Dr. Hart Recognized for Bettering Lives of People with Brain Injury

Tessa Hart, PhD

Tessa Hart, PhD

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has recognized Tessa Hart, Ph.D., an institute scientist at Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, as the recipient of the 2017 William Fields Caveness Award.

Each year, the William Fields Caveness Award is presented by BIAA 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. The award was presented at the American Congress of Rehabilitative Medication (ACRM) annual conference, which was held October. 23-28 in Atlanta.

“The Caveness Award is one of the greatest honors of my career,” says Dr. Hart. “It is especially meaningful to be recognized by a national brain injury advocacy group, as all of my work is devoted to improving the lives of people affected by brain injury.”

At MRRI, Dr. Hart directs the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Clinical Research Laboratory and the MossRehab TBI Model System. She is also a research professor in the department of rehabilitation medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia.

Dr. Hart’s wide-ranging research interests include creating and testing treatments to improve executive function, emotional function and self-regulation. Her other interests include vocational rehabilitation for TBI and the use of assistive technology for cognition. Dr. Hart further advances the field of brain injury rehabilitation by serving on multiple peer review panels, editorial boards, and national and international task forces.

“Dr. Hart is truly deserving of this award,” said John Whyte, MD, PhD, director of MRRI. “Her research has helped characterize the long-term cognitive and emotional challenges faced by individuals with TBI, but she has gone beyond that to help design innovative treatment services to meet those needs, and conducted rigorous research to evaluate the impact of those services.”

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