Today@Sam Article
Distinguished Lecturer To Discuss Stroke Rehabilitation
March 30, 2017
SHSU Media Contact: Julia May
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| Dr. Nneka Ifejika |
Dr. Nneka Ifejika, an award-winning physician, mentor, speaker, author and reviewer in the fields of neurology and physical medicine and rehabilitation, has been selected as the 2017 Distinguished Lecturer for Sam Houston State University.
She will discuss “Successes (and Failures) in Stroke Rehabilitation Research” on April 13 at 2 p.m. in the Ron Mafrige Auditorium of the Smith-Hutson Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.
“She has a keen interest in STEM mentoring and increasing opportunities for women in scientific areas,” said Rick White, professor of chemistry, who nominated Ifejika and has heard her speak. “In addition to being a respected medical professional and researcher on health disparities and stroke outcomes, she is quite personable, very energetic and will give an enjoyable lecture with broad implications.”
Dr. Ifejika joined the Department of Neurology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston after completing her residency at Baylor College of Medicine in 2007. Within six months, she became director of neurorehabilitation, serving as the leader of the clinical, research and education programs.
A graduate of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Leadership program, Dr. Ifejika advocates for the rights of the disabled as part of the Health Policy and Legislation Committee and mentors others as a member of the Medical Education Committee.
She is a Fellow of the American Heart Association—serving on the editorial board of “Stroke,” the flagship AHA journal—and the AHA Stroke Council.
Dr. Ifejika has been recognized as a Texas SuperDoctors Rising Star, a Top Doctor in Rehabilitation by Houstonia and H Texas magazines, and she is the only physician to be honored as top doctor in both neurology and rehabilitation in the same year by H Texas.
With a passion for patient safety, she and her neurorehabilitation team at Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center developed Rehab MATIX, a nursing assignment algorithm, which has significantly reduced falls, improved the quality of care, and decreased nursing fatigue amongst staff members on her Joint Commission-affiliated inpatient rehabilitation unit.
She is currently in the process of having Rehab MATRIX copyrighted and implemented across the Memorial Hermann Health System, setting a gold standard for systematic rehabilitation nursing practice.
Her feasibility project, Swipe Out Stroke, focuses on the use of smartphone-based applications to improve stroke prevention in high-risk minority stroke survivors and their caregivers who share similar genetic or environmental risk factors.
In March of 1980, Sam Houston State University inaugurated a program called the Research Recognition Lecture. In October of 1981 the name of the program changed to Distinguished Lecturer Series. The goal of the series is to invite distinguished lecturers in a variety of disciplines and professions to honor faculty research.
SHSU’s Distinguished Lecturer Series has included such noteworthy figures as George H.W. Bush, Edward Albee, Larry McMurtry, Lech Walesa, Charlie Wilson, and many others.
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