Board & Staff

Denny Armington serves as President of the Youth Opportunity Foundation, Inc. It was in this role that he became aware of the need for, and involved in the development of, a new brain injury advocacy group, Brain Injury Florida. A hospital administrator by training, he has been active in professional advocacy roles. Denny has experience serving as a volunteer field surveyor for CARF International, a board member for state brain injury associations in West Virginia, Indiana, and now Florida, and a supporter of community-based charitable activities including the American Stroke Association and Special Olympics. Denny is a brain injury survivor, and we are so fortunate to have his lived experience to guide our newly developing advocacy organization.

Dr. Drew Nagele is a Board Certified Rehabilitation Psychologist trained in NeuroRehabilitation with a 40 year career in creating and running brain injury rehabilitation
programs for children, adolescents, and adults with acquired brain injury. He is Chief
Clinical Officer for TBGHealth, and chairs the Advanced Practice WorkGroup for the Brain
Injury Association of America’s Academy for Certification of Brain Injury Specialists
(ACBIS). Dr. Nagele is Co-Principal Investigator on 3 federal grants working with brain
injury in schools, prisons, and juvenile justice. He is Clinical Professor at the Philadelphia
College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) teaching Neuropsychology, Neuropathology, and
Cognitive Rehabilitation. Most relevant to the development of BIF is that in Pennsylvania
where Drew is from, the same situation occurred about 25 years ago, where the state brain
injury association ceased operations. With the help of a brain injury survivor named Barb
Dively, together she and Drew started a new group known as the Brain Injury Association of
Pennsylvania. Today it is one of the most thriving and active State Affiliates of the Brain
Injury Association of America. Drew is eager to share his knowledge and help guide BIF, so
that Florida can reach that status in the near future.

James (Jim) S. Gyurke, Ph.D., is the Head of Clinical Strategy and Business Development for Riverside Insights, the parent company of ImPACT Applications where he was the former Chief Executive Officer. ImPACT Applications is a medical software publisher of the world’s most widely used and empirically validated TBI software used in screening for concussion. It is utilized by most high school, junior high, and many collegiate systems as well as in professional sports. He has spent over 30 years in commercial test publishing industry as a Senior executive in charge of Operations, Marketing and Sales, Research and Development, Sales and Customer, Business Development and Technical Support functions. Jim has successfully led product teams to produce 5 FDA cleared products, including two with DeNovo clearances. Jim completed his Ph.D. in Child Psychology at Loyola University and he also completed post-doctoral training at Northwestern’s Prentis’ Women’s Hospital in assessment. He has published on multiple assessment related topics including methodology, reliability and validity and clinical decision making. We are lucky to have Jim’s expertise!

Erick Collazo’s family has been involved with brain injury survivors since 2006 when their eldest son, Andrew, suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). As a family they assembled a team of medical and non-medical professionals to advise, consult, guide and suggest various forms of available treatments and care for TBI survivors not only in Florida but throughout the United States. They found the available information was disparate, limited and lastly frustrating as a caregiver for child. They actively pursued memberships with the previous Brain Injury Association of Florida (BIAF), Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program (BSCIP), Brian Injury Association of America and other associations in order to make the best informed possible decisions for their son and family. They visited multiple TBI centers throughout the United States including the Craig Center, Sheppard Center, Langone NYU Medical Center, since they found the resources and information of available resources to be lacking in the State Of Florida. Today Andrew is 32 years old, happy, and content living with them but has been designated disabled. Even the process of working with federal agencies can become disheartening. Erick believes we can provide guidance not only to survivors and their families but also medical professionals that have little understanding of the laborious “red tape” process to obtain assistance. We welcome Erick’s perspective to the development of Brain Injury Florida.

Carrie Rayburn is an experienced Recreational Therapist and Certified Brain Injury Specialist at HCA Florida West Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. Carrie focuses on improving the cognitive, social, communicative, and physical limitations that occur after a brain injury, stroke, and spinal cord injury. With her compassionate and enthusiastic approach, Carrie is committed to providing individualized care and offers leisure interventions driven by evidenced-based practice. She leads multiple quality rehabilitation teams – including the Brain Injury Core Team and Community Support Groups, and has developed advanced programs for stroke education, family orientation, and peer support. As a clinician, Carrie is motivated by advocacy and outreach to support every patient, caregiver, and family that she encounters. Carrie was also recently appointed by the State Surgeon General to serve as a member of the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Advisory Council. She has already started BIF’s social media presence in Florida on Facebook and Instagram, and we are excited to have her help in building Brain Injury Florida.

Teah Gulley is a Certified Rehabilitation professional who has been working in the brain injury field since 2010. As a University of Kentucky graduate, she began gaining experience through the Office for the Blind, as a Work Experience Coordinator, ensuring those with visual impairments were able to access competitive employment opportunities through local employers. She joined NeuroRestorative, the largest provider in brain injury rehabilitation in 2014, leading the Market Development team for the east part of the country. Her passion is to actively advocate and provide supports for individuals with neurological impairments within the state of Florida. Becoming a part of the Brain Injury Florida Board will only assist leveraging networking opportunities to promote growth within the resources and funding options for Florida residents. Teah has been a driving force co-chairing Conference Committee, and we would not be here today without her yeoman effort!

Brant A. (Bud) Elkind is a nationally recognized expert on post-acute brain injury rehabilitation and was a regular conference presenter and publication contributor in the field. He holds a BA in English from Franklin Pierce University, an MS in Human Service Management from Worcester State University and a Post-Master Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis from (SERESC)-Assumption University. He has worked in clinical and senior administrative brain injury settings since 1985, is a Brain Injury Specialist Trainer, Board Certified Clinical Instructor/Examiner and is the recipient of numerous awards. His work experience includes a-typical sub-acute, dual-diagnosis-neuro-behavior and residential treatment and rehabilitation. Bud is the (Retired) Vice President of Clinical Operations at Robin Hill Farms, Inc. Prior to working in the field of brain injury, he served as an administrator at the University of Massachusetts and before that served as an administrator with The American Red Cross. Bud is Past Chair of the Brain Injury Association of America’s Board of Directors, Past Board Chair of the Academy of Certified Brain Injury Specialists Board of Governors, a Past Board Chair of the NH Brain Injury Association and a Past Board Chair of the NH Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Advisory Council, a position he was appointed to by New Hampshire’s governor the Hon. John Lynch. He is a former Trustee of Franklin Pierce University and a former adjunct faculty member at Granite State College, the University of New Hampshire, and Franklin Pierce University.