Raising Stroke Awareness, One Stride at a Time
Area of Expertise
Runners are celebrated for raising funds to support the MGH Institute Tedy’s Team Center of Excellence in Stroke Recovery 15 months after its launch
Lauren Lamm has run four marathons for Tedy’s Team since she had a stroke the day after she turned 25 eight years ago. But seeing the Tedy’s Team Center of Excellence in Stroke Recovery, housed alongside the MGH Institute’s Sanders IMPACT Practice Center, for the first time gave her a better understanding of how the thousands of dollars she has raised are put into action.
“It’s unbelievable,” said the Scituate resident after getting a tour that included the Institute’s speech, aphasia, physical therapy, and occupational therapy centers where students under faculty supervision provide free rehabilitation services to clients whose insurance benefits have expired. “To see what’s being done here to help other stroke survivors is amazing. It really gives me a better sense of what I’m running for.”
Lamm was among the two dozen runners who attended the June 6 celebration of the Tedy’s Team Center that’s located on the Institute’s Charlestown Navy Yard campus. She renewed friendships with fellow runners and stroke survivors like Frank Feraco, a Worcester native who flew in from Michigan to attend the event, and Tricia Callaway of Andover. Together, the three have run more than 20 marathons and shorter races to financially support the Tedy’s Team mission.
The Center, which was launched in March 2023, was made possible thanks to a $1 million gift by the charitable entity that uses running as a platform for stroke awareness and philanthropy. It was co-founded by former New England Patriot great Tedy Bruschi and his wife, Heidi, after Tedy suffered a stroke at the age of 31.
“We are so excited to have you here to honor your dedication, your perseverance, and your remarkable commitment to raising funds and awareness of stroke and heart disease,” said Dr. Kim Erler, the director of the Tedy’s Team Center. “None of this would be possible without you.”
During the event, the audience heard about the Center’s work over the past 15 months that focuses on three areas: research, community outreach, and rehabilitation care.
Dr. Julie Keysor, director, Behavior, Abilities, and Technology (B-ABLE) Lab, talked about how she and her team are developing a wrist sensor to help promote upper extremity activity in a stroke survivor’s daily home life. She expects the technology to be completed this summer and clinical trials to begin next fall.
“People make great gains when they work with a therapist but if they can’t sustain that when they’re at home, we often see pretty significant declines,” said Keysor. “We want to bridge the gap by using behavioral change techniques that tracks and records their movements.”
Dr. Teresa Kimberly, director, Brain Recovery Lab, discussed how using the Vivistim system to pair nerve stimulation with rehabilitation can greatly increase arm and hand functioning after a person has a stroke.
“We know that rehabilitation helps to rebuild connections and find new pathways between different areas in the brain,” she said. “Our ultimate goal is to make those connections better, faster, and stronger so all of the things people want to do, that they can do them and do them better. If you have better connections, you can have better brain activation and better function.”
Dr. Gwen Larson, the Center’s education/community outreach coordinator, described the myriad community events she and her team have organized in Charlestown, Chelsea, South Boston, and Roxbury to promote the Tedy’s Team BE FAST initiative to promote the signs of stroke.
“Underserved populations often face the greatest health disparities and are at higher risk for stroke-related complications,” she said. “Being housed within the IHP and its commitment to community engagement and social justice has provided the Tedy’s Team Center with significant advantages for effective outreach.”
