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Randel Swanson, DO, PhD

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Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
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Physician - Scientist, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation / Rehabilitation Medicine Service, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, US Dept of Veterans Affairs
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Collaborator, Center for Brain Injury and Repair, Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
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Principal Investigator (PI), Center for Neurotrauma, Neurodegeneration & Restoration, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, US Dept of Veterans Affairs
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Member, Penn Center for Nutritional Science and Medicine (PenNSAM), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
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Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
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Associate Clinical Research Director, Complex Exposure Threats Center of Excellence (CETCE), Washington DC War Related Illness and injury Study Center (WRIISC), US Dept of Veterans Affairs
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PM&R and Brain Injury Medicine Consultant, Complex Exposure Threats Center of Excellence (CETCE), Washington DC War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), US Dept of Veterans Affairs
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Department: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
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46 Contact information
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Penn Medicine Rittenhouse
3a Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
1b 1800 Lombard Street
11 1st Floor
23 Philadelphia, PA 19146-1414
1c Office: 215-893-2600
19 Fax: 215-893-2632
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32 Cpl. Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center
1c 3900 Woodland Avenue
33 Bldg 21, Rm A512
Philadelphia, PA 19104
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38 Office: 215-823-5800 ext. 5851
32 Fax: 215-823-4207
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18 Publications
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Links
da Search PubMed for articles
 ab VA Complex Exposure Threats Center of Excellence
87 Penn Center for Nutritional Science and Medicine (PenNSAM)
96 Penn Dept. of PM&R
71 VA Polytrauma/TBI System of Care
92 Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC-CENC)
72 Penn's Center for Brain Injury and Repair
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13 Education:
21 8 RBA 14 (Pre-Med) c
3f Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV, 2003.
 21 8 PhD 25 (Cell & Molecular Biology) c
6f Rutgers School of Graduate Studies - Biomedical and Health Sciences, New Brunswick, NJ, 2010.
 21 7 DO 15 (Medicine) c
53 Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ, 2011.
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Description of Clinical Expertise

2b7 Dr. Swanson is a board certified Physiatrist, with sub-specialty certification in Brain Injury Medicine. Dr. Swanson’s clinical practice centers on the Neurological Rehabilitation of patients with Acquired Brain Injury, both at Penn and within the VA's Polytrauma/TBI System of Care. His goal is to assist patients in achieving optimal return of neurological function following all forms of Acquired Brain Injury through a combination of clinical practice and scientific research. Dr. Swanson also runs a research laboratory within the VA's Center for Neurotrauma, Neurodegeneration and Restoration (CNNR), and is a member of Penn's Center for Brain Injury and Repair (CBIR).
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Selected Publications

1b2 Winter L, Moriarty H, Robinson KM, Leiby BE, Dinnella JE, Schmidt K, Whitehouse CR, SWANSON RL: Age suppresses the association between traumatic brain injury severity and functional outcomes: a study using the NIDLRR TBIMS data set. J Head Trauma Rehabil 39(6): E582-E590, Nov-Dec 2024 Notes: Epub 2024 Apr 17. PMID: 38652669; DOI: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000955.

 228 Walton SR, Fraser JJ, Oldham JR, Ettenhofer ML, Armistead-Jehle P, Lindsey HM, Goodrich-Hunsaker NJ, Dennis EL, Wilde EA, Jurick SM, Hall MJ, SWANSON RL, MacGregor AJ, Tate DF, Cifu DX, Walker WC: Aerobic Exercise and Brain Structure among Military Service Members and Veterans with varying histories of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A LIMBIC-CENC Exploratory Investigation. PLoS ONE 20(3): e0320004, March 2025 Notes: PMID: 40163440; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0320004.

 206 Walton SR, Oldham JR, Remigio-Baker RA, Brett BL, Austin TA, Cetin OD, Wilde EA, Lempke LB, Ou Z, Kamineni S, Martindale SL, O’Neil ME, Pugh MJ, SWANSON RL, Pappadis MR, Cifu DX, Walker WC: Research letter: characterizing lifetime mild TBI exposure among female and male military service members and veterans in the LIMBIC CENC study. J Head Trauma Rehabil 40(2): 121-128, Mar-Apr 2025 Notes: PMID: 39019484; doi: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000989.

 217 Acharya NK, Grossman HC, Clifford PM, Levin EC, Light KR, Choi H, SWANSON II RL, Kosciuk MC, Venkataraman V, Libon DJ, Matzel LD, Nagele RG: A chronic increase in blood-brain barrier permeability facilitates intraneuronal deposition of exogenous bloodborne amyloid-beta1-42 peptide in the brain and leads to Alzheimer's disease-relevant cognitive changes in a mouse model. J Alzheimers Dis 91(1): 163-186, Feb 2024 Notes: PMID: 38393907; DOI: 10.3233/JAD-231028.

 191 Goldwaser EL, SWANSON 2ND RL, Arroyo EJ, Venkataraman V, Kosciuk MC, Nagele RG, Hong LE, Acharya NK: A preliminary report: the hippocampus and surrounding temporal cortex of schizophrenia patients have impaired blood-brain barrier. Front Hum Neurosci 16(836980), March 2022 Notes: PMID: 35431844; DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.836980.

 16c Grovola MR, Jinich A, Paleologos N, Arroyo EJ, Browne KD, SWANSON RL, Duda JE, Cullen DK : Persistence of hyper-ramified microglia in porcine cortical gray matter after mild traumatic brain injury. Biomedicines 11(7): 1960, July 2023 Notes: PMID: 37509599; DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11071960.

 186 Acharya NK, Grossman H, Arroyo E, SWANSON RL, Kosciuk M, Venkataraman V, Lamar M, Bennett D, Schneider JA, Arvanitakis Z, Libon DJ, Nagele RG: Selective affinity of extravasated brain-reactive IgG autoantibodies for pyramidal neurons is linked to brain amyloid deposition, neuronal dysfunction, and cognitive decline. Alzheimers Dement a2 17(Suppl 3): e055567, December 2021 Notes: Abstract available online at: https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.055567.

 239 SWANSON 2ND RL, Hampton S, Green-McKenzie J, Diaz-Arrastia R, Grady MS, Verma R, Biester R, Duda D, Wolf RL, Smith DH: Neurological manifestations among US government personnel reporting directional audible and sensory phenomena in Havana, Cuba. JAMA 319(10): 1125-1133, March 2018 Notes: PMID: 29450484; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.1742; as of June 2024, Altmetric attention score: 3173 (top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric), ranking #69/37,255 for all tracked outputs from JAMA.

 278 Verma R, SWANSON RL, Parker D, Ould Ismail AA, Shinohara RT, Alappatt JA, Doshi J, Davatzikos C, Gallaway M, Duda D, Chen HI, Kim JJ, Gur RC, Wolf RL, Grady MS, Hampton S, Diaz-Arrastia R, Smith DH: Neuroimaging findings in US government personnel with possible exposure to directional phenomena in Havana, Cuba. JAMA 322(4): 336-347, Jul 2019 Notes: PMID: 31334794; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2019.9269; as of June 2024, Altmetric attention score: 1445 (top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric), ranking #249/37,255 for all tracked outputs from JAMA.

 131 Calandra JM, Shofer FS, Chao AM, SWANSON 2ND RL: Nutrition education, understanding, and counseling practices among physiatrists: a survey study. Cureus 14(9): e28756, September 2022 Notes: PMID: 36211094; DOI 10.7759/cureus.28756.

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