Members
Lorne Mendell, Ph.D., Chair
Allen L. Carl, M.D.
Brooke M. Ellison, M.A.
Donald S. Faber, Ph.D.
Jason H. Huang, M.D.
Barbara S. Koppel, M.D.
Gary D. Paige, M.D., Ph.D.
Paul Richter
Adam B. Stein, M.D.
Robert D. Trotta, Esq.
Jonathan R. Wolpaw, M.D.
Lorne Mendell, Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook; SCIRB Chair
Dr. Mendell is a Distinguished Professor at SUNY-Stony Brook, and his laboratory focuses on the functional effects of neurotrophins in pain and segmental reflex pathways. Specifically, his research centers on the physiology of neurotrophins, and their action in modifying well-delineated circuits in the intact and injured spinal cord, including sensory input and motor output. His group is investigating the effects of neurotrophins on nociceptors and nociception in rats. In previous work, the team determined that administration of the neurotrophin nerve growth factor (NGF), known to be normally upregulated in skin during inflammation, produces hyperalgesia, and now is studying the basis for the peripheral component of this hyperalgesia. Another focus in his research is the action of neurotrophins such as NT-3 and BDNF on spinal reflexes and pathways in the neonatal rat. Dr. Mendell is the author of numerous journal articles and a past president of the Society of Neuroscience.
Allen L. Carl, M.D., Albany Medical Center
Dr. Carl came to Albany after medical training at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, post-graduate experience in orthopedics at New York University-Bellevue Hospital in New York City and spine injury training at the University of Toronto. He has been on the staff at Albany Medical Center for more than 20 years, where he is a professor of orthopedic surgery and pediatrics. Spine disease and disorders became his primary area of interest, as he perceived it as one of the last frontiers for innovative medical development. His interest in contributing to the knowledge base in the field of the spine prompted his association with an academic medical center. In the Capital District, he has collaborated with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the General Electric Company and the State University of New York at Albany. From these successful associations, surgical navigation, new metal implants for scoliosis correction and the spinal fusion technique have been developed. Under the direction of Dr. Carl for the past six years, spinal cord injury biomechanics, as a model for neurological repair has been instituted and studied in his research laboratory, through generous donations from the Jeffrey Schneider Spinal Cord Research Program.
Brooke M. Ellison, M.A., Founder and President of The Brooke Ellison Project
Brooke Ellison has worked as an advocate for stem cell research for nearly a decade. In 1990, at the age of 11, Brooke was stricken in an accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on a ventilator to breathe. However, Brooke never let her physical condition stand in the way of what she could achieve, and she graduated with honors from Harvard University in 2000 and from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2004. In 2002, Brooke published an autobiography, Miracles Happen, which was later made into a movie directed by Christopher Reeve. For more than a decade, Brooke has worked across the country as a public speaker, delivering her message of hope, optimism and strength in the face of obstacles, with her own experiences as a vehicle to convey the message. In 2006, Brooke ran as a candidate for the New York State Senate, focusing on the need for New York State to commit funding to stem cell research. Brooke has continued her work in the field of stem cell research, and in July 2007 formed a non-profit organization, The Brooke Ellison Project, to educate and mobilize the public on behalf of stem cell research. Moreover, working with leading scientists and advocates in the field, Brooke is now working on a documentary to disseminate the necessary information to advance stem cell research.
Donald S. Faber, Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Dr. Faber has served as chair of the Department of Neuroscience and director of the Rose F. Kennedy Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx since 1999. He is a world-renowned neuroscientist who has made major contributions to understanding of both the regulation and plasticity of synaptic transmission, the role of intrinsic membrane properties in both normal and abnormal operation of neural networks, as well as the physiological consequences of nerve cell responses to injury.
Dr. Faber earned his Ph.D. in physiology in 1968 from SUNY at Buffalo. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship with Nobel Laureate John Eccles, he worked as a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt and at the Hospital Salpetriere in Paris, before returning to the U.S. to join the faculty of the University of Cincinnati in 1972. He moved to the Department of Physiology at Buffalo in 1974, where he was named an associate professor and director, Division of Neurobiology in 1978 and rose to professor in 1981. In 1992, he moved to MCP-Hahnemann School of Medicine as chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and a member of the School’s Spinal Cord Injury Program, until he moved to Albert Einstein in 1999. Dr. Faber has served as a consultant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as on the editorial boards of three major journals. His extensive professional recognition includes appointment as a Javits Investigator of the NIH National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke and election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Jason H. Huang, M.D., University of Rochester Medical Center
Dr. Huang is assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center and attending neurosurgeon at Strong Memorial Hospital and Unity Hospital at Rochester, where he directs the neurotrauma and peripheral nerve surgery programs. He is author or co-author of 75 peer-reviewed papers, abstracts, editorial reviews and book chapters. Dr. Huang earned his medical degree in 1999 from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 1994, he received a bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, in the neurosciences from Amherst College. Dr. Huang underwent his neurosurgery residency training at the University of Pennsylvania from 1999 to 2006 and was the recipient of numerous awards, as well as NIH grants, during his training. Dr. Huang’s main research interest lies in the field of central nervous system injury and repair. He is a faculty member at the Center for Neural Development and Disease at the University of Rochester Medical Center and leads an active extramurally funded research laboratory. Dr. Huang is also a major in the United States Army Reserves and was recently deployed to Iraq to treat injured soldiers with brain and spinal trauma for Operation Iraq Freedom.
