Kristen Dams-O'Connor, PhD
- PROFESSOR | Rehabilitation and Human Performance
- PROFESSOR | Neurology
Specialty:
Rehabilitation and Physical MedicineDr. Dams-O'Connor is Director of the Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai, a clinical neuropsychologist and Professor in the Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Neurology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, NY.
She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at Mount Sinai Medical Center, and a predoctoral internship in neurorehabilitation at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University Medical Center. She received her Ph.D. from the University at Albany.
She has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and chapters on traumatic brain injury treatments and outcomes, and has presented her research internationally. Her primary fields of clinical and research expertise are in long-term outcomes after brain injury, intersections of TBI and neurodegenerative disease, neuropsychological assessment, and cognitive rehabilitation for individuals with neurological diseases.
Dr. Dams-O'Connor sees patients in the Rehabilitation Neuropsychology Faculty Practice (212-241-2221) for neuropsychological assessment and neurocognitive remediation. She is also Director of the New York Traumatic Brain Injury Model System of Care and a Founding Board Member of the New York Neurotrauma Consortium. Under her leadership, the Brain Injury Research Center (www.tbicentral.org) develops and tests new treatments for TBI, investigates long-term health and functional TBI outcomes, and studies the mechanism and pathology of post-traumatic neurodegeneration and its relationships with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs).
Current projects focus on applying modern psychometric and statistical techniques to measure individual differences in trajectories of change over time among survivors of TBI. Her research is currently supported by federal grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Institutefor Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and Department of Defense.
Clinical Focus
- Brain Aneurysm
- Brain Tumor And Brain Cancer
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Concussion
- Dementia
- Neuropsychological testing
- Parkinson's Disease
- Stroke
- Traumatic Brain Injury
Multi-Disciplinary Training Area
Neuroscience [NEU]Education
BA, Colgate University
PhD, University at Albany, State University of New York
Internship, Psychology, Cabrini Medical Center
-
2018
Fellow -
2018
Mitchell Rosenthal Award for Best Scientific Publication using the TBI Model System Database -
2017
ACRM Mitchell Rosenthal Mid-Career Award -
2017
Joshua B. Cantor Scholar Award -
2016
Mitchell Rosenthal Award for Best Scientific Publication using the TBI Model System Database -
2015
Mitchell Rosenthal Memorial Lecture -
2014
International Brain Injury Association Early Career Investigator Award
The Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai
The Brain Injury Research Center of Mount Sinai (BIRC-MS) has a reputation for excellence in diagnosing and treating the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms resulting from traumatic brain injuries (TBI) as a result of investigators’ research. Our focus includes identifying, treating, and characterizing TBI through neuroimaging, biomarker discovery, and neuropathology, and our investigators have documented findings in more than 150 publications. Our Center is staffed by a group of researchers whose scientific and clinical accomplishments have been widely recognized and honored. For more than a decade, we have focused on studies that have broken new ground in assessing clinical interventions, developing psychometric instruments, describing key problems experienced by individuals with TBI, and incorporating an interdisciplinary approach to the study of long-term TBI outcomes. For a list of our current and completed research studies, please visit our website https://icahn.mssm.edu/research/brain-injury/research For contact information on a particular study, please call the main research line at 212-241-5152.
Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device and biotechnology companies to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their relationships with such companies.
Below are financial relationships with industry reported by Dr. Dams-O'Connor during 2022 and/or 2023. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.
Consulting:
- Appellate Advocates; Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP; Brown University; Covington law firm; East Broadway Real Estate Holding LLC; Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH); US Department of Veterans Affairs; Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin, LLP
Mount Sinai's faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website. Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.
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