WORKSHOP PRESENTERS:
Vision and MS - Keeping an Eye on MS - Presenter: Urvi Desai, MD – Carolinas Medical Center
Dr. Urvi Desai is a board certified neurologist with subspecialty board certifications in Neuromuscular disorders and Electrodiagnostic Medicine as well as Sleep Medicine. Since completing residency and fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill, she has provided comprehensive neurological care in greater Charlotte area.
She is a faculty member in the Department of Neurology and serves as an assistant director for the Sleep Medicine Fellowship program at CMC. She practices at both the Charlotte and Matthews locations. Her clinical expertise includes sleep medicine, neuromuscular diseases and neuro-ophthalmic disorders. In sleep medicine, she focuses on the interface of sleep physiology and pathology with various neurological disorders like Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Dementia, Parkinson's disease and RLS; Narcolepsy; Parasomnia in addition to sleep disordered breathing.
Optimal Wellness - Presenter: Mary Hughes, MD – Neuroscience Associates
Dr. Mary Hughes is currently an MS specialist with Neuroscience Associates in Greenville (SC) and chair of the Department of Neurology at Greenville Hospital System. She received her medical degree from the University of Tennessee and completed her residency at Emory University in Atlanta. She also completed a fellowship in neurology at the Medical College of Georgia. She is board certified in clinical neurophysiology by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Prior to relocating to Greenville, she served as medical director of the Augusta (GA) Multiple Sclerosis Center and as an associate professor in the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia. She is a member of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and currently serves on the national board of directors as well as on the board of the Mid Atlantic chapter.
Integrative Medicine: Combining Conventional and Complementary Therapies
Presenter: Russell Greenfield, MD - Greenfield Integrative Healthcare
Russell H. Greenfield, M.D. is the Director of Greenfield Integrative Healthcare (GIH), PLLC and President of Greenfield Consulting (GC), LLC. He completed his residency training in emergency medicine at Harbor / UCLA Medical Center and subsequently entered into an administrative / teaching fellowship at the same institution.
He moved to Charlotte, NC and became involved in the emergency medicine residency program at Carolinas Medical Center, where he was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. He then became one of the first four physicians worldwide to graduate from the Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at The University of Arizona College of Medicine under the direct instruction of Dr. Andrew Weil. Dr. Greenfield returned to NC to become the founding medical director of Carolinas Integrative Health, a freestanding center in Charlotte owned and operated by the Carolinas HealthCare System. He was a consultant to the Federation of State Medical Boards in the development of national model guidelines for the use of complementary and alternative therapies, and is co-author of Healthy Child, Whole Child (2nd ed. HarperCollins, 2009).
Dr. Greenfield maintains a private consultative medical practice in Charlotte, consults with media and industry on integrative health initiatives, and lectures widely. He is the editor of Alternative Medicine Alert, a monthly newsletter designed for healthcare professionals. He also directs the creation of wellness information for shoppers for Harris Teeter, Inc.
Professional affiliations include Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and Visiting Assistant Professor at The University of Arizona College of Medicine.
Navigating Disability Insurance - Presenter: Lynn Bishop, Attorney at Law
Lynn Bishop is Certified as a Specialist in Social Security Disability Law by the North Carolina State Board of Legal Specialization. She is a graduate of Rice University (B.A., 1972) and Duke Law School (J.D., 1975). She's a member of the Workers' Compensation and Disability Advocacy sections of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, and a sustaining member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives. She was selected by the State of North Carolina to represent the State in a lawsuit against the Social Security Administration to force improvements in the way Social Security handles disability claims, and has been helping people with workers' compensation, disability and Social Security claims since 1975.
Befriending MS: How to Live Well Now - Presenter: Paige Greason, PhD, LPC, LPCS – Mental Health Counselor
Dr. Paige Greason is the Senior Mental Health Counselor at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. In that role, she provides counseling to high school, college and graduate students and coordinates outreach programming on a variety of mental health and wellness topics.
