Fern W.
Fern grew up in Portland and enjoyed all kinds of activities, especially sports and working with tools. After college, she joined the United States Army Special Services “to see the world.” I first “saw” Korea up North and just a wee bit shy of the DMZ and then off to Vietnam for two consecutive tours. Being stationed in Asia allowed Fern to see and get to know some absolutely beautiful countries such as Hong Kong, Thailand, Bali and Australia and the people who live there.
After Fern retired, she learned to cook, took up riding motorcycles again, and began building my retirement life. In 2007 and 2009 that all changed when she had two strokes. After extensive rehabilitation and good care, both physically and spiritually, she has been able to regain quite a bit of my former self. What Fern misses most is working with her tools and machines, being able to do simple math and not being able to talk or
think as quickly.
Fern feels that even though recovering from a brain injury is challenging, frustrating, and fearful, that her opened new doors for her. She became active in the brain injury community through working with non-profit organizations in the Portland metro area, including BIC-NW. She volunteers a huge amount of time to the brain injury community to ensure no other survivors and families fall through the cracks of healthcare, and to work towards eradicating the silent epidemic of brain injury.
Hannu L., OD MEd FAAO FCOVD-A
Hannu is Professor Emeritus of Optometry who currently teaches graduate courses in Pacific University’s Vision Science, Education, and International programs. As a charter member of Pacific’s internationally recognized Vision Performance Institute, his past research has resulted in dozens of published articles in scientific journals as well as book chapters. He has presented hundreds of scientific lectures and courses to health professionals from many different disciplines at conferences and medical facilities internationally.
In the U.S. he recently developed and validated a survey that is now used worldwide for assessment of vision problems after brain injury. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Northwest Congress of Optometry, and President of Brain-Injury Connections-Northwest (support organization for brain injury). He has earned Academic Fellowship with College of Optometrists in Vision Development and Fellowship with the American Academy of Optometry, in addition to multiple national awards for his service.
Personal: Hannu was born in Astoria to Finnish parents and raised on a small dairy farm on the northern most soggy tip of Oregon. Before his career in academe, he was a farmworker, logger, sawmill worker, and commercial SCUBA diver to support his education. Along the way he has sustained at least half a dozen life-altering concussions from a variety of causes. One of his ongoing goals is to inspire other brain-injury survivors that there are many possibilities for further rehabilitative success!
Carolina H.
Welcome to the Advisory Board Carolina!
Bio coming soon
Eva B.
Welcome to the Advisory Board Eva!
Bio coming soon
Dana P. RN, BSN, CCM, CLCP, FIALCP
Ms. Penilton is a registered nurse with a Bachelor of Science degree from Oregon Health and Sciences University. She has a clinical background in critical care and holds certifications in life care planning and case management. Ms. Penilton is a designated fellow with the International Academy of Life Care Planning.
For the past 33 years, Ms. Penilton has been active in rehabilitation specializing in catastrophic case management and life care planning. In the last 25 years Ms. Penilton has been owner and president of an independent nurse consulting firm. Her work has focused on providing catastrophic case management and provision of life care plans for survivors with diagnoses that include adult and pediatric spinal cord injury, brain injury, burn injury, amputation, and polytrauma.
Ms. Penilton has served in multiple leadership positions. In the past, Ms. Penilton served on the Brain Injury Alliance of Oregon Board of Directors (previously Brain Injury Association of Oregon) as Vice President, conference planner and advisory board member as well as the Oregon Medical Case Management Group Board (Case Management Society of America, local chapter) President, Immediate Past President, Vice President, and Secretary.
After serving three years on Brain Injury Connections-Northwest (BIC-NW) board of directors (Secretary), Ms. Penilton now serves on the Advisory Board. She previously served as Member-At-Large on International Academy of Life Care Planners (IALCP) Section and worked on the Standards of Practice for Life Care Planners 4 th Edition Revision Committee after which the standards were published in 2022. Currently she co-chairs the IALCP Summit Costing Framework Development Committee and is a member of the IALCP Summit Planning Committee.
Karl “Kajomo” M., Adjunct
Karl is a Product Technical Designer and has worked on teams at Icebreaker Merino, Nike, Eddie Bauer & Victor Costa Couture. He is originally from Richmond, Va. where he received a BFA in design from V.C.U. His career has taken him from N.Y.C. to Dallas Tx., Seattle Wa., and he has been in the great green PDX for the last 18 years. Karl is divorced and spends time with his three boys (ages 18, 16 & 13) riding bikes, gaming with them and living & learning with them.
Karl did work part time but his position was relocated to NZ & now in search fro work. He has a disability (severe TBI, Diffuse Axonal Injury & Aphasia). His injury happened while riding his bike home from a job he had been doing for the previous eight years. He decided to take a component of his life change, so he now rides a Track ‘Fixed Gear’ bike and races that bike at Alpenrose Velodrome Track and has competed in group race events. He calls this “Spinning for Neurogenesis”.
Karl has taken it upon himself to let other Brain Injury survivors to know that there is more than just the standard health care scope to brain injury. He has scheduled doctor speakers to speak about Healthy Nervous System and the brain connection, Acupuncture and the nervous system, Neurofeedback, Speech Pathology & Vision Therapy. He brought the LoveYourBrain team to a peer group meeting in 2016 to learn about Yoga and Meditation.