Antonio M. Romanucci, a partner in Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, and a nationally-recognized authority on traumatic brain injuries, was a keynote speaker on December 13 at a summit in Charleston, West Va., hosted by the state of West Virginia's Better Brain Injury Care Coalition.

Romanucci, a leading personal injury attorney, founded and served for seven years as board president of the Midwest Brain Injury Clubhouse, a not-for-profit organization in Chicago that supports brain injury survivors and their families. He spoke about his community-based model to help brain injury survivors receive long-term support and ultimately lead more fulfilling lives.

Romanucci encouraged summit participants to focus some of their efforts on ways to assist returning war veterans, many of whom have suffered traumatic brain injuries. Creating community living centers, he said, fills the gap between post-acute brain injury treatment and independent, productive living.

The summit brought together people from the military, veterans and representatives of numerous medical, mental health and other organizations to develop recommendations for the West Virginia state legislature that would improve resources for people with traumatic brain injuries.