Dr. Richard L. Bruno

Dr. Richard Bruno is a Clinical Psychophysiologist specializing in the treatment of disabling conditions - fatigue, pain, and stress - as well as Post-Polio Sequelae (PPS), the unexpected and often disabling fatigue, muscle weakness and pain that are occurring in the world's 20 million survivors of polio. He is internationally acknowledged as the world's foremost expert on PPS.

Dr. Bruno trained at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and as a Fellow in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. In 1984 he organized the International Post-Polio Task Force, which he chairs, and serves as advisor to post-polio support groups on four continents.

Dr. Bruno edited three special issues of the journal Orthopedics devoted to PPS, and advises both Congress and the federal government on PPS-related issues. Dr. Bruno drafted the Social Security Disability regulations for PPS. In 1987, when the Social Security Administration refused to release those regulations, Dr. Bruno returned to Washington and successfully lobbied with Senator Bill Bradley to win their publication. In 2003 he drafted and, with Congressman Steve Rothman and Senator Arlen Specter, won release of a Social Security Ruling for Post-Polio Sequelae to stop inappropriate denials of SSDI.

Dr. Bruno's work has been published in journals as varied as Stroke, Biofeedback and Self-Regulation, the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Neurology, Disability and Society, the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Psychophysiology, Sexuality and Disability, the American Journal of Medicine, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences and all three American journals of physical medicine and rehabilitation. He is also a contributing editor of New Mobility magazine, a contributor to Canada's Total Access Magazine and Salon.com, and writes internationally syndicated columns on PPS and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Dr. Bruno also conceived and co-wrote the story on the NBC series "American Dreams" about nine-year-old Will Pryor, who had one leg paralyzed by polio, having surgery so that he would no longer need to wear a long-leg brace.

Dr. Bruno lectures throughout the world and his work is frequently covered by the media. Articles on his work have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times and USA TODAY. He has appeared on The TODAY Show and Good Morning America, The CBS Evening News and ABC NEWS NIGHTLINE, on CNN, the BBC, CBC and National Public Radio, and on The Discovery and The Learning Channels. Dr. Bruno has received many honors for his work including the New Jersey Pride Award in Health, an honorary Doctor of Humanics degree from Springfield College and inclusion in Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare, in Science and Engineering, in the Biobehavioral Sciences and Who's Who in the World. Dr. Bruno was selected to present the 45th Annual John Stanley Coulter Lecture to the annual meeting of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Dr. Bruno was recognized on the floor of the House of Representatives for his "commitment as a tireless worker on behalf of those suffering the aftereffects of polio" and for being "at the forefront of the movement to educate parents about the need to vaccinate their children" against polio.

Dr. Bruno is director of The Post-Polio Institute and International Centre for Polio Education. His book The Polio Paradox: Uncovering the Hidden History of Polio to Understand and Treat "Post-Polio Syndrome" and Chronic Fatigue, is published by Warner Books.