A champion for brain injury patients
Alissa Totman ’13 was a sophomore when she joined MIT BrainTrust, a student-run organization that connects Institute undergraduates and people with brain injuries for support and socializing. “That group was a great way to learn about the human experience of what people go through when they experience a brain injury,” she says. And it laid…
Alissa Totman '13, a champion for brain injury patients, first connected with MIT BrainTrust as a sophomore. The student-run organization linked MIT undergraduates with people who had experienced brain injuries, providing both support and socialization. This early experience shaped Totman's career path. Today, she serves as a physician specializing in brain injury medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
She treats adults with various brain-related conditions including head trauma, stroke, and brain tumors. In addition to her medical work, Totman is the founder of Synapse, a nonprofit organization she launched in 2016 while pursuing her master's degree in public health at Harvard. Synapse began as a group Totman and fellow medical student Jaclyn Konopka '14 started during their time at Stanford.
The organization now has chapters at 28 universities across the country, a testament to Totman's dedication to providing resources for brain injury patients. Despite running Synapse full-time, Totman remains committed to the cause, recognizing the significant need for support and services in this area.
Written by urgent.news from MIT Technology Review's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
