NMC San Diego, CA: Local DVBIC Activities
Geographic Catchment Area
DVBIC Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) and Camp Pendleton typically serve active duty service members from all branches of service that are stationed on the west coast or within our region which includes Arizona, Southern California, Hawaii, and Nevada.
Clinical Services
DVBIC Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) and Camp Pendleton sites provide optimal care and treatment for active duty service members with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Service members referred to DVBIC-NMCSD or Camp Pendleton receive a specialized TBI consultation, a comprehensive evaluation and an individualized treatment plan. Additional services if required include: coordination of other specialty services, duty status determination, and recommendations to the medical evaluation board. Additionally, service members are offered educational resources regarding a wide range of topics related to TBI. They also have the opportunity to participate in TBI research.
Patient Volume/Population
DVBIC-NMCSD and Camp Pendleton received approximately 600 to 700 new patient referrals per year. It is anticipated that the number of new patients will continue to increase as returning soldiers come back from Iraq. Currently, our patient population has been primarily active duty service members predominantly from the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. We have a team who provide clinical and educational resources to underserved regions. Our outreach services have extended to 29 Palms, Alaska, Nevada, and Ft. Irwin for mass TBI screenings, and provider education.
Areas of Specialty
Cynthia Boyd, Ph. D. is a clinical neuropsychologist at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at Naval Medical Center San Diego for the past five years.
Dr. Boyd has focused not only on TBI, but also the overlap between TBI and PTSD. She also has been actively involved in the legal/forensic arena, specifically regarding TBI and legal issues in returning troops. Dr. Boyd also has had an independent practice in forensic neuropsychology specializing in forensic evaluations of brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, sexual abuse, sexual perpetrators, violent offenders and stalking behavior.
Dr. Boyd provides in-service training to medical personnel in the region on a number of topics related to TBI. Educational efforts are a primary focus of NMCSD DVBIC and Camp Pendleton.
Interests of Staff
Currently, the DVBIC staff is interested in developing integrated treatment programs addressing TBI & PTSD for service members with these co-morbid disorders. Additionally, we are interested in expanding our program to include cognitive rehabilitation, and family education.
Major Initiatives
DVBIC is currently in the process of collaborating on two clinical research protocols with the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC). The first protocol will involve using the ANAM on a post TBI patient population, looking at ASVAB scores and comparing them with neuropsychological performances. The second protocol will assess balance issues in post TBI patients using a gate analysis technology and a driving simulation.
In this past year Dr. Boyd has been working with the legal community to establish a Veterans Court to hear cases that qualify under California Penal code 1170.9. This new law allows for judges to offer alternative sentencing for veterans diagnosed with PTSD, substance abuse, and other psychiatric disorders associated with combat exposure. As a representative of DVBIC, she has been asked to provide TBI and PTSD educational training to members of law enforcement, district attorneys, public defenders, and superior court judges in Southern California.
DVBIC is actively recruiting participants for a study of sleep disturbances, which includes a treatment component using light therapy. The trial was initiated to determine if this type of treatment can improve the sleep of individuals following TBI without medications.
DVBIC is currently working in collaboration with UCSD Radiology Institute Laboratory on a study that investigates the sensitivity and reliability of the Magnetoencephalography and Diffuse Tensor Imaging to diagnose mild TBI patients, and determine if there is a difference between the effects of blast injury and motor vehicle accident. The study will also examine the correlations between the characteristics of slow waves from the MEG and clinical symptoms as well as neuropsychological test scores.