William L. Bockenek, MD
Chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation/Medical Director of Carolinas Rehabilitation

Dr. Bockenek graduated Summa Cum Laude from Florida State University in 1982 and received Phi Beta Kappa Honors as a Junior. He went on to graduate Medical School at University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla with Alpha Omega Alpha honors He subsequently entered an Internal Medicine residency at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (formerly known as North Carolina Baptist Hospital) but after two years he saw the "light" and transferred into the residency program in PM&R at University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, NJ affiliated with the Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation. Following the completion of his residency and year as Chief Resident he started his academic and clinical career in Charlotte, NC at Carolinas Medical Center and the Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation. Since his arrival in Charlotte in 1991 he has maintained as strong interest in his subspecialty area of Spinal Cord Medicine and is one of two faculty at CMC board certified in Spinal Cord Injury Medicine. He also is very clinically active in the care of patients with Post-Polio Syndrome, in performing electrodiagnostic procedures (he is Board Certified by the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine), and muscle/nerve injections for spasticity management. He has also remained very active in the research arena participating as principle investigator or co-investigator on several industry sponsored multi-center studies. He is involved in many national PM&R organizations including the American Academy of PM&R, American Board of PM&R (one of 13 Board Directors), American Paraplegia Society (Board member), American Spinal Injury Association, Association of Academic Physiatrists, and is a member of the Residency Review Committee for PM&R. He has many interests outside of work that include sports of all kinds, hiking in the mountains, visits to the beach, and spending time with his wife, 2 children, 2 cats and 1 dog.

Vu Q.C. Nguyen, MD
Director of Residency Program Director of Stroke Program
Director of Acupuncture Clinic
Musculoskeletal Medicine
Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation

Professional memberships:
American Stroke Association, National Stroke Association, Association of Academic Physiatrists and American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Dr. Nguyen achieved his Bachelor of Science degree from Drake University where he graduated with College Honors in the Honors Program. He received his Doctorate of Medicine from Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine. Following medical school, he completed his internship in Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics. He then served as a physician in the United States Air Force (USAF). During his first two years in the USAF, he functioned as an emergency medicine physician and as Interim Medical Director. In his final years in the USAF, he practiced family medicine. Subsequent to leaving the USAF, he returned to residency training. He joined us at Carolinas Rehabilitation and served as Chief Resident in his senior year. Dr. Nguyen’s research interests currently involve post-traumatic amnesia, dysphagia, spasticity, and neuromodulation of shoulder subluxation.

Puneet K. Aggarwal, MD
Faculty Physician

Dr. Aggarwal is a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia. He completed his internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia - Roanoke and his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine. Later, he completed an Interventional Spine fellowship at Medical College of Virginia Hospital and the Sheltering Arms Spine and Sport Center. He is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Associations in which Dr. Aggarwal is active include the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Physiatric Association of Spine, Sport and Occupational Rehabilitation, North American Spine Society, International Spinal Injection Society and the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians.

Dr. Aggarwal enjoys spending time with his wife, swimming, jogging and reading. He is an avid sports fan and enjoys playing racquetball, tennis and ultimate Frisbee.

David M. Agner, MD
Medical Director
Elizabeth C. Stanback Rehabilitation Unit

Dr. Agner serves as the Medical Director of the Elizabeth C. Stanback Rehabilitation Unit. He is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Dr. Agner completed his undergraduate degree in pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of Rho Chi, the Pharmaceutical Honor Society. Dr. Agner completed his internship in internal medicine at Mount Carmel Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio, and his residency in physical medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio.

George J. Atkinson, MD
Carolinas Rehabilitation

Dr. Atkinson serves as a Staff Physician here at the Carolinas Rehabilitation specializing in Oncology. A recipient of several awards and scholarships, Dr. Atkinson graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston TX. He then completed his Residency at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he served as Chief Resident. A member of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dr. Atkinson presented Grand Rounds at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill and here at Carolinas Rehabilitation in Charlotte. In April of this year, Dr. Atkinson made a Poster Presentation at the International Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Sao, Paulo Brazil in April of 2005.

Flora M. Hammond, MD
Director of Brain Injury program
Director of Research
Director of Brain Injury Rehabilitation

Dr. Hammond is the Director of Research at Carolinas Rehabilitation She also serves as Principal Investigator and Director of Carolinas Rehabilitations's Traumatic Brain Injury Model System grant funded by the National Institute of Disability Rehabilitation and Research. As part of this grant she is principal investigator for 3 prospective research studies and co-investigator on numerous other projects. Much of her research on traumatic brain injury has focused on outcome prediction, post-traumatic irritability, depression, relationships, motor and cognitive recovery overtime. She graduated from the Tulane University School of Medicine in 1990, in New Orleans, LA. Her Physical Medicine Rehabilitation residency was served at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Hammond earned a Brain Injury Fellowship at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, in Detroit, Mich. She is a diplomat of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She has served as an invited participant to both the Aspen Conference and Galveston Brain Injury Conference (brain injury think tanks). Her excellence in research, teaching, and administration were acknowledged by her receipt of the 2001 Young Academician Award from the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP), and the 2001 AAP Best Faculty Paper Presentation Award.

