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Faculty Members:
Douglas H. Smith, MD
Research Professor of Neurosurgery
Member - University of Pennsylvania, Mental Retardation Research Center (1996 - present)
Member - University of Pennsylvania, Institute of Medicine and Engineering (1998 - present)
Member - University of Pennsylvania, Functional Imaging Center (2003 - present)
Director - Center for Brain Injury and Repair, University of Pennsylvania (2004 - present)
Department: Neurosurgery
Contact information
Department of Neurosurgery
3320 Smith Walk
Hayden Hall 105
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316
3320 Smith Walk
Hayden Hall 105
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316
Office: 215-573-3156
Email:
smithdou@mail.med.upenn.edu
smithdou@mail.med.upenn.edu
Education
B.S. (Biology)
University of Connecticut, 1981.
M.D.
University of Noreste, Tampico, Mexico, 1986.
B.S. (Biology)
University of Connecticut, 1981.
M.D.
University of Noreste, Tampico, Mexico, 1986.
Post-Graduate Training
Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Biology and Protein Chemistry, University of Connecticut Health Center, 1986-1988.
Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuropharmacology and Trauma, University of Connecticut Health Center, 1989-1990.
Permanent linkPostdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Biology and Protein Chemistry, University of Connecticut Health Center, 1986-1988.
Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuropharmacology and Trauma, University of Connecticut Health Center, 1989-1990.
Description of Research Expertise
Douglas H. Smith, M.D.. Dr. Smith serves as Director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair (CBIR) and is a Research Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania. Penn's multidisciplined CBIR includes over twenty principal investigators and their laboratory staff collectively studying mechanisms, diagnosis and potential treatments of traumatic brain injury. Dr. Smith has been an active member of the National Neurotrauma Society and currently serves as an officer. His laboratory investigates the effects of mechanical stretch of nerve fibers called axons that results in either damage or growth. They have found that rapid stretch during brain trauma can induce diffuse axonal injury. In turn, aberrant accumulation of proteins in the damaged axons can lead to pathologic changes similar to those found in Alzheimer's disease. In addition, Dr. Smith's laboratory has also recently discovered that slow continuous stretching of axon tracts in culture can stimulate enormous growth, creating transplantable nervous tissue constructs. These tissue engineered constructs have shown promise for repairing large lesions associated with spinal cord injury and peripheral nerve damage. These collective efforts have resulted in well over 100 published reports.To view the website for Dr. Smith’s lab, please click here
Click here to view the website for the Center for Brain Injury & Repair (CBIR).
Selected Publications
Uryu K, Chen X-H, Martinez D, Browne KD, Johnson VE, Graham DI, Lee VM-Y, Trojanowski JQ, Smith DH: Multiple Proteins Implicated in Neurodegenerative Diseases Accumulate in Axons After Brain Trauma in Humans Exp. Neurology 208(2): 185-92, 2007.Pfister BJ, Huang JH, Kameswaran N, Smith DH: Neural engineering to produce in vitro nervous tissue constructs and neural interfaces. Neurosurgery 60(1): 137-142, January 2007.
Armstead WM, Nassar T, Akkawi S, Smith DH, Chen X-H, Cines DB, Higazi AA. : Neutralizing the neurotoxic effects of exogenous and endogenous tPA. Nature Neurosci 9(9): 1150-1155, September 2006.
Pfister, BJ, Bonislawski DP, Smith DH, Cohen AS. : Rapid Stretch-growth of Axons Induces an Increase in Na and K Channel Density. FEBS Letters (journal) 580(14): 3525-31, 2006.
Stein SC, Browne KD, Chen X-H, Smith DH, Graham DI: Thromboembolism And Delayed Cerebral Ischemia Following Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: An Autopsy Study. Neurosurgery 59(4): 781-7, October 2006.
Browne KD, Iwata A, Putt MD, Smith DH: Chronic ibuprofen administration worsens cognitive outcome following traumatic brain injury in rats. Exp. Neurol. 201(2): 301-7, October 2006.
Iwata A, Browne KD, Pfister BJ, Gruner JA, Smith DH. : Long-term survival and outgrowth of mechanically engineered nerve constructs implanted into spinal cord lesions. Tissue Engineering 12(1): 101-110, 2006.
Pfister BJ, Iwata A, Taylor AG, Wolf JA, Meaney DF, Smith DH.: Development of transplantable nervous tissue constructs comprised of stretch-grown axons. J. Neurosci. Meth. 153(1): 95-103, 2006.
Jette N, Coderre E, Nikolaeva MA, Enright PD, Iwata A, Smith DH, Jiang Q, Stys PK. : Spatiotemporal distribution of spectrin breakdown products by anoxia in adult optic nerve in vitro. J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab. 26(6): 777-86, 2006.
Maxwell WL, MacKinnon MA, Smith DH, McIntosh TK, Graham DI.: Thalamic nuclei after human blunt head injury. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 65(5): 478-88, May 2006.