She completed her master’s degree in community counseling at Wake Forest University and her Ph.D. at UNC-Greensboro. She has been on the faculty at UNC-Greensboro and currently serves as a clinical supervisor in the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor in the state of North Carolina. She is also a Certified Holistic Stress Management Instructor by the National Wellness Institute and a Registered Yoga Teacher by the Yoga Alliance. She has published articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, Counseling and Values and Counselor Education and Supervision.
Paige supports a “wellness” model of mental health, based on the belief that most of the challenges that people encounter are part of life’s natural rhythm. She believes that all people have the capacity for successfully meeting those challenges and dancing with life’s unanswerable questions. Her passion is helping others connect compassionately with themselves and the important people in their lives.
Understanding Cognition and Memory Challenges - Presenter: Sara L. Schara McAnulty, PhD - Carolinas Rehabilitation
Dr. Schara McAnulty received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Luther College and received her doctorate from Oklahoma State University. She completed her internship at the Little Rock Veterans Affairs Hospital before completing her post doctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, where she specialized in the evaluation and treatment of persons with acquired brain injury.
Presently, Dr. Schara McAnulty is a licensed psychologist specializing in clinical neuropsychology at Carolinas Rehabilitation. While she primarily serves as a consultant, conducting outpatient neuropsychological evaluations on a diverse patient population, she provides inpatient team consultations for an acute medical population. She also serves as the neuropsychology consultant for Carolinas Rehabilitation’s TBI Model Systems research and Traumatic Brain Injury Practice Based Evidence research.
Dr. Schara McAnulty enjoys her free time with her husband and children in a variety of outdoor activities.
Managing Symptoms of MS - Presenter: Robert A. Yapundich, MD – Neurology Associates of Hickory
Dr. Yapundich is in private practice with Neurology Associates in Hickory, NC. He also serves on the Catawba County Board of Mental Health, the Medical Executive Committee of Catawba Valley Medical Center and as director of the Stroke Center at Frye Regional Medical Center.
After completing his undergraduate degree in chemistry at West Virginia University, Dr. Yapundich attended medical school at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. He then completed his neurology residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an EMG/Neuromuscular Disease Fellowship.
Dr. Yapundich is board certified in psychiatry and neurology, with a subspecialty certification in clinical neurophysiology. He is also board certified in electrodiagnostic medicine and sleep neurology.
He currently serves as President of the North Carolina Neurological Society. His articles have been published in The Journal of Immunology, Neurology and Brain Pathology. Dr. Yapundich has been described as “a patient’s doctor” who is easy to talk to and answers any question. He is committed to providing excellent care to his patients living with multiple sclerosis.
Sorting Out the Medication Maze - Presenter: Erik Borresen, MD - Mecklenburg Neurological Associates
Dr. T. Erik Borresen joined Mecklenburg Neurological Associates in Charlotte in 1996 and is currently a managing partner. He has served as Medical Director of the stroke program at Presbyterian Wesley Care Center and as Medical Director of Presbyterian Outpatient Rehabilitation.
Dr. Borresen earned his medical degree from the New Jersey Medical School, completed an internship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and a residency at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, both in Philadelphia. He has been in private practice for nearly 30 years in Louisiana and North Carolina. He is board certified in neurology, clinical neurophysiology and electrodiagnostic medicine.
He is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and a Fellow in the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine. He is also a Certified Member of the American Society of Neurorehabilitation. He has been named in both America’s and North Carolina’s Best Doctors for the past eight years and in 2009, was named to the Consumer’s Guide of Top Doctors.
Dr. Borresen is an active researcher having published numerous articles on a variety of topics including epilepsy, dementia, stroke, and multiple sclerosis. He is currently the local principal investigator for four clinical trials on multiple sclerosis medications including Ampyra, Ocrelizumab and Baclofen ER.