Our Board of Directors

Nationally Recognized Leaders in PM&R

The ABPMR board of directors is a group of distinguished leaders in the field of PM&R and its subspecialties. Directors are selected after a thorough nomination and election process, and diversity of perspective is always a priority so the board includes physiatrists from private practice and academic medical centers, from pediatric rehabilitation to sports medicine specialists; from Texas to Minnesota, and from locations across the United States.

In collaboration with the ABMS, our specialty societies, and board staff, the board of directors is shaping the future of physiatry education, certification, and ongoing demonstration of competency.

 As a condition of their service to the board, all ABPMR board directors (even those with non-time-limited certificates) are required to participate in all parts of the ABPMR Continuing Certification (CC) Program.

Current Board Directors

Sherilyn W. Driscoll, MD

Sherilyn W. Driscoll, MD

Chair

Dr. Driscoll is a consultant in the Mayo Clinic Department of PM&R with joint appointment in the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine and associate professor in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. She enjoys teaching and mentorship, currently serves as the program director of the pediatric rehabilitation medicine fellowship and leads the professional development effort in PM&R. Her clinical expertise is pediatric PM&R with special interests in brain injury and spina bifida, and she holds subspecialty certification in pediatric rehabilitation medicine.

Jeffery S. Johns, MD

Jeffery S. Johns, MD

Vice Chair

Dr. Johns is Associate Professor and Vice Chair of PM&R at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). He is the Medical Director of Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital, where he also serves as the Spinal Cord Injury Program Medical Director. Additionally, he is the Executive Medical Director of the Rehabilitation & Pain Medicine Patient Care Center at VUMC. His clinical expertise includes spinal cord injury, acquired brain injury medicine, spasticity management, burn rehabilitation and amputation rehabilitation. Dr Johns holds subspecialty certification in spinal cord injury medicine.

Gerard E. Francisco, MD

Gerard E. Francisco, MD

Secretary

Dr. Francisco is professor and Wulfe Family Chair in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Health Science Center McGovern Medical School and the chief medical officer and director of the NeuroRecovery Research Center at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, Texas. His clinical expertise and areas of practice focus include brain injury medicine, stroke rehabilitation, neuromodulation, and rehabilitation robotics. He holds subspecialty certification in brain injury medicine. Dr Francisco is the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine.

Diane W. Braza, MD

Diane W. Braza, MD

Treasurer

Dr. Braza is professor and chair of PM&R at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. She served as the co-developer and clinical director of SpineCare, a multidisciplinary spine program in greater Milwaukee. She continues to see patients at SpineCare. Her clinical expertise includes spine and musculoskeletal medicine and electrodiagnosis. She holds subspecialty certification in pain medicine. Dr Braza has been participating in continuing certification since 1994.

Susan D. Apkon, MD

Susan D. Apkon, MD

Susan Apkon, MD is a Professor and Vice-Chair in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University of Colorado School of Medicine. She is the Fischahs Chair of Pediatric Rehabilitation at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Her clinical expertise is in the care of children and young adults with neuromuscular conditions, and she is an investigator in numerous clinical trials for this population. Dr. Apkon holds subspecialty certification in pediatric rehabilitation medicine.

Daniel M. Clinchot, MD

Daniel M. Clinchot, MD

Dr. Clinchot is the vice dean for education at The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine. He also serves as professor with tenure in The OSU Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and as the Harry C. and Mary Elizabeth Powelson Professor of Medicine at OSU. In addition, Dr Clinchot is professor and chair of OSU’s Department of Biomedical Education and Anatomy. He has published extensively on traumatic brain injury and innovation in medical education. In addition, he played a central role in developing OSU’s national reputation for curricular innovation.

Christopher J. Garrison, MD MBA

Christopher J. Garrison, MD MBA

Dr. Garrison serves as the chief of PM&R for the Seton Healthcare Family and residency program director of The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Program. He also serves as the medical director for Central Texas Rehabilitation Hospital. Dr Garrison’s career includes 20 years of experience in complex neurological and musculoskeletal rehabilitation. As a member of the faculty of the Dell Medical School, he enjoys training the next generation of physicians and exchanging ideas with other leaders to improve patient care.

