Fort Carson, CO

Contact Information

Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center
Warrior Recovery Center
Building 7489
Fort Carson, CO 80913
Phone: 719.526.8881

Catchment Area

ID, MT, WY, UT, CO, NM

Leadership

CDR Renee M. Pazdan, M.D.
Site Director and Principal Investigator

CDR Pazdan has extensive clinical experience in traumatic brain injury (TBI) during the Global War on Terror. She completed her neurology residency as an active duty Army officer at the Army and Navy’s flagship hospitals (the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center) from 2001 to 2005. Her training was extended with a fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology, which encompassed electroencephalography, electromyography as well as sleep medicine.

In addition to CDR Pazdan’s education, her unique skill set was heavily relied upon in her position at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the U.S. Military Hospital in Germany which is the first out-of-theater evacuation point for service members. There she provided inpatient and outpatient direct clinical services for service members with TBI and other neurologic disorders. She also co-directed the sleep lab and was integral in the interpretation of sleep studies and in providing direct sleep medicine clinical services. Dr. Pazdan currently serves as a U.S. Public Health Service medical officer working with the DoD to provide expert TBI care to service members who have sustained concussions and have residual symptoms. She serves not only as a TBI subject matter expert at Fort Carson, but also as an expert in sleep medicine particularly as it relates to service members after TBI.

In addition to her primary position as the IOC of the Warrior Recovery Clinic, she is the site director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.

Program Overview

Mission

Fort Carson Defense Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) site meets the DVBIC mission by providing education, care coordination and research services concerning TBI to our region’s active, reserve, guard and community populations.

Our region includes CO, ID, MT, NM, UT, and WY.

Regional Education and Outreach

• Outreach across our six state region
• Community awareness & prevention
• Patient and family education
• Health care provider education
• Professional and ancillary staff education
• Tri-monthly Back to Basic mTBI classes
• Reintegration classes for post-deployed service and family members
• Monthly TBI Spouse Caregiver Support Group
• Family Readiness Group (FRG), Family Readiness Support Assistant (FRSA) and Rear Detachment Training
• FRG Briefs
• Pre-deployment briefs
• Command briefs
• In-service training for ACS (Army Community Service) staff
• In-service training for MFLCs (Military Family Life Consultants), licensed social workers who work with the military members and their families
• WTU briefs for service members and cadre

Regional Care Coordination

• Serves as a single point of contact with specialized TBI knowledge and monitors progress
• Contacts TBI patients and fields calls
• Provides education and support to TBI patients and their families
• Provides expert consultation
• Assists in evaluation of treatment and discharge plans and eases transition to next level of care
• Advises patients, family members and providers on ways to manage cognitive, emotional and behavioral issues
• Conducts follow-up interviews at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months
• Measures and documents progress in a DVBIC/DCoE developed web-based data repository system

Research Program

Evaluation of cognitive rehabilitation techniques based on:

• Motor planning and sequencing training (Interactive Metronome Therapy)
• Peripheral and central nervous system-based biofeedback training
• Electrophysiological stimulation techniques (e.g., Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, or TCDS)
• Pending IRB Review/Research Trails in Development Phases

Evaluation of deployment related TBI screening tools:

• Development of computerized, kiosk-based, mass assessment methods and systems

Personnel

Site Director
CDR Renee Pazdan, M.D.

Principal Investigator
CDR Renee Pazdan, M.D.

Program Manager
Keri Mullins, MS

Clinical Research Associate
Margaret MacDonald, M.D.

Regional Education Coordinator
Robin Wininger, MS

Regional Education Coordinator
Tamara Clark, BA

Regional Care Coordinator
Joanne Smaldino-Bennett, BSN, RN

Research Neuropsychologist
VACANT

Research Assistant
Katalin Grajzel, MA

Research Coordinator
Richelle Power, BBA, BS

Psychometrist
Heidi Prioux, BA

Database Management Administrator
James LaTour