Thursday, November 20
6:00 pm–7:00 p.m.
McCormick Place West
Grand Ballroom, 375DE, Level 3
 Exciting and fun entertainment that you can only experience in Chicago will start off the Opening General Session, featuring ASHA President Kate Gottfred's presidential address as well as welcoming remarks from Convention Program Co-Chairs Sherry Sancibrian and Robert Turner.
We are honored to have as our speaker Brigadier General Loree K. Sutton, who serves as Director, Department of Defense (DoD) Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. The DoD created this Center in its effort to improve the quality of care for wounded soldiers and their families. It is anticipated that the center will be the leading international resource for all psychological health and brain injury education, training, research, treatment, and prevention. For now, the center will not directly manage health care, policy, or enforcement; it will work with policy-making offices, and the best practices it gathers from agencies worldwide will be incorporated into policy. The center also will set standards and assess, survey, and validate DoD programs to help decide how resources are directed. Congress approved $600 million last year for brain injury research, and the center is reviewing research project proposals that could benefit from those funds.
General Sutton was deployed to combat in the Gulf War as a division psychiatrist and then served as division surgeon. She also commanded Dewitt Army Community Hospital at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and recently commanded the U.S. Army Medical Department Activity at Fort Hood, Texas. She holds degrees in business, medicine, and national security strategy.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. so plan now to join your colleagues at this exciting program.
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