Frances Elizabeth Jensen, MD, FACP, FANA, FAAN, FAES

faculty photo
Arthur Knight Asbury, M.D. Professor in Neurology
Department: Neurology
Graduate Group Affiliations

Contact information
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Perelman School of Medicine
Department of Neurology
3 West Gates Building
3400 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-662-3360
Fax: 215-662-3362
Education:
A.B. (Neuropsychology)
Smith College, 1978.
M.D. (Medicine)
Cornell University Medical College, 1983.
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Description of Research Expertise

Dr. Jensen is Professor of Neurology and Chairman of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Co-Director of Penn Translational Neuroscience Center. She was formerly Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Director of Translational Neuroscience and senior neurologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is a graduate of Cornell Medical College and obtained her neurology residency training at the Harvard Longwood Neurology Residency Program. Her research
focuses on mechanisms of epilepsy and stroke, and the mechanistic interaction of epilepsy with other disorders such as autism and dementia, with specific emphasis on elucidating new therapies for clinical trials development. Dr. Jensen received the 2007 Director’s Pioneer Award from the NIH to explore the interaction between epileptogenesis and cognitive dysfunction, and was elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine in 2015. Dr. Jensen was President of the American Epilepsy Society in 2012, has served on a number of other leadership boards
including Society for Neuroscience, NIH, and is currently President-Elect for the American Neurological Association. She has authored over 150 manuscripts on subjects related to her research and has been continuously funded by NIH since 1987 and received a NIH-NINDS Javits Award in 2020. Dr. Jensen has trained numerous clinical and basic research fellows who now hold independent faculty positions nationally and internationally. Dr. Jensen is a Trustee of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and is involved in community outreach for brain research and education. In addition, Dr. Jensen is an advocate for awareness of the adolescent brain development, its unique strengths and vulnerabilities, as well as their impact on medical, social,
and educational issues unique to teenagers and young adults, and author of the book “The Teenage Brain”, released by Harper Collins in 2015/16, translated and published in over 25 languages worldwide.

Selected Publications

Gourmaud, S*, Shou, H, Irwin, D, Sansalone, K, Jacobs, L, Lucas, T, Davis, K, Jensen FE, Talos, D. : Alzheimer-like amyloid and tau pathology associated with cognitive deficit in temporal lobe epilepsy. Brain 143((1)): 191-209, Jan 2020.

Sun, H, Takesian, AE, Wang, TT, Lippman-Bell, JJ, Hensch, TK, and Jensen, FE. : Early seizures prematurely unsilence auditory synapses to disrupt thalamocortical critical period plasticity. Cell Reports 23(9): 2533-2540, May 2018.

Talos DM, Jacobs LM, Gourmaud S, Coto CA, Sun H, Lim KC, Lucas TH, Davis KA, Martinez Lage M, Jensen FE: Mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 and 2 in human temporal lobe epilepsy. Ann Neurol. January 2018.

Dzhala, VL, Talos, DM, Sdrulla, DA, Brumback, AC, Mathews, GC, Benk, TA, Delpire, EJ, Jensen, FE, Staley, KJ: NKCC1 transporter facilitates seizures in the developing brain. Nat Med 11: 1207-1213, 2005.

Rakhade, S, Jensen, FE: Epileptogenesis in the Immature Brain: Emerging Mechanisms. Nature Rev Neurol 5(7): 380-91, 2009.

Sun, H*, Kosaras, B, Klein, P, Jensen, FE: mTORC1 activation negatively regulates PLK2 mediated homeostatic compensation following neonatal seizures. Proc Nat Acad Sci (PNAS) 110(13): 5199-204, Mar 26 2013.

Sengupta Soma, Weeraratne Shyamal Dilhan, Sun Hongyu, Phallen Jillian, Rallapalli Sundari K, Teider Natalia, Kosaras Bela, Amani Vladimir, Pierre-Francois Jessica, Tang Yujie, Nguyen Brian, Yu Furong, Schubert Simone, Balansay Brianna, Mathios Dimitris, Lechpammer Mirna, Archer Tenley C, Tran Phuoc, Reimer Richard J, Cook James M, Lim Michael, Jensen Frances E, Pomeroy Scott L, Cho Yoon-Jae: α5-GABAA receptors negatively regulate MYC-amplified medulloblastoma growth. Acta neuropathologica Nov 2013.

Frances E. Jensen with Amy Ellis Nutt: The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults. Harper Collins. Harper, January 2015.

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Last updated: 09/14/2023
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania