Last year BIANS participated in the Scotiabank Group Charity Challenge fundraising and walking, wheeling and running in all the five Bluenose Marathon distances (Saturday’s Youth Run plus the 5, 10, half and full marathon). TEAM BIANS helped us be successful beyond our wildest expectations and made us the third top fundraising team!

This year, we are honored to have been selected as one of the featured charities meaning a higher public profile but the “heat is on” to meet this year’s fundraising challenge of $15,000 before we hit the road during the Victoria Day long weekend (May 21 and 22).

Demand for support for brain injury survivors and their families is steadily rising. The high profile of the seriousness of concussions and its short and long term symptoms has prompted more calls for help and support.

I am writing to ask you to be part of TEAM BIANS 2011 as a:

1. As a Fundraiser/Participant: A two-step process.

The first step is to go to www.bluenosemarathon.com and complete the online registration for whatever distance you like.

The second step is to click on the Charity Challenge on www.bluenosemarathon.com, click on the BIANS logo and join the team — you use your username and password from last year. There is a five-step process to help you customize your personal fundraising webpage and begin your fundraising.

2. As a Sponsor: make an online donation to either the team or an individual participant.

3. As a Promoter: By helping us spread the word — the more the merrier as we hit the road to support the 30,000 to 70,000 Nova Scotian families living daily with the results of brain injury.

If you have any questions or problems, please do not hesitate to contact me either by email or at 473-7476.

Once again, thank you!

Be part of 2011 TEAM BIANS as we run, walk and wheel during the Blue Nose Marathon to support those touched by brain injury in Nova Scotia to join or sponsor!

Brain Injury Association of Nova Scotia
Room 13-009/010
13th Floor, Victoria Building, VG Site, QEII
Phone: (902) 473-7301
Fax: (902) 473-7302
Mail: PO Box 8804, Halifax, NS B3K 5M4
Website: www3.ns.sympatico.ca/bians1

A Helping Hand to a New Beginning

From Mile High Report
Sometime today, League officials will announce a new standardized sideline testing protocol for diagnosing concussions in NFL players. This will put all 32 teams in compliance with procedures designed to protect the athletes from post-career mental health problems. The reason this is significant is that there are a few different kinds of tests for checking concussions and not all teams are using the same methods or being as diligent as they could be. And with the suicides of Andre Waters, Shane Dronett and more recently, Dave Duerson, it’s really about time the NFL has moved forward in this area.
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Blue Nose Marathon
Be part of 2011 TEAM BIANS as we run, walk and wheel during the Blue Nose Marathon to support those touched by brain injury in Nova Scotia.
Visit Blue Nose Marathon to join or sponsor!
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Target Audience
This conference will be of interest to ABI Rehabilitation Professionals, Psychologists, Physicians, Program Planners, Insurance and Legal Representatives and Advocates.

Attendance Certificates
Conference attendance certificates will be placed in your delegate kit. Delegates are encouraged to review self-assessment guidelines issued by their professional college/association for continuing education credits or contact their professional college or association for further information.

Evaluation Prizes
Delegates who complete an evaluation form will be eligible for a draw. The draws will occur during lunch and evening Reception.
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The NeuroTrauma Letter is produced quarterly by the International Brain Injury Association.

In This Issue:

• Stem Cell Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury – An Overview of Different In-vivo/In-vitro Experimental Settings
• Neurotologic Consequences of Blast Injury
• Chemosensory Impairment after Traumatic Brain Injury: Assessment and Management
• Evaluation and Treatment Planning in Children with TBI
• Articles of Note

Meetings of Note:

• The 1st TBI-Challenge Congress will take place in Vienna from the February 23 to 26, February, 2011, in Vienna, Austria. The congress will address a spectrum of brain injury issues with work presented in oral presentations and poster sessions. For more information, click here.
• The 3rd Federal Interagency Conference on Traumatic Brain Injury will take place June 13 to 15, 2011, in Washington, DC, USA. This meeting brings together clinicians, researchers, consumers, and policy makers to share cutting-edge advances in TBI research and clinical care. For more information, click here.

IBIA’s International NeuroTrauma Letter

The Brain Injury Community in Canada and in the World has lost a great Canadian who championed the cause for paediatric brain injury and research. Dr. Gillett was the President of the International Paediatric Brain Injury Association.

Jane Gillett passed away yesterday after a short but very tough battle with a rare and highly aggressive form of cancer. I understand through her friends that although she experienced pain, she was surrounded by great love and amazingly was able to return that love throughout her illness. In recent days, she was cared for in a wonderful hospice and was able to experience peace, and for that we are extremely grateful.

Jane was an incredible force in the ABI community who was always willing to share her expertise. She was a devoted doctor who greatly impacted the lives of her patients and their families. She will be missed by so many.

Dr. Gillett was a fully qualified Neurologist certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in both pediatric and adult neurology. Dr. Gillett created and developed the Paediatric Acquired Brain Injury Community Outreach Program (PABICOP) at the Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario and was the Medical Director for 4 years. Prior to and during that time, Dr. Gillett was the Medical Director of the inpatient Pediatric Acquired Brain Injury Program at the Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario for 12 years. Dr. Gillett, at the time of her passing, was the Medical Director of the Acquired Brain Injury Program at Hamilton Health Sciences and an Associate Professor at McMaster University. Before her entrance into medicine Dr. Gillett was a Speech Language Pathologist specializing in neurogenic communication problems. Dr. Gillett was a Member of the Canadian Association of Child Neurology, and the International Society for the Study of Acquired Brain Injury, as well as a Member of the American Academy for Neurorehabilitation and the North American Brain Injury Society. Dr. Gillett was the founder and a current member on the Paediatric Head Injury Group of Ontario (PHIGO). Dr. Gillett was also a Member on the Paediatric Sub-Committee of the Provincial Acquired Brain Injury Advisory Committee (PABIAC). Dr. Gillett was on the board of the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (ONF) for 6 years and was currently the chair of the knowledge mobilization committee of the ONF and a member of the research committee of the ONF.

Dr. Gillett has made presentations to several local, provincial, national and international brain injury conferences. She has been invited to speak at conferences in Denmark and Sweden and was asked to return as the featured speaker in each of these countries. She has also presented in Italy and Australia. In the past year Dr. Gillett has been asked to speak in the United States and in Portugal at the world congress in the Study of ABI and in Holland to help advise on a program for services for children and youth with an ABI. Dr. Gillett also frequently runs “Ask the Doc” session at the local ABI conferences which provides an opportunity to those with an ABI or their families to ask questions in an informal setting to better understand their special issues.

There will be visitation at Dwayne D. Budgell Funeral Home at 1105 Rest Acres Rd, Paris, ON
~this is the exit toward Paris rather than towards Apps Mill
~ visitation will take place on Saturday February 19, 2:00 -5:00 and 7:00-9:00 pm

The funeral will take place at St. Gabriel’s Church in Toronto at 11:30 Monday morning, with visitation in the gathering place at the church beginning at 10:30.
~the church is a little tricky to find, so we have included a map and directions below
~there is underground parking at the church, which you may have to look for – it’s a bit hidden

The family is planning a memorial service later in the year, celebrating Jane’s life, her work and the way in which she touched so many lives.

Directions to St. Gabriel’s Church
St. Gabriel’s Church is located at 650 Sheppard Ave. E in Toronto
It is a little challenging to find – the directions are provided below. In case you are truly lost, the phone # is 416-221-8866.

From Bayview Avenue and Sheppard Ave.
Go east on Sheppard Avenue from Bayview.
Turn left at the third light.
There is construction on the right.
It appears that you are going into the condos but as you curve, you will see the statue for the Church.
Turn right at the statue.
The Church is in the back of the property.

From Leslie,
Go west on Sheppard Ave.
Turn right at the fourth light.
It appears that you are going into the condos but as you curve, you will see the statue for the Church.
Turn right at the statue.
The Church is in the back of the property.

View Larger Map

My name is Jamie Wilson – I’m Platform Director at SharpBrains. We are currently organizing our 2nd Virtual Summit “Retooling Brain health for the 21st Century” (30th March-1st April): http://www.sharpbrains.com/summit/.

As you will see from the speakers and organizations involved, these are high caliber, leaders in their field.

We have developed partnerships with a broad range of organizations from academia, non-profit and industry – all have objectives in improving outcomes for their constituents: http://www.sharpbrains.com/summit/partners/.

Jamie Wilson MD
Platform Director
SharpBrains Council for Brain Fitness Innovation
http://sharpbrainscouncil.com
http://www.sharpbrains.com/council/
Skype: drjamiewilson
Cell: 0044 7943 838934

In this issue…

• News
• Website of the Month
• Events
• Funding Opportunties
• Annoucements
• Calls for Submissions

Abilities Bulletin, February 2011, Connecting You to Canada’s Disability Community

Letter to the editor of the Hill Times from Harry Zarins, BIAC Executive Director

Re: “If Sidney Crosby isn’t immune, neither are Canada’s youth” (The Hill Times, Feb. 7, p. 24). NDP MP Glenn Thibeault’s article is an excellent article opening the door to a national debate on creating awareness on Canada’s silent epidemic: acquired brain injury and its future pressures on the health, social, economic, educational and justice systems.

In all of the discussions surrounding concussions it must be strongly noted that a concussion is a brain injury and a concussion must be referred to as a mild traumatic brain injury, mTBI.
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Hilltimes.com

February 7, 2011 – http://hilltimes.com/page/printpage/crosby-02-07-2011

By NDP MP GLENN THIBEAULT
Our nation has a storied history of amateur sporting achievements, with the record breaking gold medal performance by Canada’s athletes at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics serving as a unifying force in fostering the Canadian national identity. For years to come, Canadians across the country will remember where they were when Sidney Crosby scored the “Golden Goal” in the men’s hockey final.
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