Meeting Minutes Details
Commonwealth Neurotrauma Initiative
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DRAFT Meeting Minutes October 15, 2003
Members Present
- Philip Brown City of Charlottesville Police Department
- Jay McLaughlin Survivor
- Jim Rothrock Commissioner, Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services
- Pat Tiernan, R.N. Tree of Life
- John Ward, M.D., Chair VCU Medical College of Virginia Hospitals
Staff
- Patricia Goodall Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services
- Eleanor Williams Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services
Guests
- Sandra Prince Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services
- Kristie Chamberlain Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services Staff for CNI Advisory Board (as of 11/03/03)
- Joey Wallace, Ph.D. Consortium on Hand Held Technology, VCU
- Tony Gentry Consortium on Hand Held Technology, VCU
- Jim Ritchie Brain Injury Services of Southwest Virginia
- Michelle Witt Brain Injury Services of Southwest Virginia
- Melissa Barnes Brain Injury Services of Southwest Virginia
- Elizabeth Smith Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services
- Myra Owens Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services
The Commonwealth Neurotrauma Initiative (CNI) Advisory Board met for a regular quarterly business meeting at the Department of Rehabilitative Services, 8004 Franklin Farms Drive, Richmond, Virginia. John Ward, M.D., Chair, convened the meeting at 9:45 AM.
Public Comment Period
A public comment period was held. Eleanor Williams presented a Virginia Rehabilitation Association (VRA) Award, the Roy M. Hoover Achievement Award, to CNI Board Chair, Dr. John Ward, M.D. Ms. Williams explained that the award is presented to a physician for providing outstanding medical services to people with disabilities. The Board members and guests at the meeting congratulated Dr. Ward on his award and excellent work.
Approval of June 25, 2003 Minutes
Jay McLaughlin made a motion to approve; Phillip Brown seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Grantee Presentations
The CNI Board approved one-year conditional funding to The Commonwealth Consortium for Handheld Technology, awarded to the VCU Partnership for People with Disabilities. Continued funding of years two and three were dependent upon a progress report on year one. Joey Wallace, Principal Investigator, and Tony Gentry, Project Director reported to the Board on the status of their project, including completion of timelines, objectives and milestones.
The purpose of the Commonwealth Consortium on Handheld Technology is to (1) Evaluate the functional needs of individuals with traumatic brain injury, autism, and autism spectrum disorders for appropriate electronic cognitive prosthetics (ECP) solutions; (2) Match an appropriate device and hardware/software applications to the needs and abilities of each participant; (3) Provide technical assistance to participants and other stakeholders; and (4) Conduct individual and program evaluation using outcome measurement tools and qualitative research techniques. Tony Gentry provided the Board with a packet of materials that contained an executive summary of the project, project timelines and accomplishments, copies of the PowerPoint presentation, a promotional brochure, and a copy of the Commonwealth Consortium for Handheld Technology newsletter.
Tony Gentry described that the goal is to serve fifty people over the age of fourteen years over the three year span of the project with participation equally split between brain injury and autism participants. At the end of the third quarter of the first year, the project has worked directly with ten (10) individuals so they anticipate that they will have no problem meeting their goal of 50 people over the three-year period.
A motion was made and carried to award funding for years two and three to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Partnership for People with Disabilities based on the excellent progress in meeting the timelines, objectives and milestones of the first year of their project.
Brain Injury Services of Southwest Virginia (BISSWVA)
The CNI Board approved one-year conditional funding of the Pediatric Case Management Program, awarded to Brain Injury Services of Southwest Virginia (BISSWVA). Continued funding of years two and three were dependent upon a progress report on year one. Jim Ritchie, Executive Director, Michelle Witt, Director of Administration, and Melissa Barnes, Case Manager presented on their progress to date.
The purpose of the grant is to develop and implement a community-based case management and family support program for children and adolescents with brain injuries who reside in the BISSWVA service area (Roanoke and New River Valley area of Southwest Virginia). The project also involves the provision of training to local schools and medical/rehabilitation service providers regarding working with brain injury patients.
Jim Ritchie and Michelle Witt provided a brief history of the program, and then Melissa Barnes provided an update on the status of the grant. The goal for year one was to serve fifteen children; they are currently serving nine with one case-manager. The Case Manager, Melissa Barnes told the Board they feel confident they will reach the fifteen-mark goal. The majority of the presentation focused on the impact the CNI grant has had in the community and directly in the lives of the recipients.
A motion was made and carried to award funding to the Brain Injury Services of Southwest Virginia for year two of their grant award. Year three funding will be determined by their continued ability to meet the grant goals, objectives, outcomes, and timelines set forth in the original proposal, to be reported to the Board at the close of year two.
New Business
Elizabeth Smith, Directorof DRS Policy and Planning, and Myra Owens, Policy Specialist, presented to the Board on state regulations regarding the use of human subjects in research. This was relevant to the CNI Advisory Board because the CNI Trust Fund uses state funds to make grant awards, some of them involving human subjects. To date, all of the research funded by CNI using human subjects has come from universities which have their own research oversight committees, or Institutional Review Boards (IRB).
Board members discussed at what point in the CNI grant process should researchers be required to document to the CNI Advisory Board and/or staff that a research project has been approved by the appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB). Three options were brought forth: (1) to submit IRB approval along with the grant application, or (2) to submit IRB approval after award of grant funding but before the research is initiated and reimbursements are made;and (3) IAW procedures as established by the researcher’s affiliated institution.
The Board asked CNI staff to review the Request For Proposals that are issued to make sure that there is sufficient language requiring applicants to comply with federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding the use of human subjects in research. Further, the Board agreed that grantees must submit a copy of their IRB approval in order to receive reimbursement funds.
Fiscal Report
Eleanor Williams, CNI Fiscal Analyst, provided a current revenue report of the CNI Trust Fund. At the end of September there was $4 million in the Fund. During the period July 1 through September 30, 2003, the CNI fund averaged revenue of $113,400 per month o
