Cindy B. Ivanhoe, MD
Cindy Ivanhoe, MD, is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and in Brain Injury Medicine. She is an expert in the management of spasticity and injects botulinum neurotoxin for the management of adult spasticity, cervical dystonia, focal limb dystonia, and migraine and other types of headaches. She has received numerous awards for excellence in clinical practice and as a medical educator.
Dr. Ivanhoe is Director of the Spasticity and Associated Syndromes of Movement (SPASM) program at TIRR-Memorial Hermann, a rehabilitation and research center in Houston, Texas. She is also a consultant and an admitting physician to the Brain Injury and Stroke Program at TIRR-Memorial Hermann. In addition, Dr. Ivanhoe is a Clinical Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston).
Dr. Ivanhoe is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and in Brain Injury Medicine. She has served as expert faculty in many national and international courses on the treatment of spasticity and the medical complications of brain injury. Her clinical experience spans the entire spectrum of brain injury from developmental disabilities, neurosurgical intensive care units, and acute rehabilitation to long-term follow up in the community.
She has been recognized by many organizations and institutions, including the Brain Injury Association of America, American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) for her work as a clinician and her contributions to advocacy and professional education.
She is the 2023 recipient of the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Distinguished Faculty Award for Clinical Science awarded by the Women Faculty Forum, McGovern Medical School UTHealth Houston. She also received the Sheldon Berrol Clinical Service Award of the Brain Injury Association of America for 2021 for outstanding contributions to improving the quality of care, professional training, and/or education in the field of brain injury and hypertonia. She has received the Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award from UTHealth Houston.
In 2020, she was named “Physician of the Year” by TIRR-Memorial Hermann and in 2019, one of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare in Houston. In 2016, she received the Distinguished Clinician Award of the AAPM&R, which is conferred for admiration and respect for patients, students, and colleagues.
Dr. Ivanhoe is known for pioneering the clinical use of interventions for spasticity, including intrathecal baclofen therapy, for which she was an investigator on the studies that led to its approval by the Food and Drug Administration, and botulinum neurotoxins. She has published widely on brain injury rehabilitation.
Dr. Ivanhoe is well known as an advocate for equitable healthcare access. Her nonprofit organization, IF (Ivanhoe Foundation) supports endeavors that improve the lives of those with brain injuries and other disabilities in the community.
Dr. Ivanhoe has served as an at-large member of the Board of Directors of the International Neurotoxin Association and is currently its Treasurer.