Mark Alexander Hirsch, Ph.D.
Research Faculty

Dr. Hirsch’s background is in teaching and PM&R, with both clinical and academic expertise in motor therapy, neuroscience, aging and physical therapy education. Dr. Hirsch holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from the State University of New York, College at Cortland, a Master of Arts in Education from the University of South Florida and a Ph.D. from Florida State University, where his training was with Dr. Robert A. Rider and Dr. Tonya Toole and focused on Motor Control and Gerontology. His Ph.D. was awarded for showing that people living with Parkinson’s disease could benefit from a high-intensity balance and resistance training program which improved postural control and muscle strength. He served as an NIH funded post-doctoral research fellow with Barbara J. de Lateur, M.D. in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University with a major emphasis in Biomedical engineering, Neuroscience, Aging, and Neurological Rehabilitation and served as an Assistant Professor, part time, on the faculty of the Department of PM&R. Mark has taught and worked internationally in Motor Therapy, Neurology, Sport Rehabilitation and Orthopedic settings. Marks current research interests are (1) motor learning and motor recovery, (2) plasticity in the nervous system, (3) developmental neuroscience, (4) biomechanics of posture, gait and upper limb movements, and (5) spasticity measurement.

Sharon K. Kanelos, MD
Dr. Kanelos graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. While there, she was involved in various activities, including the Council of Student Organizations and Women in Medicine. She was an intern at Carolinas Medical Center and completed her Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency at the Carolinas Rehabilitation, where she served at Chief Resident during her final year. Her primary interests are in the musculoskeletal area, prosthetics and orthotics, and electromyography.

Timothy Lavis, MD
Faculty Physician

Dr. Lavis graduated from Medical school at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, TX. He then completed his internship in internal medicine and his residency at the University of Colorado. Following residency, Dr. Lavis completed a fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury Medicine at the University of Michigan. His special interests include neurorehabilitation, exercise and sports in persons with disability, and prevention of secondary conditions following spinal cord injury.

Dr. Lavis is married and enjoys hiking, weightlifting and cooking.

James T. McDeavitt, M.D.
Senior Vice President, Education and Research

Dr. James T. McDeavitt, former Medical Director of Carolinas Rehabilitations and former Chairman of Physical Medicince and Rehabilitation, oversees the medical education and research activities of Carolinas HealthCare System as Senior Vice President of Medical Education and Research and DIO for all the CMC residencies.He continues his participation in the PM&R residency program doing weekly teaching rounds, participating in didactic lecture series, and PM&R workshops.

Dr. McDeavitt received his undergraduate degree from Duke University and a doctorate in Medicine from Wake Forest University. He completed his PM&R training at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and has been employed here at CMC since 1991. In addition to his interests in Brain Injury and Neurorehabilitation, he is board certified by the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine.

Maureen R. Nelson, MD
Director of Pediatric Rehabilitation

Dr. Nelson directs Pediatric Rehabilitation at the Carolinas Rehabilitation. She graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. She was a Pediatric Rehabilitation Fellow at Alfred I. duPont Institute in Wilmington, Delaware. After fellowship she was at Baylor College of Medicine, where she served as Residency Program Director, and at Texas Children's Hospital, where she was Medical Director of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. During her more than ten years at Baylor, she was involved in many community activities and made numerous national presentations.

Sonya G. Rissmiller, MD
Director, Musculoskeletal Medicine and Amputee Rehabilitation

Dr. Rissmiller graduated from the Medical College of Virginia and completed her Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency at Carolinas Medical Center. Dr. Rissmiller's special interests are musculoskeletal, orthopedic, amputee rehabilitation and exercise prescription for the elderly.

William Scelza, MD
Faculty Physician

Dr. Scelza received his medical training at Case Western Reserve University and completed his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan. Dr. Scelza has also completed a fellowship in Spinal Cord Injury Medicine at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), Spinal Cord Injury Medicine and Electrodiagnostic Medicine.

Dr. Scelza is involved with a number of national organizations and is published in the field of spinal cord injury. Special interests include exercise, sports and lifelong care of those with spinal cord injuries. These interests stem from personal experience, as Dr. Scelza has lived with a spinal cord injury since age 17.

He enjoys wheelchair sports, hand-cycling and spending time with his wife and three boys.

Patricia Shannon, MD
Director Consult Service

Dr. Shannon graduated from Wright State University and completed her internship and residency at Carolinas Medical Center, where she served as Chief Resident in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Shannon worked in an outpatient spine center practicing musculoskeletal and electrodiagnostic medicine before returning to Carolinas Rehabilitation as Director of Consult Services. She is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and experienced in general rehabilitation and musculoskeletal rehabilitation and electromyography (EMG/NCS).

Dr. Shannon is a member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine and the American Medical Association. She enjoys spending time with her family and dogs, swimming, golfing and crafting unique pieces of pottery.

Timothy Young, MD
Faculty Physician

Dr. Young serves as a faculty physician specializing in the rehabilitation of individuals with traumatic brain injury. He graduated with a BA from Connecticut College in Religious Studies and went on to the University of Pennsylvania to complete a post-baccalaureate pre-medicine training program. He earned his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. Dr. Young recently completed his physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at Harvard University. He is a member of numerous medical societies. In addition to his love of music and the arts, Dr. Young has numerous hobbies involving the outdoors including: rowing, snow skiing, biking, camping and white water kayaking. He was a member of the US Rowing Team from 1993 through 1996, where he earned a Silver medal in the quadruple scull at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta… the first and only of its kind for the US! He remains active in the sport of rowing as both a coach and was recently appointed as a US National adaptive rowing classifier.