We are all about community - here is ours

Adam

Adam Grove, N.D., is a Naturopathic Physician practicing family-medicine and specializing in children and adults with brain challenges. He practices in Anchorage, Alaska at Head to Toe Holistic Healthcare LLC.  He emphasizes an individualized, whole-person focus with attention to accurate diagnosis and holistic treatment for brain-based issues. He works with people of all ages experiencing symptoms of ADD/ADHD, Autism, brain injury, age-related cognitive decline and other brain-based disorders. He is very active at the state level as member of the Alaska Traumatic and Acquired Brain Injury (TABI) Advisory Board and as a former member and director of the board of directors of the Alaska Brain Injury Network (ABIN) advocating for those with brain injuries.  He is a certified Brain Injury Specialist and has served for many years on the Board of Directors for the Alaska Brain Injury Network.  He is a 13 year veteran of the United States Air Force and a brain injury survivor.
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Karyn

Karyn Grove-Bruce, Psy.S., is a School Psychologist and Suzuki-method violin and viola music teacher.  After working for a number of years in the Anchorage School district, she joined Dr. Grove in the clinic to provide quantitative EEGs and cognitive testing which assesses brain performance and forms the basis of Neuro-rehabilitation therapies provided by the clinic.  She holds a a Brain Injury Specialist certification.  Karyn has been teaching music for 21 years and also performs in the Anchorage Symphony and other local community musical groups.  She is passionate about brain injury and helping people recover and find their way in life again. 

Amy

Amy Kolarova, D.O., is a staff physiatrist and lead physician of the telemedicine program at Shepherd Center. Dr. Kolarova also manages neurorehabilitation consultation services for the Stroke Center of Excellence at the Piedmont Hospital Marcus Heart and Vascular Center.

Dr. Kolarova obtained her medical degree at the Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine. From there, she did her post-graduate training in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) beginning in the U.S. Army at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She completed both her training in PM&R, as well as a brain injury medicine fellowship, at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Since completing her fellowship, Dr. Kolarova has held several positions in the brain injury medicine field. She worked as a practicing physician at Providence Alaska Medical Center, where she was also involved with program development, establishing a multi-disciplinary outpatient brain injury clinic. Dr. Kolarova also assisted in developing a brain injury network throughout Alaska, providing educational programs to clinicians, community members, brain injury survivors and their families.
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Dr. Kolarova is board certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

RachAel

Rachael Hannah, Ph.D. is an associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Alaska, Anchorage where her research focus is on the brain circulatory system. She is currently exploring a new animal model, the red-eared slider turtle, in an effort to discover how some organisms' brain cells survive in low oxygen environments.  She brings her expertise and passion for education and research to the Brain Bus project.

Julie

Julie Davies, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor who has a long history of working with traumatic brain injury. She was the Executive Director of the Alaska Brain Injury Network for several years during which she developed a very robust program to provide real wold supports to those with brain injury.  Her passion for working and helping those suffering from TBI brought her back into a clinical practice where she specializes in helping those with TBI navigate through the often complicated and difficult task of returning to life.

​Lauren, Jessica and Zoë

Lauren, Jessica and Zoë are the masterminds behind the Black Brain Film, a documentary film which seeks to provide a comprehensive look at TBI and what happens after the injury. They have been engaging in conversations with people who have been impacted by TBI so that they can better understand the uniqueness of each injury and recovery journey. Their hope is that by elevating the voices of survivors and medical advocates in the concussion space, they can create awareness and provide a much-needed roadmap to recovery. 

The film has recently been accepted for Fiscal and Development Sponsorship by Film Independent, one of the leading arts organizations helping groundbreaking documentaries like this one get made.  With this new fuel, the team traveled to Alaska to begin filming. In the process of making a film, the Black Brain Film team has connected many Alaskans to each other and to passionate advocates and survivors in the lower 48 as well.

The Black Brain Film has already had a significant and meaningful impact on the level of support and enthusiasm for improving the way Alaska cares for those with traumatic brain injury and the power of story telling continues to power change for TBI treatment on the last frontier.

You can check out what these amazing women are up to here  https://www.theblackbrainfilm.com/ and you can check out their coverage of the bus here ​https://www.theblackbrainfilm.com/characters.