Melissa J. Tinney, MD

Dr. Tinney expressed an interest in new ways of adapting concussion testing to athletes with disabilities through her work in adaptive sports medicine.

Dr. Tinney attended the University of Michigan for her undergraduate degree in Movement Science and attended medical school at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. She completed her residency training in PM&R at the University of Michigan in 2006. After finishing residency she joined the Veterans Health Administration. She works primarily as a staff physician at the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center providing care in a variety of areas including amputation, general PM&R and musculoskeletal pain. Dr. Tinney’s clinical responsibilities with Michigan Medicine include an outpatient practice focusing on the rehabilitation and care of amputees and comprehensive wound care.

The U-M Work Connections is a disability management program that helps employees and supervisors with an employee that experiences an injury or illness that prevents working.

Heather Banules is collaborating with the School of Nursing, specifically in the field of Occupational Health Nursing (OHN) by mentoring a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student who is developing processes for the assessment, diagnosis, and initial treatment of work-related concussions sustained by U-M employees.

Banules notes that her work specifically deals with concussions that occur in the workplace, encompassing diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. The multidisciplinary efforts of the Concussion Center align perfectly with Banules’ goals of advancing knowledge and improving outcomes for individuals affected by work-related concussions. Through collaboration with the center, she plans to contribute to innovative research and evidence-based practices that can make a substantial impact in this field.

Dr. Kelly Whiteford, Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute, joined University of Michigan in 2024.

Whiteford’s research program examines how the ear and brain process sound across the adult lifespan, and she is interested in exploring how the auditory system is impacted by concussion. Whiteford is a member of a new team of human subject researchers in the Kresge Hearing Research Institute. Her research focuses on mechanisms of hearing across the adult lifespan, as well as the interaction between hearing and cognition in people with and without mild cognitive impairment. Whiteford is interested in extending research to people with a history of concussion.

Dr. Binkley worked with NSCA-LTAD and included concussion and mental health. He is interested in educating coaches regarding concussion research. He is currently a U-M Concussion Center participant with the U-M Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) collaborating with the XR initiative to pioneer training modules utilizing reality (VR) headsets for comprehensive concussion education.

Dr. Mark Roberts specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases or impaired function of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, muscles, autonomic nervous system, and blood vessels that relate to these structures.

Dr. Mignano is interested in the psychosocial aspects of return-to-play protocols.

Dr. Van Tubbergen joined the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation after completing a post-doctoral fellowship and a period of research projects in this same department. Dr. Van Tubbergen completed her graduate training at Central Michigan University in Clinical Psychology and completed her internship training at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in the Counseling and Assessment center. Clinical interests focus on the ongoing development and growth of the Pediatric NeuroRehabilitation Program with an emphasis on the outpatient, multi-disciplinary rehabilitation team. Previous research includes the development of adapted techniques and accessible measures for use in neuropsychological assessment. Current interests include development of a concussion management clinic to examine treatment and intervention strategies targeting prolonged post-concussive symptoms. She provides supervision to fellows on the inpatient unit and on intervention rotations through the neurorehabilitation day treatment program.