Board of Directors

[ Peter Strugatz ] [ Marta Kazandjian ] [ Walter Green ]
[ Frima Christopher ] [ Lewis Golinker ]

[ Staff ] [ Sponsors ] [ Scientific Advisory Council ]



Peter Strugatz
President
peter@cini.org

Peter Strugatz is the Co-Founder and President of CINI. He is President of Strugatz Ventures, Inc., a private equity investment firm. Ruth Strugatz, Mr. Strugatz' mother, died of ALS in 1985. During her long illness, she and family did not know of the benefits of augmentative communication devices, and he witnessed the devastation of the disease multiplied by the loss of communication. Later, when Mr. Strugatz discovered the tremendous power of these technologies, he began the long commitment to finding ways to take this tremendous asset "out of the closet". When he determined that the traditional organizations servicing these populations did not have the human, financial, and professional resources to take on this mission, he decided, with Marta Kazandjian, to found CINI.

 

Marta Kazandjian, MA, CCC/SLP
Executive Vice President
marta@cini.org

Marta Kazandjian is the Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of CINI. She is a nationally respected Speech Language Pathologist with an expertise in augmentative communication and neurologically impaired adults. She is Co-Director of Speech Pathology at New York Hospital Medical Center Queens, New York and at Silvercrest Extended Care Facility.

She obtained a BA in Linguistics and Human Services from the State University of New York in Binghamton and an MA in Communication Sciences from Hunter College, City University of New York. As former Clinical Supervisor of Speech Pathology at Goldwater Memorial Hospital, she developed an expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of neurologically-impaired adults. As Coordinator of the Augmentative Communication Program at Goldwater, she focused on the needs of the non-speaking population, including the patients with degenerative neurological diseases, and the tracheostomized and ventilator dependent patient. She has had the opportunity to treat a wide variety of patients in the Howard A. Rusk Respiratory Center and on the chronic care pulmonary and intensive care units of Goldwater Memorial Hospital, Silvercrest Extended Care Facility, and New York Hospital Medical Center Queens. Ms. Kazandjian has presented nationally on the management of communication and swallowing for the neurologically and respiratory/pulmonary impaired population. She is the author of several articles, book chapters, and the medical text entitled "Communication and Swallowing Management of Tracheostomized and Ventilator Dependent Adults." She is also the Editor of "Communication and Swallowing Solutions for the ALS/MND Community: A CINI Manual."

 

Walter Green
Vice President

Walter Green was President of Burberrys (Wholesale) LTD from January 1992 until November 1995. Mr. Green was diagnosed with ALS in April of 1992. In November of 1995, he felt that his health no longer permitted him to perform his responsibilities. Prior to his position at Burberrys, he was Founder and President of Joseph Abboud (April 1987 to December 1992). He ran his own consulting business and worked for Dunhill of London, Givenchy, Zegna, Ferragamo. He launched Cecilia Metheny and Alexander Julian as a new designers. During that same period he and his wife started a selling agency that focused on the distribution of Italian made ties and other accessories. This company is still a flourishing operation.

Mr. Green brings tremendous marketing and business expertise as well as the perspective of an augmentative communications consumer to his role on the CINI board.

 

Frima Christopher, Ph.D.

Frima Christopher, Ph.D. has been Director of Psychology at Coler-Goldwater Memorial Hospital since 1988. Prior to that time she directed the Geriatric and Group Psychotherapy Program at Goldwater Hospital and was particularly committed to the development of optimal strategies to enhance psychosocial, communicative interaction of people with neurological impairment. As Director of Psychology in a long-term care hospital, she is sensitive to the needs of people with chronic illness and disability. Dr. Christopher is also a specialist in group psychotherapy and does consultation and psycho education within the field of psychology, and she has presented and published internationally in these areas. In addition, she is in private practice in New York City.

 

Lewis Golinker

Lewis Golinker, Director of the Assistive Technology Law Center in Ithaca, New York, is an attorney with 14 years experience securing funding for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Devices from public and private funding programs such as Medicaid and health insurers. He has served, on a nationwide basis, as an attorney for people seeking AAC devices in Medicaid administrative hearings and federal court actions and participated in the development of state Medicaid AAC funding policies, and coordinated the development of national model Medicaid AAC funding criteria. In the past six years, he has conducted more than 250 training sessions related to AAC and other assistive technology funding for local, state, national and international organizations, and has written widely on the subject of Medicaid and insurance funding for AAC devices.

 

STAFF

Iris Fishman, M.A., CCC/SLP
Executive Director
iris@cini.org

Iris Fishman is a nationally recognized speech pathologist with over 20 years of experience specializing in augmentative communication. She is the author of "Electronic Communication Aids: Selection and Use" and consults for a number of New York based rehabilitation agencies, including the National Center for Disability Services, the Brooklyn College Assistive Technology Center, Helen Hayes Hospital, and Beth Israel Medical Center. Ms. Fishman, who received her M.A. in Speech Pathology from Hunter College of the City University of New York, was the Director of the Speech Pathology Department and the Augmentative Communication Center at United Cerebral Palsy in Bridgeport, CT. Prior to this position, she was Coordinator of the Augmentative Communication Program at Goldwater Memorial Hospital. In addition to being a guest lecturer at graduate and post-graduate seminars, and presenting at major national and international conferences, Ms. Fishman has been an adjunct professor at New York University and at New York Medical College.

 

CINI SPONSORS

 

  • NEC Foundation

  • MCI Corp. Foundation

  • New York Community Trust

  • Chai Foundation

  • Joukowsky Family Foundation

    •

 

 

SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COUNCIL

Dr. Augusta Alba
Director of Rehabilitation Medicine
Goldwater Memorial Hospital
1 Main Street
Roosevelt Island, NY 10044
Telephone (212) 318-4500

Dr. John Bach
UMDNJ Medical School
Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
University Hospital B-239
150 Bergen Street
Newark, NJ 07103
Telephone: (973) 972-7195

Dallas A. Forshew, RN, BSN
Neuromuscular Program Manager
University of Utah School of Medicine
Department of Neurology
50 North Medical Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84132
Telephone: (801) 581-866

Lisa S. Krivickas, MD
Medical Director Assistive Technology Program
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
125 Nashua Street
Boston, MA 02114
Telephone (617) 854-6317
Fax (617) 854-6319

Dr. Hiroshi Mitsumoto
Neurological Institute
710 West 168th Street
9th Floor
New York, NY 10032
Telephone: (212) 305-2940
Fax: (212) 305-8398

Edward Anthony Oppenheimer, M.D.
10345 Strathmore Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Telephone: (310) 275-2966
Fax: (310) 275-3622
Email: Eaopp@UCLA.edu

Howard Shane, Ph.D., SLP
Director of Speech & Language Services
Communication Enhancement Center
Children’s Hospital
300 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Telephone: (617) 355-6466

Michael Swash, MD, FRCP, FRCPath
Consultant Neurologist
Department of Neurology
The Royal London Hospital
Whitechapel, London E1 1BB, UK
Telephone: 011-44-171-377-7472
Fax: 011-44-171-377-7008

 

 

[ Peter Strugatz ] [ Marta Kazandjian ] [ Walter Green ]
[ Frima Christopher ] [ Lewis Golinker ]

[ Staff ] [ Sponsors ] [ Scientific Advisory Council ]