Team Members

Judy Dettmer is the Director of Mindsource, formerly the Colorado Brain Injury Program, at the Department of Human Services. Mindsource is the federal grantee and Judy oversees all of the program activities. She is a national leader in TBI research, advocacy, service and education.

Dr. Kim Gorgens is the Principal Investigator of the TBI project. She is a Clinical Professor in GSPP and manages a portfolio of other projects that include Concussion Biomarker research, Financial Decision Making in Older Adults and Antioxidant Therapies for Moderate and Severe TBI’s.

Laura Meyer, Ph.D., is a clinical associate professor at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology. She teaches courses in introductory and advanced statistics and research methods. Since 2014, she has been the program evaluator on the ACL Grant. She supports the grant team by measuring progress toward the grant’s stated objectives; this is done via surveying stakeholders, tracking number of positive neuropsychological screens by quarter and site, developing measures, and support student clinicians and faculty researchers.

Judge Bowen was appointed to the County Court bench for Adams County in January, 2011. He is a criminal court trial judge and is the Presiding Judge of the Adams County Court for Veterans.

Judge Bowen is a native of Colorado and graduate of the University of Northern Colorado and Southwestern University College of Law in Los Angeles, CA.

Prior to his appointment as a County Court Judge, he served as a Magistrate for the 17 th Judicial District for seven years handling domestic, protection orders, IV-D, juvenile, traffic and small claims matters.

Judge Bowen was in private practice for 17 years with a general civil practice including domestic,juvenile and mental health cases, as well as serving as a Municipal Court Prosecutor and then a Municipal Court Judge in several metro cities. He also served as a part-time Magistrate in Adams and Weld Counties.

He currently is a member of NADCP (National Association of Drug Court Professionals) and Serves as Co-Chair on the Adams County Criminal Justice Coordinating Sub-Committee; Is an instructor each year at the New Judge Orientation. Is a past Board Member of the CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Program. He is also a criminal justice instructor at AIMS Community College in Greeley, Colorado. And frequently is a presenter regarding Veteran Courts.

Lisa A. Brenner, Ph.D. is a Board Certified Rehabilitation Psychologist, a Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at the University of Colorado, Anschutz School of Medicine, and the Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC; http://www.mirecc.va.gov/visn19/). She is the Research Director for the Department of PM&R, and the Marcus Institute for Brain Health. Dr. Brenner is the Past President of Division 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology) of the American Psychological Association (APA) and an APA Fellow. She also serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation. Her primary area of research interest is traumatic brain injury, co-morbid psychiatric disorders, and negative psychiatric outcomes including suicide. Dr. Brenner has numerous peer-reviewed publications, participates on national advisory boards, and is currently co-authoring a book regarding neurodisability and suicide.

Dr. Ronen Friedman serves as a Research Mentor for the University of Denver Graduate School of Professional Psychology. He has extensive experience in both clinical and basic science research. He is particularly interested in Traumatic Brain Injury research examining clinical and social outcomes as well as designing and building multidisciplinary teams and systems to provide care for TBI patients. He earned a BS in Biology from Emory University. He went on to earn Summa Cum Laude honors for his MD from his medical school, American University of Antigua, as well as a MBA from the University of Louisville.

Jaime Horsfall is the Corrections Program Manager at the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado. She received her Master’s in International Disaster Psychology from the University of Denver and is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist. Her work on the ACL grant involves management of referrals, connecting criminally justice involved survivors to services, and capacity building for correction professionals.

Heather Hotchkiss, MSW is a Brain Injury Specialist at the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). She serves as an Advisory Team Member for the project and CDE partner representative. She has over 25 years’ experience in Special Education, school mental health, and the provision of services to children and youth with brain injury.

Russha Knauer is a probation analyst with the Division of Probation Services in the State Court Administrator’s Office. Russha’s role on the project is to assist in providing training opportunities to Judicial Districts, liaison between Judicial Districts and the TBI team, and collaborate with multiple agencies to identify opportunities to create sustainable TBI screening and assessment protocols within criminal justice systems.

Joni Lee is the In-Person Case Manager, Corrections Specialist at the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado. She is the primary case manager for corrections-involved clients who are referred to BIAC for services through the ACL grant. Joni helps connect survivors with community-based resources and support as well as collaborating with criminal justice partner sites to best meet and advocate for clients’ needs.

Karen McAvoy's role with the TBI Research Team has been to consult on content and initiatives related to pediatric TBI. As a clinical psychologist and school psychologist, she has worked with students, families, educators and professionals on issues related to brain injury for 28 years. As the director of a pediatric concussion clinic, she has facilitated an inter-disciplinary team approach to students with mild TBI (aka concussion). And as an employee of the Colorado Department of Colorado, she has written policy and done statewide trainings to educators of students with moderate to severe TBI.

Dr. Bradley F. McMillan graduated with his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 1999. He has been working in private practice in Denver since 2001 and at the Denver County Jail since 2004. At the Denver County Jail, Dr. McMillan has been the clinical lead for the OBH-HRSA traumatic brain injury grant. He has been a part of several research presentations on the intersection of brain injury, mental illness, substance abuse, and criminality. He has collaborated on development and piloting of a group curriculum for justice-involved individuals with moderate and severe TBI.  

Since August of 2017, Dr. McMillan has taken on the duties of Psychologist Supervisor for the Denver Health Behavioral Health Team. He specializes in trauma-related disorders and is a member of APA, APA's Division 29, and EMDRIA. He is trained in EMDR (level II certification), CISM/CISD and many other therapeutic techniques. In addition, Dr. McMillan has a background in community and health psychology and organizational consultation.

Research Methodologist and Statistician

Dr. Lehto is a research consultant specializing in study methodology, statistics and psychometrics. Some research projects include traumatic brain injury (TBI), transcranial polychromatic light therapy, serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, biopsychosocial childhood maltreatment, symptom burden, identity balance and emotional distress in cancer survivors, bully/victimization in secondary schools, and teacher and caregiver evaluation instruments. She has worked with the Colorado Department of Corrections, CereScan Brain Imaging, Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging, McREL and Colorado Medicaid.

Dr. Lehto has also taught graduate courses in Empirical Research Methods, Psychometric Theory, Survey Design, Educational Measurement, and Introductory Statistics as an adjunct lecturer, and has presented several papers for AERA, APA, and NCTM.

Janet Tyler, Ph.D., CBIST is the Senior Brain Injury Consultant at the Colorado Department of Education, Health and Wellness Unit. She serves as an Advisory Team Member for the project and a CDE partner representative. For over 30 years Dr. Tyler has worked in the field of pediatric brain injury specializing in training educators, medical personnel, and community providers to serve students with traumatic brain injury.