BIAI - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Director of Assistive Technology at Easterseals Crossroads
Brian Norton is the Director of Assistive Technology at Easterseals Crossroads. He is responsible for the agency's assistive technology service line that includes clinical assistive technology, home modifications, and the INDATA Project, a federally funded statewide assistive technology program for the agency. He holds a bachelor's degree from Anderson University and is a RESNA-certified Assistive Technology Professional (ATP).
Brian hosts a popular internet radio program and podcast, "ATFAQ - Assistive Technology Frequently Asked Questions," is a well-known speaker at state and national conferences and serves on several advisory boards and committees for organizations such as the Indiana Brain Injury Board, Indiana Agrability and the Indiana Arts Commission. Brian's personal mission is "to love his family and to help people lead more independent and fulfilling lives through the use of assistive technology."
Dan Buba is a partner with the personal injury law firm of Doehrman Buba in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has served on the Board of the Brain Injury Association of Indiana since 2013, and as an Executive Committee member since 2015. Dan is a personal injury attorney who represents traumatic brain injury survivors and other personal injury clients. He and his law partner, Tom Doehrman, have been supporters of BIAI for over 30 years and are extremely passionate and dedicated to helping BIAI move forward with their mission.
Dawn Westfall has a Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology. She has specialized in neurological patients (specifically in traumatic brain injury) for the past 29 years, in the Evansville IN area. Dawn received her Brain Injury Specialist Certification in 2018 and became a board member of Brain Injury Association of Indiana in 2019. For twelve years Dawn lead a day treatment program that assisted adults who had sustained a brain injury, back to school, work or living independently. Dawn currently works at Progressive Health Ortho-Neuro Outpatient clinic, as a Speech-Language Pathologist specializing in cognitive rehabilitation. She has been a local support group leader in the Evansville area for most of her career. Dawn speaks at conferences on varying topics of brain injury.
Dawn lives in Newburgh, IN with her husband Carl and her son Dalton. She enjoys quilting, traveling and attending car shows.
Dr. Sachin Mehta, MD is a Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation specialist with Franciscan Physician Network Rehabilitation Specialists, specializing in neurologic rehabilitation. He graduated from medical school at Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, IN and completed his residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Indiana University and RHI. Dr. Mehta holds memberships with the International Brain Injury Association, is a Board Member of the Brain Injury Association of Indiana, a member of the American Association of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Association of Academic Physiatrists. He also holds board certification in Brain Injury Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist
- Member of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
Dr. Summer Ibarra is a licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in adult clinical neuropsychology with board certification in Rehabilitation Psychology. She has broad training and experience in conducting clinical, behavioral, and neuropsychological assessment and treatment for individuals with brain injury, stroke, and other neurological disorders for over 15 years. Dr. Ibarra earned her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Ball State University and completed an APA-approved pre-doctoral internship in Clinical Psychology at The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She then completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Ibarra has been an active member of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) for over 10 years and for the past three years, she has co-chaired the Chronic Brain Injury Task Force. She has also engaged in research in all stages of training and previous employment positions. Most of this research has focused on evaluating the efficacy of behavioral treatments for individuals with brain injury including co-development of the Brain Injury Coping Skills (BICS) group, an evidence-based cognitive-behavioral coping skills group intervention for individuals with brain injury and their caregivers.
Job Titles:
- Honorary Board Member
- Member of the Board
- Certified Surgeon
Dr. Timothy Pohlman is a board-certified surgeon who specializes in Trauma Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, and he is also board-certified in Neurocritical Care. Dr. Pohlman is former Professor of Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine. During that time, Dr. Pohlman was a staff surgeon at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, IN., Medical Director of Trauma Intensive Care, Director of Trauma Outreach, and Assistant Medical Director for LifeLine Critical Care Transport for Trauma. Dr. Pohlman originated the Methodist Hospital Surgical Field Response Team, for which he served as medical director. He has served as co-chair of the Indiana University School of Medicine Transfusion Safety Committee. For a number of years Dr. Pohlman was the track surgeon for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Dr. Pohlman joined BIAI as a board member in 2013. He served previously as Special State Appointee on the Traumatic Spinal Cord & Brain Injury Board for the Indiana State Department of Health. He was appointed to the Medical Executive Committee of Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana (RHI) and was previously a member of the Board of Directors of the Indiana Rural Health Association.
Dr. Pohlman is a member of over 20 professional organizations, including the Society of University Surgeons, the Neurocritical Care Society, and the Chest Wall Injury Society. He has authored or coauthored over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, eMedicine articles, and scholarly book reviews. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society.
Gary Turner is a traumatic brain injury survivor since an auto accident in 1988. He is a retired Occupational Therapist, and has served on the National Speakers Panel with Jim Brady (1990 - 1993) and as a Head Injury Foundation of Indiana Board member (1989-1993). Gary is an active volunteer with Brain Injury Association of Indiana since 2006 (Board member since 2014; Executive Committee member since 2015). He also serves as a facilitator of Marion, Indiana TBI support group, 2012 - current. Gary resides in Van Buren, Indiana, and is a self-proclaimed educational/motivational speaker.
