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Dr. Tom Zampieri is director of government relations at the Blinded Veterans Association national headquarters in Washington DC, where he has served since April 2005.

He is a graduate of Hahnemann University's physician assistant program, obtained his BS degree from State University of New York, and graduated with a master's in political science from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He completed his PhD in political science at Lacrosse University in 2005.

Dr. Zampieri served on active duty in the US Army from 1972 to 1975 as a medic. After PA school he served for 22 years as an Army National Guard physician assistant in three different states, retiring at the rank of Major. During this time, he was involved in several military medical training programs and schools, and was a graduate of the army flight surgeon aeromedical course at Fort Rucker in 1989, and the AMEDD Advanced Officer Course at Fort Sam Houston Texas in 1992, and held a secret security clearance as military officer in Army National Guard.

Dr. Zampieri has worked for several years on recommendations for the Veteran Service Organizations annual independent budget sent to the White House, VHA, and Congress on VA appropriations, health care and benefits issues. He has experience with submitting written congressional testimony, development of several legislative briefing papers, white papers, has provided congressional testimony before House VA Committee, and visited congressional offices in recent years working on various VA, DoD, and federal health care and disability issues. During the session of 110th Congress, he worked extensively on issue of seamless transition for combat eye wounded and service members with TBI visual dysfunction. BVA was successful in enactment of the Military Vision Centers of Excellence being included in the National Defense Authorization Act of FY 2008 as well as the expansion of the VA systems Continuum of Care for blind and low vision veterans' outpatient programs.

Previously, he was employed in the healthcare field, as clinical physician assistant for over 23 years, 19 of those within the Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers in Canandaigua, New York, as well as Richmond, Virginia, and Houston. During this time, he was co-author of several different medical journal articles on urology and spinal cord injury. He held clinical PA instructor appointments at Alderson-Broaddus College department of medical sciences in West Virginia, and at Baylor College of Medicine's PA program in Houston, and was appointed as clinical instructor in the Scott Department of Urology Baylor Surgery.

During his 19 years in the VA, he assisted with the development of new PA clinical practice guidelines, recruitment and retention programs for career development and upward mobility, educational assistance for PA students and encouraged academic affiliations with PA programs. Worked extensively on changes to Title 38 Human Resources PA employment chapter in 1993, served as co-chairman for three national CME satellite teleconferences with joint VA and DOD health care facilities, and was a member of VA Physician Assistant Field Advisory Group from 1990 to 1993. He was appointed to the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Science Committee on Department of Veterans Affairs Physician Staffing Requirements, and Non-Physician Practitioners Panel from 1990-1992.

He is a life member of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Blinded Veterans Association, Vietnam Veterans of America, and Military Officers Association America.