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Honor Your Colleague, Boss, Valued Client, or Other Professional Connection

Commemorate a promotion, birthday, or important milestone. Remember a life well-lived.

Make a donation in a colleague’s name while supporting the Brain Injury Association of America’s work to advance awareness, research, treatment, and education, improving the quality of life for all people affected by brain injury.

When you make a donation, you have the option to send a letter to your honoree or their family telling them about the gift made in their name.

Make Your Tribute Gift Today in One of Three Easy Ways

Make your gift online
Call 703-761-0750 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 a.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
Mail a check to:
Brain Injury Association of America
P.O. Box 7416
Merrifield, VA 22116-7416

Please make the check payable to the Brain Injury Association of America and be sure to include the name and mailing address of the individual(s) you wish notified about this gift. I

f you send a company check, please include the name and telephone number of a contact person in case there are questions about the gift.

"When the brain is damaged in an accident, the effect can last a lifetime."

Ira Sherman is no stranger to recognizing a need and doing something about it.

During childhood, Ira was first introduced to a community of developmentally disabled adults while helping his aunt and uncle host Saturday night socials at the local YMCA. After starting his career as a trial lawyer, he gravitated toward a focus on individuals impacted by developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Mr. Sherman and his law partners have been making a positive impact on the brain injury community for more than 25 years. With the firm’s focus being on people with developmental disabilities and TBI, Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. has touched thousands of lives in service of their clients while investing time as volunteer leaders at BIAA and the Brain Injury Associations of Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Mr. Sherman served on the BIAA Board of Directors for seven years and as the organization’s treasurer for two of those years. Mr. Sherman and Joe Cammarata founded the BIA of Washington, D.C., and Mr. Cammarata currently serves as its president.

In Fall 2020, the firm announced plans to make a $25,000 gift to the Brain Injury Research Fund, which had recently completed its first year supporting researchers who are seeking cures for chronic brain injury. The fund makes seed grants of up to $25,000 to researchers and grants of $5,000 to support young scientists completing their doctoral work. The benefits of the fund are twofold: investing in the most promising science to increase discovery, and recruiting the best and brightest investigators to specialize in brain injury. Mr. Sherman and his partners hope that this gift inspires others to make a contribution to the fund. “Every grant made by the Fund has the potential to turn on an engine that will ultimately take us down a road to provide relief from symptoms associated with having sustained a TBI,” says Mr. Sherman.

“We know the impact that TBI has on the individual and know the necessity to provide support to organizations who are often the bedrock that the individual with TBI turns to for help. Reliable, trustworthy support – that’s what BIAA provides,” explains Mr. Sherman. For these reasons, Sherman and his partners were compelled to do more. “It is a source of pride for us,” says Mr. Sherman, “BIAA supports individuals along the entire spectrum of brain injury. No one with a brain injury will feel diminished because the impacts on them are significant but may not be demonstrable to others. All with brain injury are served the same way with resources, advocacy, and now research.”

For more information about the Brain Injury Research Fund or becoming a Research Champion, please contact Robbie Baker, Vice President and Chief Development Officer, at (703) 761-0750 ext. 648 or rbaker@biausa.org. To download our research brochure, click here .

Support the Brain Injury Association of America's Research Fund

Lance and Laura Trexler have spent decades together serving the brain injury community.

In celebration of their commitment to the brain injury community, they have made a major gift to the Brain Injury Research Fund through their support of a dissertation grant. The grant will be awarded annually, giving a young researcher a leg-up while advancing discovery. Their motivation is twofold: recognizing the need to sustain the field of brain injury and to advance it at the same time. “The future will be defined by our youth; attracting the brightest young professionals into brain injury is critical,” shares Laura.

Laura, an occupational therapist and Certified Brain Injury Specialist, helped design the current resource facilitation model used across the country. “We have a strong passion for what we do for a living, and our lives have been very much enriched by knowing individuals who show courage day in and day out through their recovery,” explains Laura. Lance is an award-winning neuropsychologist who received the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) Sheldon Berrol, M.D. Clinical Service Award in 2020 for his work to improve the quality of care, professional training, and education in the field of brain injury. He adds, “While we have seen a lot of positive changes in 40 years of service, we still have a long way to go in understanding brain injury.”

It was their shared commitment to the brain injury community and passion for bettering lives that brought Lance and Laura together in a clinical setting in the 1980s. Since then, both have logged countless volunteer hours, mentored many young professionals, and driven needed change. This includes recognizing brain injury as a chronic condition, challenging private and public health care systems to work together, and improving the ability of schools to recognize the impact of brain injury earlier. “You do not have to accept that the cognitive, physical, and behavior effects of brain injury are permanent and that nothing can be done about it,” Lance asserts. Laura agrees, noting, “We make a lot of negative assessments about people because of brain injury. I wish people took time to think before they made quick judgements and understood what got them there.”

For more information about the Brain Injury Research Fund or becoming a Research Champion, please contact Paula Eichholz, Senior Director of Development, at (703) 761-0750 ext. 648 or peichholz@biausa.org. To download our research brochure, click here .

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Giving in Honor or Memory of a Colleague

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Honor Your Colleague, Boss, Valued Client, or Other Professional Connection

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