Great Plains Brain Injury Collaborative

Dr. Kenneth W. Bayles received his training in bacterial genetics at Kansas State University where he earned his Ph.D. degree in 1989 for his studies of toxin production by the Gram-positive pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus. He then performed post-doctoral research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, examining the regulatory response to DNA damage in Bacillus subtilis and S. aureus. After nine years as a faculty member at the University of Idaho, he moved to the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) where he became the founding Director of the Center for Staphylococcal Research (CSR) and combined the talents of several investigators to focus on the role of staphylococcal biofilm in the development of disease. In 2011, Dr. Bayles was promoted to Associate Vice Chancellor for Basic Science Research for the University where he supports several campus-wide efforts to enhance the productivity of its research faculty. He then served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activity at the University of Nebraska, Omaha from 2018 until 2022 when he assumed the role as Vice Chancellor for Research at UNMC.

Throughout his career, Dr. Bayles’ research interests have been funded by multiple NIH grants and have remained focused on elucidating the regulation of bacterial cell death and defining their roles in biofilm development. This research has led to greater than 120 publications, many of which having expanded the boundaries of bacterial physiology to include the concept of bacterial programmed cell death and the hypothesis that the molecular control of this process is conserved in plants and animals. In addition, his studies have led to the discovery that bacterial biofilm is a complex developmental process that includes many functions previously thought to be reserved for more complex organisms. In more recent years, his research interests expanded to Department of Defense-related activities including work on countermeasures against weapons of mass destruction such as therapeutics and vaccines to protect against select agents and toxins, as well as compounds to protect against radiation exposure. For his contributions to the field of microbiology, Dr. Bayles was recently inducted into the American Academy of Microbiology.

Judith M. Burnfield, PT, PhD, is the Vice President of Research, Director of the Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering, and Clifton Chair in Physical Therapy and Movement Science at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals. She is a nationally recognized physical rehabilitation clinician, researcher and scholar. Dr. Burnfield has directed grant initiatives worth over $8M, and has published over 80 peer-reviewed journal papers and co-authored the book, Gait Analysis, Normal and Pathological Function. Her federally funded research has generated patented technologies used worldwide in rehabilitation, fitness, and home settings to improve function and independence. In addition, she serves as an adjunct faculty member within several academic institutions and as an advisory board member for multiple industry partners. Dr. Burnfield completed her BS in physical therapy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, her PhD in Biokinesiology at the University of Southern California, and her postdoctoral studies at the Los Amigos Research and Education Institute in California. Her current research focuses on improving functional independence, cardiorespiratory fitness and overall wellbeing of individuals impacted by chronic illnesses and injuries including brain injury, stroke and Long COVID.

Jed Hansen, PhD, APRN, FNP-C is the Nebraska Rural Health Association’s Executive Director and serves as the Nebraska Hospital Association’s senior rural consultant. He is a native Nebraskan, growing up in the community of Minden, located about three hours west of Omaha. His academic background is focused on healthcare utilization facilitators and barriers in ambulatory care settings, and he actively practices in Urgent Care and Emergency Departments in Nebraska. Dr. Hansen leads projects focused on the rural emergency hospital model, improving veteran access to care, rural dental, mental health initiatives, and rural senior dignity projects. He also works diligently to improve interoperability and data flow in rural health care settings and increase workforce pipelining.

Dr. Hansen is a Fellow of the National Rural Health Association and the 2023 NRHA Advocate of the Year. He has been recognized as an influential healthcare leader and academic in Nebraska through the Nebraska Action Coalition and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, respectively.

Dr. Lyon earned her medical degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine and completed her residency at Inland Empire Hospital Services Association in Spokane, Washington. She is board certified in internal medicine.

Dr. Matos is an acute care surgeon encompassing trauma, surgical critical care, and emergency general surgery at UNMC. He is also a member of the chest wall injury team.

Prior to medical training, Dr. Matos was an analyst specializing in the health care industry where he developed an interest in decision support systems augmented with artificial intelligence.

His current research focus involves the prediction of outcomes in traumatic brain injuries, as well as solid organ injuries.  Dr. Matos has implemented systems leveraging the use of frontier large language models implementing domain specific information retrieval to assist in guideline compliance and decision-making augmentation within the Acute Care Surgery Division at UNMC.

Dr. Matos is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve Medical Corps with prior deployments to South Asia and the Middle East. 

Dr. Russell McCulloh is a Professor of Pediatrics and Neurosciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  He serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Research for UNMC, Vice President for Research for Nebraska Medicine, and Chief Medical Officer for UNeHealth, UNMC’s subsidiary focused on expanding industry-sponsored research.  A national leader in pediatric clinical trials and community-based research, Dr. McCulloh co-directs the Data Coordination and Operations Center for the ECHO IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network and works extensively with rural communities to engage in clinical research, including clinical trials.

