The TRF is pleased to announce the expansion of the Research Committee. Members were selected because of their experience working with people who have spinal cord injuries, their first-hand knowledge of living with a spinal cord injury, their understanding of neuroscience and research protocols, and especially for their passion for bettering the lives of people with spinal cord injuries by finding excellent research projects to support. Members include:
Dave Estrada, a law school graduate who works in media relations for the Boston Police Department. He is involved in the functional electrical stimulation (FES) Rowing Program at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. David is involved in the Greater Boston Chapter of SCI Association and serves as a peer mentor to people with SCI.
Lorraine Roy Wyman is a Physical Therapy Assistant with close to 30 years of experience. She has been working at New England Rehab/Health South in Portland, Maine for almost 20 years. Lorraine’s caseload includes patients with both acute and chronic spinal cord injuries.
Terry Ellis, a Physical Therapist with a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience with an extensive clinical, teaching, research, grant review, and grant writing background. Her current focus is on Parkinson’s disease and in preventing the decline in physical abilities that occur over time in people with diseases of the nervous system.
Michael Roy, MD, MPH is the Director and Professor of Medicine, Division of Military Internal Medicine, and Principal Investigator and Director of the Recruitment Core for the Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the Uniformed Services University. Michael has an extensive research background in areas that include brain mapping and post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Benton Burgess knows first-hand how a spinal cord injury can affect an entire family as his son, Garrett, suffered a spinal cord injury almost twenty years ago. Benton has worked tirelessly for the foundation, raising both awareness of spinal cord injuries and funds to support research. In addition to being a member of the Research Committee, Benton is on the Board of Trustees of the TRF.
Paula McDonald is part of the Leadership Council of the TRF and the Research Liaison to the Board of Trustees. Paula is a Physical Therapist with a background in neuroscience who is interested in the neuroanatomical and physiological process of recovery in the spinal cord following injury.
Researchers who are interested in applying for a grant from the TRF are asked to contact research@travisroyfoundation.org for the guideline to submit a letter of intent to the committee. If, after carefully reviewing your letter of intent, the Research Committee at the Travis Roy Foundation believes that your proposal meets the mission of the TRF they will contact you and request a full proposal.
