From MIT Technology Review · · 1m
From MIT to physician: building support for brain injury
Alissa Totman turned her student volunteer work into a national nonprofit serving people recovering from head trauma and stroke.
In brief
Alissa Totman turned her student volunteer work into a national nonprofit serving people recovering from head trauma and stroke. MIT graduate Alissa Totman founded Synapse, a nonprofit now operating at twenty eight universities, to support people with brain injuries after her own experience volunteering with brain…
Student volunteer finds her calling
Alissa Totman joined MIT BrainTrust as a sophomore, a student-run organization connecting undergraduates with people with brain injuries for support and socializing. The experience shaped her life's direction.
“That group was a great way to learn about the human experience of what people go through when they experience a brain injury.”
Physician specializing in brain injury
Today Totman is a physician specializing in brain injury medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, treating adults with head trauma, stroke, brain tumors and more.
Synapse grows to twenty eight campuses
Totman founded Synapse, a nonprofit supporting brain injury patients, in two thousand sixteen while pursuing her master's degree in public health at Harvard.
“There's a big need for more resources like this.”
The key point
MIT graduate Alissa Totman founded Synapse, a nonprofit now operating at twenty eight universities, to support people with brain injuries after her own experience volunteering with brain injury patients.
