Dr. Joseph T. Giacino is the Director of Rehabilitation Neuropsychology at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Consulting Neuropsychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Giacino's clinical and research activities are centered on the development and application of novel assessment and treatment methods for individuals with severe acquired brain injury (ABI) and disorders of consciousness (DOC). He served as co-chair of the Aspen Workgroup, responsible for developing the diagnostic criteria for the minimally conscious state (MCS) and was co-lead author of the Mohonk Report, a Congressionally-sponsored initiative to establish recommendations for lifelong care of patients with DOC. He currently chairs the VS/MCS Guideline Development Panel of the American Academy of Neurology which is responsible for revising existing guidelines for management of patients with DOC. He is principle investigator on a project funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) to develop novel fMRI paradigms to assess the integrity of language and visual processing networks in patients with DOC and serves as Project Director of a 12-site NIDRR-funded clinical trial of amantadine hydrochloride (AH) to determine whether AH facilitates functional recovery in patients with prolonged DOC. He also served as Co-PI of an FDA-approved pilot study of deep brain stimulation aimed at promoting recovery of speech and motor functions in patients with chronic post-traumatic MCS.