Faculty

John Charles O'Donnell, BA, MS, PhD

Research Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery

Department: Neurosurgery

Graduate Group Affiliations

Neuroscience

Contact information

3900 Woodland Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Publications

Search PubMed for articles

Education
BA (Biology, Philosophy Minor)
LaSalle University, 2004.
MS (Biology)
Towson University, 2009.
PhD (Neuropharmacology)
University of Pennsylvania, 2016.

Links
Search PubMed for articles
Faculty page with the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics
Website for the Cullen Laboratory and associates.

Permanent link

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Description of Research Expertise

Traumatic Brain Injury; Disorders of Consciousness; Neurotrauma Rehabilitation and Recovery; Neuroregenerative Medicine; Neurotherapeutics Development; Tissue Engineering to Facilitate Repair, Regeneration, and Recovery after Neurotrauma and Neurodegeneration; Astrocytes; Mitochondria; Biomedical Translation/Commercialization

Selected Publications

Wofford KL, Purvis Conway EM, Acero VP, Gao J, Rivellini OM, Kuo E, Mietus CJ, Browne KD, O'Donnell JC, Cullen DK: Spatial associations between neuronal membrane damage and vasculature after repetitive diffuse TBI in pigs. Acta Neuropathol Commun May 2026.

Han DJ, Browne KD, Cullen DK, Petrov D, O'Donnell JC: Rotational Acceleration-Induced Intracranial Hypertension and Indications of Glymphatic Impairment in a Swine Model of Traumatic Brain Injury with Coma. The 16th Annual Traumatic Brain Injury Conference 2026.

Grovola MG, Purvis EM, Garcia-Epelboim AD, Krizman EN, O'Donnell JC*(co-senior), Cullen DK*: Astrocyte Transcriptomics in a Three-Dimensional Tissue-Engineered Rostral Migratory Stream. Cells October 2025.

Aihara Y, Chiba K, Oda Y, Browne K, Petrov D, Kawamata T, O’Donnell JC: Translational Evaluation of an Intraparenchymal Collagen Matrix Tamponade: Initial Preclinical and Clinical Experiments to Prevent CSF Reflux Following Endoscopic Brain Surgery. IJMS 26(18): 9081, September 2025.

Dimitris Boufidis, Elizabeth N. Krizman, Cybelle M. Smith, Yihan Xie, Raghav Garg, John C. O'Donnell, Flavia Vitale, D. Kacy Cullen: Astrocyte Interactions With Ti3C2Tx MXene Flakes: Insights Into Viability, Morphology, and Functionality. Advanced Materials Interfaces August 2025.

Karthikeyan Rajagopal, Thomas P Schaer, Kyle D Meadows, Madeline Boyes, Rachel Hilliard, John C O'Donnell, George R Dodge, Dmitriy Petrov, Dawn M Elliott, Robert L Mauck, Lachlan J Smith, Neil R Malhotra: In Vivo Measurements Reveal Increased Nucleus Pulposus Lactate and Oxygen Concentrations in a Goat Model of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration. JOR spine June 2025.

Daniel J. Han, Kevin D. Browne, D. Kacy Cullen, Dmitriy Petrov, John C. O’Donnell: Acute Intracranial Hypertension in a Swine Neurointensive Care Unit following Rotational Acceleration Traumatic Brain Injury. Annual Meeting of the National Neurotrauma Society, Philadelphia, PA June 2025.

D. J. HAN, K. D. BROWNE, K. WOFFORD, D. CULLEN, D. Petrov, J. C. O'DONNELL: Intracranial hypertension and changes in astrocytic endfeet in a large animal model of rotational acceleration traumatic brain injury. Annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL October 2024 Notes: Poster presentation.

Daniel J. Han, Kevin D. Browne, Kathryn L. Wofford, Dmitriy Petrov, D. Kacy Cullen, John C. O’Donnell: The Effects of Rotational Acceleration Traumatic Brain Injury on Intracranial Hypertension and Astrocytic Proteins Associated with Cerebral Edema. Annual Meeting of the National Neurotrauma Society, San Francisco, CA June 2024 Notes: Poster presentation.

Purvis EM, Garcia-Epelboim AD, Krizman EN, O'Donnell JC*, Cullen DK* (*CO-SENIOR) : A three-dimensional tissue-engineered rostral migratory stream as an in vitro platform for subventricular zone-derived cell migration Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 12: 1410717, Jun 2024 Notes: eCollection 2024.