2025 Luminary of the Year

By Lauren Moore, Marketing and Communications Manager, Brain Injury Association of America

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) introduced our Luminary of the Year campaign in 2024, with the goal of shining a light on those who have made a significant impact on the brain injury community. In 2025, in addition to our national event held in Washington, D.C., the BIAA-Texas Chapter held its own Luminary of the Year event, celebrating leadership, innovation, and impact on the Texas brain injury community.

Washington, D.C.

On November 14, 2025, more than 200 members of the brain injury community attended BIAA’s Luminary of the Year event, coming together to honor Dr. Mark Ashley, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Board of Centre for Neuro Skills and the 2025 Luminary of the Year honoree.

The event, held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., raised more than $650,000 to benefit BIAA’s programs, research initiatives, and advocacy efforts. It was also an opportunity for the community to celebrate Dr. Ashley, whose decades of clinical work, research, and advocacy for the brain injury community have had an impact on millions of families across the country.

“When he first came to this field, there were people trying to make things better for patients with brain injuries, but there was no path. There was no way. That way had to be built, it had to be constructed,” said Dr. Matt Ashley, Chief Medical Officer at Centre for Neuro Skills. “Finding a way is just part of the DNA of Centre for Neuro Skills, and of Mark.”

Peter Thomas, disability rights attorney and managing partner at Powers Pyles Sutter and Verville PC, commented that Dr. Ashley put transitional and residential programs for people with disabilities on the map. “The fact that there are residential and transitional brain injury treatment programs that are routinely recognized today as necessary – medically necessary and critically important care for people with brain injuries – is a lasting legacy of Mark,” Thomas said.

“Mark Ashley has made a permanent, positive impact on millions of people with brain injury and their families through his research, his clinical work, and his advocacy,” noted Susan Connors, former President and CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America, calling his vision “extraordinary.”

In reflecting on his legacy, Dr. Ashley acknowledged the collective efforts of the brain injury community, who “worked in such earnest” toward the goal of bettering life for people with brain injuries. “I was just a part of that,” he said.

The event also celebrated Fundraising Champions Maxey Scherr, BIAA’s Legal Fundraising Champion, and Danielle Brazant, the Community Impact Fundraising Champion.

In addition to celebrating the achievements of Dr. Ashley and the efforts of our Fundraising Champions, the event included a cocktail reception, dinner, auction, and Fund the Mission Moment. BIAA would also like to acknowledge Cohen Veterans Bioscience for their donation match of $100,000, as well as the Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group’s $50,000 gift in the room.

Texas

About 200 members of the brain injury community came together on October 10, 2025, at the Crystal Ballroom at The Rice in Houston to celebrate Dr. Cindy Ivanhoe, Director of the Spasticity and Associated Syndromes of Movement Program at TIRR Memorial Hermann and BIAA-Texas’ inaugural Luminary of the Year honoree. The Texas Chapter’s Luminary of the Year Gala, a celebration of leadership, innovation, and impact in the field of brain injury, raised more than $150,000 for brain injury programs and advocacy efforts in Texas.

“I was hooked on how fascinating brain injury is, how each individual has a whole different set of circumstances, how a lot of different people didn’t see what I could see in those patients,” Dr. Ivanhoe said of her decision to become a brain injury physician. “I didn’t go after this to be a huge name. I like to try and just be content if I made an impact on someone’s life.”

In a tribute video, brain injury professionals spoke to the influence and impact that Dr. Ivanhoe has had on the field, citing her kindness and compassion, as well as her dedication to patient advocacy.

“Dr. Ivanhoe’s interactions with her patients are something to be seen,” said Dr. Ana Durand-Sanchez of Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute. “She’s extremely caring, she really establishes a bond with them, she makes sure that they feel well heard, well cared for, and that families are also a part of that mixture, which is really important in brain injury medicine.”

Dr. Flora Hammond of Indiana University Health credited Dr. Ivanhoe with inspiring young physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians to pursue a career in brain injury medicine, saying they “come into the field of PM&R ready to change the world, inspired by Cindy.”

Sherry Monroe, the mother of one of Dr. Ivanhoe’s patients – Garrett, who sustained an anoxic brain injury six years ago after being pinned under a car and going into cardiac arrest – spoke to Dr. Ivanhoe’s compassionate, dedicated care, as well as the need to support organizations like the Brain Injury Association of America.

“There’s so much research being done, but there’s so much more that needs to be done. There are so many things that can be helpful to a person recovering from a brain injury, and organizations like this are vital,” Monroe said.

The event also celebrated Fundraising Champions Nadine Eidman, whose husband, John Eidman, is one of Dr. Ivanhoe’s patients; Allison Sanborn; Mark Steinhubl; and Lindsay McGregor.

In addition to celebrating the achievements of Dr. Ivanhoe and the efforts of our Fundraising Champions, the event included a cocktail reception, dinner, auction, and Fund the Mission Moment.