The Complexities of Consciousness: Differentiating Overlapping Syndromes, Understanding Biases, and Mastering Assessment in Unresponsive Patients

Thursday, February 19, 2026

3:30 PM - 5:00 PM AST

Location: 209 ABC

Course Director(s)

Jennifer Russo, MD (she/her/hers)

Associate Program Director, Brain Injury Fellowship
Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation

Speaker(s)

Bei Zhang, MD, MSc

Associate Professor
Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Neurology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Daniel Krasna, MD

Assistant Professor
Johns Hopkins
Arline Edmond, MD (she/her/hers)

Associate Residency Program Director
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Matthew Puderbaugh, DO

Assistant Professor
University of Minnesota

Faculty(s)

Cherry Junn, MD

Assistant Professor
University of Washington
Erika L. Trovato, DO, MS (she/her/hers)

Chief Quality Officer, Associate Chief Medical Officer, Brain Injury Medicine Attending Physician
Burke Rehabilitation Hospital
Rosanna C. Sabini, DO

Professor
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell

Speaker(s)

Jennifer Wu, MD, PhD

Physician Scientist, Spaulding Research Institute; Medical Director, Inpatient Pediatric Rehabilitation Program
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Brief Session Description : Whether through lack of exposure or reduced opportunity to develop expertise, PM&R practitioners commonly report discomfort with assessment of low-level neurologic patients. Unconscious biases, overlapping clinical syndromes and examination pitfalls confound bedside examination. This session will introduce common forms of biases, explore overlapping syndromes, and describe clinical mimics of DOC. We will use small-group case-based discussions to explore impact on diagnosis, prognosis, and care. Subsequently, we will propose debiasing strategies and advocate for a mindset of “setting the patient up for success” during assessment. We aim to provide practical approaches to improve practitioner confidence in the assessment of impaired consciousness.