Susan V. Garstang, MD

Susan V. Garstang, MD

Dr. Garstang is currently the Associate Chief of Staff for Academic Affiliations at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she is also a staff physician in PM&R. Her focus is musculoskeletal medicine, spinal cord injury, stroke, and ALS. She serves as a Clinical Associate Professor of PM&R at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Dr Garstang holds subspecialty certification in spinal cord injury medicine and brain injury medicine.

Davé Shashank, DO

Shashank Davé, DO

Dr. Davé is an Associate Clinical Professor in both the Department of PM&R and Department of Neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine. He is also the Assistant Residency Program Director of PM&R and Program Director of the Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum at IUSM. He served 10 years as Co-Chief of PM&R at IU Health. He has extensive experience with Board Certification, serving the National Board of Medical Examiners test material development committee (TMDC) for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) from 2014-2018. He has served as a volunteer for the ABPMR for more than 10 years as a Part II oral examiner and as a Senior Reviewer of Item Development and Associate Committee Member of the Part I Examination. His clinical interests include spasticity management, interventional spine, and neuromuscular disorders.

Graham Sisson, Jr, JD, PhD

Graham Sisson, Jr, JD, PhD

Public Member

Dr. Sisson has served as the Director for the Governor's Office on Disability for the state of Alabama for more than 15 years. He has been an adjunct professor at Auburn University, his alma mater, in the Department of Rehabilitation and Special Education, College of Education. He has a jurisprudence degree from Vanderbilt University and has served as a law professor. He has served as State ADA Coordinator and Assistant Attorney General/Deputy Attorney General for the State of Alabama for over 25 years. He has been a licensed attorney for over 32 years.

Keneshia M. Kirksey, MD

Keneshia M. Kirksey, MD

Dr. Kirksey is the Medical Director of Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Shelby County, Alabama, where her clinical expertise is in spinal cord injury medicine, stroke, and general rehabilitation. She is a professor and works part-time in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). In past roles as a residency program and medical director and co-investigator for the UAB Spinal Cord Injury Model System, she has a combined 20 years of experience. Passionate about volunteering, she serves on numerous national PM&R committees and societies and enjoys mentoring future physiatrists.

Kevin P. Murphy, MD

Kevin P. Murphy, MD

Dr. Murphy is the medical director of pediatric rehabilitation for Sanford Health Systems in Bismarck, North Dakota and Bemidji, Minnesota. He is also the CEO and chief medical officer for Northland Pediatric Rehabilitation LLC, a private practice consulting service for pediatric rehabilitation medicine. His clinical expertise includes rural specialty healthcare, pediatrics, adults with childhood-onset disability (lifespan care), musculoskeletal medicine/ultrasound, neuromuscular, and brain injury medicine. He holds subspecialty certification in pediatric rehabilitation medicine.

Vu Q. C. Nguyen, MD

Vu Q. C. Nguyen, MD

Dr. Nguyen is Professor and Chair of PM&R at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine. He is the United States National Societies Representative to the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees and former President of the Residency and Fellowship Directors Council of the Association of Academic Physiatrists. His 20-plus years career has been dedicated to the care of the disabled patient, specifically those with stroke and brain injury. Dr Nguyen enjoys broad research endeavors including neuromodulation of hemiplegic shoulder pain, botulinum toxin, and pedagogy.

David W. Pruitt, MD

David W. Pruitt, MD

Dr. Pruitt is Professor, Clinical Pediatrics & Clinical Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. His areas of clinical expertise in the field of pediatric rehabilitation medicine include overseeing the rehabilitation care of children with a wide variety of congenital and acquired conditions that result in functional impairment and disability. Dr. Pruitt’s areas of focus include rehabilitation care in the acute inpatient setting, as well as outpatient care of children with cancer, acquired brain injury and spinal cord injury.

Sunil Sabharwal, MD

Sunil Sabharwal, MD

Dr. Sabharwal is the chief of spinal cord injury at the VA Boston Healthcare system and the spinal cord injury fellowship director at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. In 2016, he served as the acting national executive director for the VA Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders System of Care. His clinical expertise includes spinal cord injury medicine. He holds subspecialty certification in spinal cord injury medicine.