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About REACH Burn Foundation

Founded by visionary burn physicians, REACH is dedicated to minimizing the impact of burn injuries. At the forefront, we equip providers with educational materials to increase their skills. After an injury, we provide burn survivors adaptive sports experiences which enhances recovery.

Meet Our Board

Dr. Philip Fidler

President

Dr. Philip E. Fidler is a renowned burn surgeon and intensivist. Dr. Fidler’s educational journey began with a degree in Biology from Binghamton University, completed in just three years. He earned his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Following this, he completed his General Surgery residency at the State University of New York Downstate campus in Brooklyn’s Kings County Hospital, one of the country’s busiest urban trauma centers. To further specialize, Dr. Fidler pursued fellowships in Surgical Critical Care at Yale University School of Medicine and Burn Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Shriners Hospital for Children at Harvard Medical School.

Previously, Dr. Fidler was the Director of the Burn Center of Connecticut, formerly known as the Andrew J Panettieri Burn Center, part of the Yale School of Medicine, and an Associate Professor of Surgery at Georgetown University School of Medicine. During his tenure, he significantly contributed to the field of burn care and education, earning national recognition. He has been actively involved in the American Burn Association, serving on the Rehabilitation and Reintegration Committee, and has been a long-time reviewer for the Journal of Burn Care and Research. Dr. Fidler’s contributions to burn care have been widely recognized, with numerous publications and international presentations. He continues to focus on improving patient recovery and quality of life, emphasizing the importance of returning to leisure activities post-recovery. Dr. Fidler has been a member of the Government Affairs Committee of the American Burn Association and is currently on the Rehabilitation and Reintegration Committee.

In 2004, he received the Melville Magida Award from the Fairfield Medical Association for his notable capacity for patient treatment and care, and his special sensitivity to patient-physician relationships. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Gusi Peace Prize in Manila, Philippines. As Past President of the North American Burn Society, he understands the importance of bringing together burn survivors and providers with adaptive sports counselors to enhance their psychosocial well-being. He has published numerous articles, received notable awards and has presented Internationally on the subject of burn care and science.

Dr. Roselle Crombie

Vice President

Roselle Crombie, MD/MPH, FACS, FABA is a surgeon specializing in general surgery, burn surgery and surgical critical care at several of the Yale New Haven Health Systems flagship hospitals in Southern Connecticut and Connecticut Burn Center. Her particular passion is a mix of burns, burn/ trauma reconstruction, wounds and general surgery. Her days include her busy practice constantly pushing for change and awareness in how we can improve care delivery locally and nationally. Education of the next generation of physicians and surgeons has remained an imperative part of her career as she is highly involved as faculty in the Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine over the course of her career and mentors the younger pre-health generation. She enjoys giving a variety of lectures to further the fields of her expertise.

Dr. Crombie holds a B.S. in Biology-Chemistry with Honors from Union College in Schenectady, NY. Her medical degree includes both an M.D. and M.P.H. from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and residency training in general surgery at Tufts University-New England Medical Center. Her post-graduate fellowships were in Burn Surgery and Surgical Critical Care at the Yale University School of Medicine where she currently remains on faculty. She is board certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care.

Outside of her job nationally, she has served as the 32nd President of the North American Burn Society(NABS) 2014, where she first experienced the profound positive impact of Adaptive Sports on the mental health of the burn and trauma survivor. She has served on the Ethics Committee, Epidemiology for the American Burn Association(ABA). She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a Fellow of the American Burn Association, and is actively serving as the Physician SIG Chair (ABA). She was recently appointed to be the Director at Large for the Board of the American Board of Wound Medicine and Surgery (ABWMS), is currently the VP Program Chair for the CT American College of Surgeon’s Chapter, Executive Board, Chair of the Women’s Surgery group for the CTACS and involved in the Women’s Surgeon Groups within several national societies. She’s serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Burn Care and Research, Journal of Wound Care and has served on MRBP-CDRMP (Military Review for Burn Grants). She is a member of the Consensus Committee on Tissue Regeneration for the Journal of Wound Care setting standards for CAMPs. With a team of other burn colleagues, she sits as the VP of a non-for profit REACH Burn Foundation to support the needs of adult burn survivors. Additionally, she serves on the Board of the Burn Research Foundation. Her CV includes numerous publications, book chapters, lectures, and recently an invitation for a DOD Grant formal submission.

Dr. Crombie is married to Mr. Brian Crombie and they each have another full-time job raising their three active children. They all enjoy family time on the water and are avid skiers.

Dr. Teri Abrams

Dr. Teri Abrams is an assistant professor in the College of Social Work at University of Tennessee Knoxville and located at the Nashville campus. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work and a Ph.D. in Health Education. She teaches graduate students in the MSSW program who are working toward micro-practice. Prior to returning to school for her doctorate, Dr. Abrams worked as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for over ten years providing outpatient, partial hospitalization, and crisis mental health therapy services to adults, couples, and adolescents in the community mental health setting, working closely with four board-certified psychiatrists to assess, provide therapy, and monitor their community-based patients. Dr. Abrams continues to hold her LCSW licensure in Illinois. Additionally, she is an active member of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors.

Dr. Abrams’ primary population of interest is with burn patients and survivors and is focused on improving short- and long-term outcomes for burn survivors through use of mobile technology to deliver adjunct bio-psycho-social content for early post-discharge burn care and rehabilitation. Her research interests include social determinants of health that are disproportionately impacted by medical trauma, disability, and social re-entry. Dr. Abrams is most interested in qualitative research, specifically Phenomenological and Focus Group designs and believes much can be learned through these forms of inquiry. She is also actively involved in expanding and coordinating social work utilization in burn centers through increased consistency across burn centers, advanced training, greater involvement in interdisciplinary research, and American Burn Association certification that would be consistent with other members of the interdisciplinary burn care team. Dr. Abrams has published numerous articles, and has presented at domestic and international conferences and symposiums on the subjects of psychosocial burn care and eHealth to to support post-discharge home burn care and healing.