CHARLESTOWN, MA – Home Base is excited to announce new Co-Directors of Brain Health. Dr. Ron Hirschberg will serve as Co-Director of Brain Health, Medical Services and Dr. Lauren Brenner will serve as Co-Director of Brain Health, Clinical Services.

Dr. Hirschberg will focus on the medical services provided in Home Base’s Brain Health Services. Dr. Brenner’s focus will be on the Neuropsychological, Cognitive Rehabilitation and Cognitive Health programs at Home Base.  Additionally, in this role, they will collaborate to oversee the recruitment, hiring and training of new Brain Health staff as well as monitor and develop best practices.

Dr. Hirschberg and Dr. Brenner will be responsible for providing best-in-class medical and clinical services, respectively, to implement, evaluate, and advance the Brain Health team in the Intensive Clinical Programs and Outpatient Clinic at Home Base. Together they will work alongside fellow clinical program directors to provide oversight and management. Dr. Hirshberg will focus on the medical services provided in Home Base’s Brain Health Services. Dr. Brenner’s focus will be on the Neuropsychological, Cognitive Rehabilitation and Cognitive Health programs at Home Base.  Additionally, in this role, they will collaborate to oversee the recruitment, hiring and training of new Brain Health staff as well as monitor and develop best practices.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Hirschberg and Dr. Brenner on their new roles.

Ron Hirshberg

Dr. Ron Hirschberg is the Co-Director of Brain Health, Medical Services at Home Base, assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the PM&R Consultation Service at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Hirschberg founded the division of Arts and Neuroscience at American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine in 2016, and is a lifelong musician and has written and produced three albums, including the Acadia National Park documentary, Second Century Stewardship. Ron is co-founder of the 2020 Boston Music Award-winning podcast Above The Basement. In 2016, he began working at Home Base as a consultant to work with post-9/11 veterans with traumatic brain injury. His research work at Home Base includes collaborative songwriting intervention along with Dr. Louisa Sylvia and the Nashville based organization Songwriting With: Soldiers. Dr. Hirschberg is an avid Pickleball enthusiast and founding member of the Home Base Pickleball Team.

Lauren Brenner

Dr. Lauren Brenner is the Co-Director of Brain Health, Clinical Services at Home Base. Dr. Brenner completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, and received her MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. She has completed graduate-level training with Veteran populations in the Chicagoland and Boston area. She completed her doctoral internship specializing in Dual Diagnosis presentations (PTSD-SUD) at the VA Boston Healthcare System, with additional rotations in the General Mental Health Clinic and Urgent Care Clinic. Dr. Brenner completed a 2-year, post-doctoral fellowship at the Home Base Program. Dr. Brenner has received training in evidence-based treatments for PTSD, as well as co-occurring substance use, mood, and anxiety disorders, including Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, and Seeking Safety. She has extensive training and experience in provision of evidence-based group, and individual treatment with military populations, and has a specialized interest in psychodiagnostic assessment and evaluation. Dr. Brenner has conducted research in the field of intimate partner violence. She has additional research interests in dissemination and implementation of empirically supported treatments and assessment of treatment effectiveness, and has worked on a national study aimed at assisting Veterans in gaining employment.