MedStar Health News

Honor is one of the most prestigious in the field

WASHINGTON, D.C., – May 3, 2017- Peter Turkeltaub, MD, PhD, has been recognized with one of the most prestigious awards in behavioral neurology.  Dr. Turkeltaub, director of the MedStar NRH Aphasia Clinic and of the Cognitive Recovery Lab at Georgetown University, a part of the Georgetown University Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery (https://cbpr.georgetown.edu/), is the recipient of the 2017 Norman Geschwind Prize for Excellence awarded by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). The annual award is made to an early-career scientist who has made significant contributions to the field.

Dr. Turkeltaub’s research focuses on stroke-induced aphasia, an impairment of language that affects the ability to read, write and understand or express speech. He is the principal investigator for several clinical research studies testing new interventions to improve aphasia recovery—and to better understand what brain structures and functions are used to perform language in healthy people and those with aphasia. More data about the differences may lead to more effective treatment. 

Dr. Turkeltaub is also a practicing clinician who sees first-hand how patients struggle with communication—and reach road blocks in recovery. “Today a person with aphasia doesn’t have many options after traditional speech therapy,” says Dr. Turkeltaub.  “Stroke takes away their abilities. But involvement in a clinical trial is a way to give something back. It’s ironic, but the stroke gives them an opportunity they would not have had before—they are in a unique position to contribute in a way the rest of us cannot.”

A graduate of the Georgetown University School of Medicine, Dr. Turkeltaub went on to the University of Pennsylvania for residency and a fellowship in neurology and cognitive neurology.  

“At Penn, I studied under Dr. H. Branch Coslett,” he says. “He was my mentor. But an entire generation ahead of him was trained by Norman Geschwind. It’s a special privilege to receive this award named in his honor, and I’m very grateful for this recognition of my work.”

-Written by Emily Turk

About MedStar National Rehabilitation Network

The MedStar National Rehabilitation Network is a regional system of rehabilitation care that offers inpatient, day treatment and outpatient services in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Northern Virginia and Delaware.

The Network’s interdisciplinary team of rehabilitation experts provides comprehensive services to help people recover as fully as possible following illness and injury.  Rehabilitation medicine specialists, psychologists, physical and occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists work hand-in-hand with other rehab professionals to design treatment plans tailored to each patient’s unique needs. Rehabilitation plans feature a team approach and include the use of state-of-the-art technology and advanced medical treatment based on the latest rehabilitation research.  

The Network provides comprehensive programs specifically designed to aid in the rehabilitation of adults and children recovering from neurologic and orthopaedic conditions such as amputation, arthritis, back and neck pain, brain injury, cancer, cardiac conditions, concussion, fibromyalgia, foot and ankle disorders, hand and upper extremity problems, MS, Parkinson’s, post-polio syndrome, stroke, spinal cord injury and disease, and sports and work-related injuries.

Inpatient and day treatment programs are provided at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital located in Northwest Washington, D.C., and at more than 50 outpatient sites conveniently located throughout D.C., Baltimore, and all of Maryland, Northern Virginia, & Delaware.  MedStar National Rehabilitation Network is fully accredited by The Joint Commission,  the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), with CARF accredited specialty programs for Amputations, Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke.

For more on MedStar National Rehabilitation Network and to find a location near you, log on to MedStarNRH.org 

(Washington, D.C.,) - Kai Johns, 45, of Ashburn Virginia and his wife Heather Sheeley-Johns sat in a hospital emergency room back in November 2016 getting unexpected news. The stubborn “flu-like” symptoms Johns had been experiencing were the pre-cursor to the discovery that his kidneys were functioning at just six percent.

Johns was in kidney failure and needed a transplant. Fast.

With four generations of polycystic kidney disease before him, Johns would be the first in his family to need actually require a new kidney.

While Johns immediately started dialysis treatments three times a week, Sheeley-Johns took to Facebook to inform their friends of her husband’s dire condition and to ask if anyone would be willing to donate a kidney.

Within 24 hours, one of his brothers in arms stepped up to be tested at the MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

“We were paratroopers in the Army together and that brotherhood runs deep,” says Sgt. First Class Rob Harmon, 42, a telecommunications operations chief at the 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Harmon did a tour in Iraq in 2002. “I’m willing and able and it’s no different than combat. He’d do it for me.”

Harmon and Johns met in the U.S. Army 22 years ago when they were stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They worked in competing platoons “jumping out of airplanes” as part of the Army’s signal telecommunications operations. Former Active and Former Reservist Johns left the Army in 2014. He has worked as an engineer for Sprint for the past 19 years.

The two had kept in touch on Facebook but hadn’t seen each other in 16 years.

“Rob is completely selfless,” says Johns. “It’s a huge honor to have him do this for me; to even consider donating a kidney to me. He has a wife and two children. This is a huge thing.”

Within weeks the testing was complete and Harmon was a match.

Sgt. First Class Rob Harmon (left) and Kai Johns (right)

Early the morning of April 27, 2017 MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute surgeon Seyed Ghasemian took Harmon into surgery where he laparoscopically removed his healthy kidney in a three-hour operation.

Harmon’s kidney was then carried to an operating room next door, where Johns was already prepped and ready to receive it.

Director of MedStar Georgetown’s Living Kidney Donor program, surgeon Jennifer Verbesey operated on Johns.

The following day, Harmon’s kidney was working well in its new home.

“I feel 100-percent better,” says Johns. “Just 24 hours later and everyone says I look completely different, better.”

“Both donor and recipient are doing extremely well,” says Dr. Verbesey. “In cases of living donation, donor safety is of utmost importance. Before someone can become a living donor we give them an extensive and thorough workup. Mr. Johns was so lucky to receive such a healthy kidney from his very selfless Army buddy.”

“Something told me before I was even tested that I was going to be a match for Kai,” says Harmon. “I just knew.”

“Some of my patients in need of a kidney find it difficult to ask their friends and family about donating a kidney to them,” says Dr. Verbesey. “It’s not like borrowing a book that they’re going to return. I advise people to start with a conversation letting people know what’s going on in their lives and that they’re in need of a kidney.”

“I would say, don’t be afraid to ask,” says Johns. “In my case my wife took to Facebook and did it for me. But I knew it was my only option. My situation is proof that there’s still a lot of good in this world.”