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In This Issue:
Ross Zafonte was appointed chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
BWH announced the transition of the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation into the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation earlier this summer. This shift expands the department's commitment to fostering innovation and becoming a training ground that attracts future clinicians, researchers, educators and other professional staff.
The newly formed department will also support collaborations related to physical medicine and rehabilitation with other Partners HealthCare entities and Harvard Medical School.
Ross Zafonte, DO, chief of the former division, has been appointed chairman of the new department.
Zafonte, who joined BWH in 2007, also serves as Partners Continuing Care senior vice president of medical affairs, research and education, as well as chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Mass. General Hospital.
"Dr. Zafonte is passionate about raising awareness and expanding the knowledge base of brain injury to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients and families," said BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD.
Zafonte has written extensively about traumatic brain injuries and other neurological disorders, and is an expert who has testified before Congress on brain injury-related issues, such as concussions in youth sports. His textbook, "Brain Injury Medicine," is considered one of the gold standards in the field of brain injury care. He has received a Department of Defense grant for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, and developed a gait laboratory focused on novel prosthetic design for those with amputations.