Barbara S. Koppel, M.D., Metropolitan Hospital Center
Dr. Koppel is chief of neurology at Metropolitan Hospital and professor of clinical neurology at New York Medical College. She also holds appointments at Terence Cardinal Cook Hospital, Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Westchester Medical Center. Dr. Koppel is the author of numerous journal articles, book chapters and abstracts.
Gary D. Paige, M.D., Ph.D., University of Rochester Medical Center
Dr. Paige received his undergraduate education in 1970 at the University of California at Irvine in biological sciences. He then moved to the University of Chicago’s Medical Scientist Training Program, where he completed medical school (M.D., 1980) and graduate training in physiological and pharmacological sciences (Ph.D., 1981) on vestibular neurophysiology with Jay M. Goldberg. He followed with an internship at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago and an ophthalmology residency at the University of California at San Francisco in 1985. Dr. Paige then joined the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis in the Department of Otolaryngology, where he established and directed the Vestibular and Oculomotor Laboratory. In 1990, he was recruited by the University of Rochester in the Department of Neurology as chief of the Sensory-Motor Neurology Unit, as well as director of the Balance and Eye Movement Laboratory and the Balance Disorders Clinic. In 1998, he was appointed Kilian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt Professor and chair of the Neurobiology and Anatomy Department at the University of Rochester Medical Center, while concurrently holding joint appointments in the Medical Center’s Departments of Neurology, Ophthalmology, Biomedical Engineering, and Brain and Cognitive Science.
Dr. Paige’s research on multisensory interactions underlying spatial orientation focuses on how the brain integrates visual and auditory sensory inputs from the outside world with the internal senses (vestibular and somatosensory) to depict accurately humans’ orientation, motion and behavior. Equally important to this topic is how plastic mechanisms register errors and adaptively adjust or restore performance in response to the challenges of development, disease and natural aging. In addition to research and clinical responsibilities, his academic activities include various levels of medical and graduate instruction. Peer review assignments include NIH (and other) panels, as well as a range of journal review responsibilities and editorial duties. Dr. Paige has served on the governing boards of professional organizations, among others, as president of the Association of Medical School Neuroscience Department Chairs and vice president of the Society for the Neural Control of Movement.
Paul Richter, Spinal Cord Society
Mr. Richter is responsible for the 1998 legislation that created the Spinal Cord Injury Research Board. He was serving as a State Trooper Zone Sergeant 34 years ago when he was shot three times and was left with a spinal cord injury.
Adam B. Stein, M.D., North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
Adam B. Stein, MD, is Chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Since 2008, he has been responsible for the delivery of rehabilitation services for the system’s many hospitals and outpatient therapy centers. He oversees the system’s residency training program in physical medicine and rehabilitation as well.
Prior to this, Dr. Stein was on faculty at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. He directed the Spinal Cord Injury Unit and developed a program for ventilator-dependent individuals, while developing a national reputation in the area of spinal cord injury medicine. He was a co-investigator and key component of the Mount Sinai Spinal Cord Injury Model System. He participated in multiple clinical trials in SCI including those evaluating GM-1 ganglioside, 4-aminopyridine and autologous activated macrophages. Additionally, he served as the Program Director for the Residency Training Programs in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Spinal Cord Injury Medicine, respectively.
Dr. Stein is a member of both the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) and the American Paraplegia Society. He has served on numerous committees of ASIA. He has written on many clinical topics in spinal cord injury.
Dr. Stein completed his medical degree at the New York University School of Medicine in 1987 and residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation at New York University-Rusk Institute in 1991.
Robert D. Trotta, Esq., Davis and Trotta, Attorneys-at-Law
Mr. Trotta is a graduate of Hobart College in Geneva, New York and Syracuse University College of Law. He is admitted to the New York State Bar and has worked with Davis and Trotta since 1966. He served in the Dutchess County Public Defender’s Office from 1968 to 1981, and worked as Town Attorney for the Town of Northeast for 16 years and School Attorney for the Webutuck (New York) Central School District for three years. He became interested in finding a cure for spinal cord injury after his son, David, was paralyzed from the neck down as the result of a motorcycle accident.
Jonathan R. Wolpaw, M.D., Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health
Dr. Wolpaw is a board-certified neurologist who has worked at the Wadsworth Center for 25 years. He received a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1970, and then completed a residency in neurology at the University of Vermont and a fellowship in neurophysiological research at the NIH. He is chief of Wadsworth's Laboratory of Neural Injury and Repair and a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, SUNY University at Albany's School of Public Health.
Dr. Wolpaw's major research interest is developing and using operant conditioning of spinal reflexes as a new model for studying learning and memory in the vertebrate nervous system. These methods are now being applied to the study of spinal cord injury and to development of new treatment methods. Dr. Wolpaw is also designing electro-encephalograph-based brain-computer interface technology as a new communication and control channel for those with severe motor disabilities. He is the author of numerous journal articles and holds several NIH grants.