TBI in a Clinical Setting
Caregivers, Researchers, and Clinicians
Andrea Kim
J.D. Candidate, Brooklyn Law School
Andrea Kim became a caregiver to her late father after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2023. For a year, she fought to secure the life-saving treatment he needed, navigating a healthcare system that often prioritizes profits over patients.
Motivated to change the system, Andrea is now using her 10+ year career in tech to build a platform that helps brain injury survivors and their caregivers navigate complex healthcare and insurance systems. She is also a part-time law student at Brooklyn Law School, where she focuses on Medicare, Medicaid, and elder law to advance her mission of improving healthcare access.
Kamran Fallahpour, Ph.D.
Founder and Director, Brain Resource Center
Dr. Kamran Fallahpour is a licensed clinical psychologist and neuroscientist, and the founder and director of the Brain Resource Center in New York City. His work focuses on the treatment of mood and cognitive disorders using neuroscience-based assessments, including quantitative EEG (qEEG) and advanced brain mapping, to identify and target dysfunctional brain networks. He specializes in conditions such as mood disorders, ADHD, trauma and PTSD, as well as cognitive and emotional symptoms following concussion, traumatic brain injury, and stroke. His clinical approach emphasizes personalized, non-pharmacological interventions that support neural recovery, self-regulation, and long-term brain health. At the Brain Resource Center, Dr. Fallahpour integrates qEEG-guided neurofeedback, neuromodulation, and other neurotechnologies with targeted therapeutic strategies to restore brain function, improve cognition, and enhance emotional regulation.
Ava Panetto
Clinic Coordinator for the Concussion Program at the Hospital for Special Surgery
Ava Panetto is the Clinic Coordinator for the Concussion Program at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, where she supports the delivery of multidisciplinary care for patients with mild traumatic brain injury. She earned a B.S. in Neuroscience from Haverford College and completed post-baccalaureate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Under the mentorship of Dr. Teena Shetty, founder and director of the Concussion Program, Ava helps patients navigate each step of their treatment and contributes to ongoing research initiatives. A future MD candidate in the entering class of 2030, Ava is particularly interested in the intersection of brain health and mental health, including the psychosocial dimensions of concussion recovery.
Joelle Sacks
Clinical Research Coordinator at the Brain Injury Research Center at Mount Sinai Morningside
Joelle Sacks is a recent graduate of Binghamton University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Spanish with a minor in Theatre. During her time at Binghamton, she contributed to research in the Center for Transdisciplinary Research on Intimate Relationships and completed an honors thesis exploring factors that shape male decision‑making in high‑risk sexual scenarios. She is currently a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Brain Injury Research Center at Mount Sinai, where she works on the Late Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury in Intimate Partner Violence Survivors study, focusing on understanding the long‑term impacts of head injuries in individuals with lived experience of intimate partner violence.
