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Final Program


Final Program

Gerard E. Francisco, MD (he/him/his)

Professor and Chairman
McGovern Medical School/UT Health Houston

Gerard Francisco, M.D., is the Wulfe Family Chair in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), and chairman and professor in the Department of PM&R at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). Concurrently, he is the Chief Medical Officer of TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research) Memorial Hermann Hospital. Dr. Francisco’s expertise is in brain injury medicine, stroke rehabilitation, spasticity management and technology-assisted rehabilitation. He was inducted to the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) in 2017. Prior to that he was the AAPMR Walter J. Zeiter Lecturer in 2011 and the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) Sidney Licht Lecturer in 2016. Dr. Francisco received the AAPMR Distinguished Member Award in 2015. He is past president of the Association of Academic Physiatrists from 2015-2017 and was recipient of its Distinguished Academician Award in 2020. Dr. Francisco is incumbent President of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM). He was board secretary and chair of the Brain Injury Medicine, Research, and Nominating committees of the American Board of PM&R, founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of ISPRM and past chair of the Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (2014-2017). He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation for his research in rehabilitation robotics and neuromodulation. Dr. Francisco is also the chair of AAP's new Physiary Foundation, whose mission is to "...create a future for physiatry that is diverse, compassionate, skilled, and thriving through funding innovative education and leadership programs..."

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