About Us

Dr. Heidi W. Spitz is  a neuropsychologist who has been practicing for over 30 years and has treated thousands of patients, caregivers, and families, focusing primarily on those suffering and recovering from countless different brain injuries.
She has trained and worked in leading hospitals in New York City, including Rusk Rehabilitation at New York University Langone Medical Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital (affiliated with Columbia University and Weill Cornell Medical Center), Mount Sinai, Bellevue, and Lenox Hill.

Dr. Spitz resigned from her position as the Director of Outpatient Neuropsychology at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in New York because she came to the realization that she could no longer treat patients in the manner that they so deserved.  The hospital model no longer fits with how proper care should be administered.  Hospitals no longer provide the individualized care that the brain injury community so desperately needs.

Dr. Spitz is primarily interested in brain injury of any cause, whether as a result of trauma, chronic illness, or any other condition.  She is committed to helping individuals improve their cognitive and emotional functions individually and in group settings.  This process also involves active participation of family members who are critical for a successful outcome.  Dr. Spitz also supervises graduate students and post-doctoral fellows and research on mindfulness and dementia.

Throughout her career, Dr. Spitz has been committed to learning the most up-to-date, effective, and lasting approaches to helping her patients.  In addition, she has lectured and run workshops on mindfulness and wellness and maintains a blog, Lets Move A-Head, which has had nearly half a million visitors.  She frequently lectures on the importance of neuropsychology after a brain injury.

Dr. Spitz is a member of the American, New York State, and Westchester County psychological associations and is on the alumni council of the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University.  She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology at New York University and her doctoral degree in clinical child school psychology from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology.  Dr. Spitz enjoys spending time with her husband, two children, and dog, and she is fluent in Hebrew.  She also enjoys reading, meditating, jewelry-making, and Pilates.

Joe Romano is the Director of Brainiacs Foundation. Joe is an interfaith minister of healing arts who has worked in the non-profit and not-for-profit sector for many years. Over the years, he has served on the boards of many non-profits and charities. He was the founding president of Local First Ithaca, a network of BALLE, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, bringing people, businesses, and organizations together, using resources, experience, and inclusiveness to create a successful local economy and a thriving and livable community in Ithaca, NY.
He was a founder of GreenStar Community Projects, a 501c3 non-profit working for Food Justice, empowering the community to build a local food system that nourishes everyone. Joe was also the Marketing Manager for a multi-million dollar natural foods chain, GreenStar Cooperative Inc, where he created the FLOWER Program, (Fresh, Local, Organic Within Everyone’s Reach).
Mr. Romano taught English Literature and Writing at Lehman College in the Bronx, and also worked in the Education Dept. of the New York Zoological Society.
He currently and has served on the board of the independent radio station, WRFI, where he hosts a two-hour weekly radio show, The Joe Show.
Joe has worked as a filmmaker and directed a feature film, Niagaravation. He is a caregiver, father, and a gigging musician.