Older Posts
The first quadriplegic to graduate from Harvard, Dr. Brooke Ellison was known to many. From becoming a Professor to running for New York State Senate in 2006, Dr. Ellison never let her injury stop her from achieving her dreams. Read on for her story.
Why She Was Fearless
Dr. Ellison was injured in junior high when she was hit by a car while walking home the first day of school. Diagnosed a C2 vent dependent quadriplegic, she was depressed in the first years post-injury, but soon she began to see she was still capable in spite of her paralysis, and her perspective began to shift.
Dr. Ellison made education her focus. She flew through high school, graduating with honors, and was accepted at Harvard. In 2000, Brook graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelors of Science in Cognitive Neuroscience; the first of her advanced degrees. Her mom went to school with her as her assistant.
In 2004, Dr. Ellison received her Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Still unsatisfied and eyeing her PhD, Dr. Ellison received her PhD in both Sociology and Philosophy from Stony Brook University in 2012. After graduating, she was hired to work at her alma mater as an Assistant Research Professor, and next was hired as the Director of Education and Ethics for their Stem Cell Facility. She currently works as an Assistant Professor at Stony Brook teaching at the Health Sciences School of Medicine.
Education and employment however were just a portion of her life goals. Christopher Reeve also reached out to her. The two became close friends and he directed a film about her life, The Brooke Ellison’s Story (it was the last film he directed and aired on A&E in 2004). In 2006, Dr. Ellison also ran for Senator of New York, with embryonic stem cell research a platform issue. She ran against incumbent Republican John Flanagan, but sadly lost.
And in 2009, Dr. Ellison teamed up with film director James Siegel to create the documentary, Hope Deferred, to educate the public on embryonic stem cell research. She has also blogged extensively about stem cell research over the years.
What Happened Next?
Dr. Ellison became such a natural at speaking that she also went on to become a speaker. In 2020, she founded Brooke Ellison Leadership and Inclusions Strategies, LLC where she works with innovators, organizations and corporations to optimize their inclusion of people with disabilities. She offered speeches, workshops and consultations. And in the last years of her life, she changed lives as a professor at Stony Brook University. Sadly, she left the world too soon, passing away February 4th, 2024, at the age of 45. Her mission in life was an amazing one, and she will never be forgotten, especially within the SCI community.
ideas@spinalpedia.com