Heidi Whitrock lives in Greenwood, Indiana and has been married for 24 years to her husband, Cliff. They have a daughter; Abagail who is 21 years old. Heidi enjoys spending time with family and friends, the outdoors, concerts and plays, exercise, crochet, puzzles. When she moved to Greenwood, IN, 10 years ago, she worked as an Occupational Therapy Assistant.
Karin Thomas SLP.D, CCC-SLP, CBIST, has worked for more than 35 years as a practicing speech language pathologist, clinical specialist, working with adolescent and adult clients with acquired brain injuries. She has developed programs for the educational reintegration of students with traumatic brain injuries and most recently, headed therapists in a hospital based multidiscipline concussion team. Her research interests include a focus on mild traumatic brain injury, cognitive communication skill retraining and cognitive strategy training, and quality of life for patients and care providers. In addition to clinical work, she has also been an educator for many years, teaching, supervising and mentoring students. A few years ago, Dr. Thomas joined the faculty at Saint Mary's college Notre Dame, Indiana, where she currently works as an associate professor teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in speech language pathology.
Kent Winingham was born and raised in the Indianapolis area. He is a trial lawyer at Wilson Kehoe Winingham, specializing in personal injury and medical malpractice. Through his work representing TBI survivors, Kent became increasingly motivated to work with survivors outside of the practice of law by advocating for them outside of the courtroom. That is what brought him to BIAI.
Kent attended college at Bowdoin College in Maine, and law school at Loyola University in Chicago. After practicing law in Chicago for a few years, Kent moved back home in 2017. He enjoys being active through running, playing tennis, and golfing, and more than anything enjoys spending time with his family.
Lisa Speidel is an Indiana educator licensed in Administration, Special Education, Elementary General Education and General Music Education. Lisa received her undergraduate degree in Music Therapy from the University of Georgia, Masters of Arts in Teaching - Special Education from Oakland University, and graduated from the Indiana Wesleyan Principal Leadership Program.
Lisa is the proud mother of a son who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a car accident. Five years later, he graduated from the University of Vermont, and lived his dream of scoring in a Division One collegiate basketball game. Lisa was, and still is, her son's loudest cheerleader.
Lisa understands the power of family and community. It is her hope to be a resource and a source of hope for families running the TBI marathon.
Luis Aju is a traumatic brain injury survivor and also the vice president and middle market commercial relationship manager for Fifth Third Bank. Luis has 14 years of experience in the Financial Industry and has led efforts in Business Banking, Consumer Banking, and Middle Market teams. He is also a current service member of the Army National Guard, where he serves as a Staff Sergeant in the KY 238th Regiment, developing Officer Candidates in Infantry leadership tactics. He was born in Guatemala and raised in the States. Luis and his wife live in Indianapolis and are advocates for and help patients with TBI and families.
Nancy Ritter is a Clinical Liaison for NeuroRestorative, a national network of brain injury and spinal cord rehabilitation facilities. Nancy has a BS and MS from IUPUI where she started her career in Sports Medicine. She also completed Certified Brain Injury Specialist (CBIS) certification. She previously served the Brain Injury Association for 13 years on the education committee, strategic planning committee, and executive committee as Vice Chair and Chair of the Board of Directors. Nancy stepped back for a few years but returned to this Board of Directors when asked to bring a historic perspective. Nancy and her husband Bill live in Indianapolis. In her free time she like to scrapbook family photos and is obsessed with Lego building.
Tranicia Hankins is a brain injury survivor and a retired Army National Guard Veteran. She was diagnosed with an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) after a stroke in 2016. In 2017, She had brain surgery to remove the AVM and sustained several physical impairments, as a result she was medically retired from the military after 18 years of service. As a civilian, she obtained her master's in social work from Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis (IUPUI) in 2014, and previously worked as a home-based mental health therapist with children ages 5 to 18 experiencing sexually mal-adaptive behaviors and trauma. She later became a licensed provider in the state of Indiana. Tranicia continues to educate herself in the field of trauma and provide private consultations as a trauma and anxiety coach to adults. She is serving as a member-at- large on the board of directors for the Central Indiana Association of Black Social Workers (CI-ABSW). CI-ABSW is committed to the progression of our communities as well as social justice and equality and with extreme passion, she brings these values to BIAI; She is passionate about the brain injury community and dedicated to ensuring adequate support and treatment is available for survivors and their caregivers. She continues to be an advocate for those without, and a voice for the voiceless.
Job Titles:
- Secretary
- Occupational Therapist at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana
Wendy Pullen is an Occupational Therapist at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana working on the Inpatient Brain Injury Unit since 2021. Prior to that, she served the adult population in Lafayette, Indiana in both inpatient and outpatient settings from 2014-2021. She was driven to become an OT after her father sustained an acquired brain injury in 2007. In 2017, Wendy joined BIAI and furthered her training to become both a Certified Brain Injury Specialist and Certified Stroke Rehab Specialist. She has also experience facilitating the Lafayette TBI and Stroke Support Group prior to moving to Indianapolis. Wendy is passionate about bringing awareness to brain injury and helping survivors and their loved ones to cope and navigate through the various challenges of recovery.