Brooke Murtaugh, OTD, OTR/L, CBIST, BT-C, is Brain Injury Program Manager and a clinician researcher within the Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals. Dr. Murtaugh provides clinical care for survivors and families of severe traumatic brain injury, with an emphasis on individuals with Disorders of Consciousness (DoC). Dr. Murtaugh became a Certified Brain Injury Specialist from the Brain Injury Association of America in 2009 and a Certified Brain Injury Specialist National Trainer in 2015. Dr. Murtaugh serves on the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine’s Disorders of Consciousness (DoC) Task Force and the International Brain Injury Association’s DoC Special Interest Group. She co-chairs the International Care of the Coma Patient Scientific Work Group as part of the international Curing Coma Campaign coordinated by the Neurocritical Care Society. She also serves on the American College of Surgeons TBI Best Practice Recommendations committee and the CARF International Standards Advisory Committee.

Dr. Murtaugh has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles focusing on DoC clinical care and contributed to the 2024 edition of the TBI Best Practice Guidelines. Most recently, she has participated in the development and launch of a novel DoC Family and Consumer education web-based resource in collaboration with BrainLine.org/dchub. She presents frequently at national and international conferences on brain injury. Dr. Murtaugh graduated from Wayne State College in Wayne, NE in 2001 with a BS in Health Science as part of an accelerated rural health program. She received her Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Creighton University in 2004.  

Jennifer Nelson serves as Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation. In this role, she is responsible for UNL’s research enterprise, including enhancing research development and its societal impact, as well as ensuring the ethical, safe, and efficient conduct of research. She works with Industry Relations, NUtech Ventures and Nebraska Innovation Campus to forge partnerships and technology development that advance the state and region economically and socially. She oversees UNL’s university-wide research centers, the University of Nebraska State Museum, and the University of Nebraska Press.

Before becoming Interim Vice Chancellor, Nelson was most recently Associate Vice Chancellor and Research Integrity Officer in the UNL Office of Research and Innovation. She worked closely as liaison to UNL’s university-wide research centers and major research core facilities and co-led a campus-wide effort to develop a comprehensive research data strategy. She was also Institutional Official with responsibility for several compliance areas, including the protection of human research participants, care and ethical treatment of animals, and the conflicts of interest program. Prior to joining the Office of Research and Innovation in 2019, Nelson was the Director of Administration in the UNL Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior from 2015-2019.

Nelson is research faculty in the Department of Psychology, and since her arrival at UNL in 2009, she has been a co-investigator in a National Institutes of Health funded laboratory studying children’s cognitive development and health outcomes. Specifically, her research has focused on the development of executive control in longitudinal samples from early childhood through adolescence, and implications of executive control abilities for mental and physical health.

Nelson received her undergraduate degree in psychology from UCLA, her Ph.D. in clinical child psychology from the University of Kansas, and completed a predoctoral clinical internship at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and the Children’s Health Council.

Dr. Matthew Rizzo is the Reynolds Professor and Chair of Neurological Sciences and Chief Physician for Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), where he also directs the NIH-funded Great Plains IDeA-CTR Network. His work bridges cognitive neuroscience, human factors, and data science, advancing secure data-sharing frameworks such as the READi Core and HL7 FHIR adoption across Nebraska.

Since 2014, he has led the CTR Network in supporting nearly 160 investigator awards and contributing to national efforts including the NIH RECOVER study and National COVID Cohort Collaborative. He has advised policy through the American Academy of Neurology, FDA, and National Academy of Medicine, and co-leads Project Health, a new hospital and statewide health system at UNMC. A dedicated mentor and community leader, he also helped found the Nebraska Medical Orchestra and received UNMC’s Scientist Laureate Award in 2020.

Dr. Ross D. Zafonte serves as the University of Missouri School of Medicine’s Executive Vice Dean, Professor and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Sheldon Professor of Anesthesiology. Prior to accepting this role, Dr. Zafonte was the President of Spaulding Rehabilitation Network and the Earle P. and Ida S. Charlton Professor and Chairman of the Harvard Medical School Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). He remains Professor Emeritus at Harvard. Dr. Zafonte’s textbook, Brain Injury Medicine, is considered one of the standards in the field of brain injury care. His work is presently funded by the NIH, DOD and NIDRR, and he has directed several large clinical treatment trials. At the Red Sox/ MGH Home Base program, he remains national medical director of the Brain Injury and the Warrior Health and Fitness programs and at the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University, he is the Principal Investigator.

Dr. Zafonte is the author of more than 400 peer- review journal articles, abstracts and book chapters. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Neurotrauma and, Frontiers in Neurology. He has received numerous awards, from brain Injury, medical and rehabilitation societies as well as the US Military.