CBIS Spotlight: Laura Trexler

Laura Trexler, OTR, CBIS, serves as ACL Grant Clinical Program Manager at the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana in Indianapolis. An occupational therapist, Laura has worked primarily in the field of young adult and adult ABI program development and direct service provision in clinic, community, home, and return to work settings addressing physical, cognitive, behavioral, and vision needs. Her past roles have included Clinical Services Project Manager, Grant Project Coordinator, Vision Rehabilitation Specialist, Driving Evaluator, Certified Brain Injury Specialist Trainer, Rehabilitation Occupational Therapist, and adjunct faculty at the University of Indianapolis, Department of Occupational Therapy.

Laura graduated from Indiana University’s School of Health and Human Services, Occupational Therapy program in 1983 and has worked with individuals who sustained a traumatic or acquired brain injury ever since.

Laura and her husband, Dr. Lance Trexler, recently made a major gift to the Brain Injury Research Fund in support of an annual dissertation award to celebrate Laura’s thirty-eight and Lance’s forty years of service to the brain injury community. Because of their generosity, a young clinician-researcher will be able to advance discovery through research each year.

Why have you chosen a career in brain injury? What are you most passionate about in the field? 

Lance and I met in the 1980s while treating people who were living with a brain injury. Our lives are enriched by knowing individuals with a brain injury, and their families, who show courage and perseverance day in and day out through their recovery journey. They teach us so much and we are grateful. We have a strong passion for what we do for a living.

Why is having your CBIS important to you? 

Certification provides us all with a common language, a common lens, facilitating understanding, linkages, and collaboration. Sustaining certification demonstrates a commitment to learning and to the desire to offer the best care we can to those we serve.

Having dedicated your careers to helping people with brain injuries, what are the most important issues from your perspective facing this community?

We have seen many positive changes in our years of clinical service. However, challenges continue in areas such as funding, communication, and collaboration across systems. Brain injury should be recognized as a chronic condition. Private and public healthcare systems should be challenged to work together to benefit individuals. We must do our part to facilitate increased awareness and access to support improved quality of life and community re-entry. There is work to do in many areas. Evidence demonstrates that increased access to a case management model that follows the individual with lived experience/families from trauma care to return to school, work, home, and community impacts adjustment and improves outcomes. Unfortunately, case management, also known as Resource Facilitation, is not yet available to most.

You could support any number of causes. Why is the Brain Injury Association special to you?

The future will be defined by our youth; therefore, attracting the brightest young professionals into brain injury is critical. Our motivation is twofold: recognizing the need to sustain the field of brain injury and advance it at the same time. The cognitive disability associated with brain injury is substantially greater than any other neurological disease and people need to give relative to the need. Brain injury is underfunded, which has resulted in a staggering social and economic cost. This compelled us to consider a gift in support of the Brain Injury Research Fund and BIAA. We are aligned with the mission and know funds are used appropriately. We are also impressed by BIAA’s advocacy informed by science – work that BIAA does really well.

If you’re interested in how you can support the Brain Injury Research Fund, please contact Robbie Baker at (703) 761-0750 ext. 648 or rbaker@biausa.org.