Program Director
Board Certified, American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Board Certified, Medical Board of California, Physician & Surgeon
Dr. Justin Phillips currently serves as Program Director for the OPTI-West
Residency Program at Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare,
and he is the Co-chair of its Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Dr. Phillips came to Casa Colina Hospital in 2016 and treats patients throughout
our continuum of care. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Western University of Health Sciences.
In his role as Program Director, Dr. Phillips oversees the quality of
didactic and clinical education, develops clinical rotations, leads recruitment
efforts, and more. He also works to ensure compliance with ACGME and Review
Committee policies and procedures.
Dr. Phillips received his Doctor of Medicine from SUNY Downstate Health
Sciences University. He completed his residency at the University of California,
Irvine’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He
is a member of the American Association of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation,
American Medical Association, and the California Society of Physical Medicine
& Rehabilitation.
Dr. Phillips enjoys skiing, hiking, traveling, attending local sporting
events, and spending time with his family.
David Patterson, MD
Associate Program Director
Board Certified, American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Board Certified, Traumatic Brain Injury Medicine
For more than 20 years, Dr. David Patterson has devoted his career to advancing
the specialty field of physical medicine and rehabilitation. He holds
subspecialty certification in Brain Injury Medicine from the American
Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, elevating Casa Colina
to offer higher levels of care for patients with brain injury and serving
to advance brain injury research being done at the Casa Colina Research
Institute. He is currently the Medical Director of Rehabilitation at Casa
Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare, Clinical Director of the Casa
Colina Transitional Living Center, and a Clinical Associate Professor
of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Western University of Health Sciences.
Dr. Patterson is committed to ensuring that patients receive the highest
level of medical and rehabilitative care available. Throughout his career,
he has given numerous lectures to professional and community groups on
such topics as rehabilitation education, concussion, stroke prevention,
traumatic brain injury, metabolic joint disease, and the acute management
of spinal cord injury. Dr. Patterson has been recognized as a leader in
Casa Colina Hospital’s groundbreaking work to rehabilitate soldiers
with TBI, and he has also worked as a sports medicine specialist with
retired NFL players through the Retired NFL Players Counsel, the LA County
Sheriff's Department football team, the Matt Leinart Foundation, and more.
He graduated from the Creighton University School of Medicine in 1994.
The following year, he pursued his residency at the University of California,
Irvine’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, where
he was designated Chief Resident in 1997.
Dr. Patterson is a Diplomate of the American Board of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation. He is also a member of the American Academy of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers
Association, and the American Brain Injury Association.
Marcel Fraix, DO, MBA
Department Chair
Board Certified, American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Board Certified, American Osteopathic Board of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine
Dr. Marcel Fraix began his clinical tenure at Casa Colina Hospital and
Centers for Healthcare in 2010. Dr. Fraix is currently also Department
Chair for Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Western University
of Health Sciences / College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in
Pomona, California.
Dr. Fraix received his doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine from the College
of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific. He completed his residency in
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento,
California, as well as a Fellowship in Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine at
Downey Regional Medical Center in Downey, California. Given his interest
in healthcare economics and policy, he also completed an Executive Healthcare
MBA at the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine.
Dr. Fraix is actively engaged in research, has published in journals such as
PM&R and the
Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, and he routinely lectures at national conferences. He is a member of
the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and the
American Osteopathic Association, and he is licensed by the Osteopathic
Medical Board of California.
Dr. Fraix enjoys seeing patients with a wide variety of rehabilitative
needs and incorporates osteopathic manipulative medicine into the treatment
of sports-related and spine disorders.
Allen Huang, MD
Faculty
Board Certified, American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Dr. Allen Huang currently serves as a faculty member for the OPTI-West
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Program and as an attending
physician at Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare. Dr. Huang
joined Casa Colina Hospital in 2011.
Dr. Huang received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Cincinnati’s
College of Medicine and completed his residency in Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is a
fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
Dr. Huang enjoys the outdoors, music, movies, computers, physical fitness,
and travel.
Elliott Block, DO
Attneding Physician
Board Certified, American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Dr. Elliott Block is an attending physician at the Casa Colina Physical
Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency Program. He completed his residency
training at Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare and was appointed
Chief Resident while there. Practicing in multiple care settings, including
acute care consultations, inpatient, subacute, and outpatient rehabilitation,
Dr. Block cares for a broad spectrum of patients with diverse rehabilitative
needs. With a particular interest in brain injury medicine, he participates
in research through the Casa Colina Research Institute and lectures at
national conferences as well as community seminars. He is co-director
of the Concussion/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Program at Casa Colina,
and he is a physiatry consultant for Trauma Service at Pomona Valley Hospital
Medical Center.
Caroline Schnakers, PhD
Dr. Caroline Schnakers is Assistant Director of the Casa Colina Research
Institute. Her research focuses on severely brain-injured patients recovering
from coma and, more particularly, on the detection of conscious cognitive
activity using behavioral and electrophysiological techniques. She has
shown the difficulty to detect signs of consciousness (40% of error rate)
and the difference of sensitivity between existing coma scales to detect
these signs. In parallel, she has developed electrophysiological paradigms
for detecting conscious cognitive activity without the intervention of
motor and verbal functions (using mental tasks) in severely brain-injured
patients who are unable to actively interact with their surroundings.
Finally, she has created and validated the first scale allowing pain assessment
in patients with disorders of consciousness. In 2010, she received the
Young Investigator Award from the International Brain Injury Association
in recognition of her work. Dr. Schnakers has published more than 70 articles
(H-index: 38), and she is the editor of
Coma and Disorders of Consciousness (Springer-Verlag, Paris, 2011; Springer-Verlag, London, 2012).
Justin Phillips, MD, FAAPMR
David Patterson, MD
Marcel Fraix, DO, MBA
Allen Huang, MD
Elliott Block, DO
Caroline Schnakers, PhD
