Laura West Pappalardo, M.D., Ph.D., Pharm.D.
Instructor A of Neurology
Instructor of Neurology, Division of Neurocritical Care, University of Pennsylvania
Department: Neurology
Contact information
3400 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Publications
Education
Pharm.D. (Pharmacy)
The University of Texas at Austin, 2010.
Ph.D. (Neuroscience)
Yale University, 2019.
M.D.
Yale School of Medicine, 2019.
Pharm.D. (Pharmacy)
The University of Texas at Austin, 2010.
Ph.D. (Neuroscience)
Yale University, 2019.
M.D.
Yale School of Medicine, 2019.
Post-Graduate Training
Intern, Internal Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2019-2020.
Resident, Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2020-2023.
Instructor, Neurology , University of Pennsylvania, 2023-2024.
Fellow, Neurocritical Care, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2024-2026.
Intern, Internal Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2019-2020.
Resident, Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2020-2023.
Instructor, Neurology , University of Pennsylvania, 2023-2024.
Fellow, Neurocritical Care, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2024-2026.
Certifications
Advanced Cardiac Life Support, 2019.
Emergency Neurological Life Support, 2024.
Diplomate of Neurology, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, 2024.
Permanent linkAdvanced Cardiac Life Support, 2019.
Emergency Neurological Life Support, 2024.
Diplomate of Neurology, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, 2024.
Description of Clinical Expertise
Traumatic brain injurySubarachnoid hemorrhage
Ischemic stroke
Intracerebral hemorrhage
Status epilepticus
Neuromuscular crises
Post cardiac arrest
Meningoencephalitis
Spinal cord injury
Description of Research Expertise
Molecular and cellular neuroscienceGlial cell biology
Traumatic brain injury
Extracellular vesicles
Genomics
Biomarker discovery
ORCID identifier 
0000-0003-3091-5941
Selected Publications
Kauffman A, Carlin PS, Mubeen HK, Georges AP, Pappalardo LW, Augustin DV, Dolle JP, Kaplan LJ, Smith DH, Bass GA, Pascual JL. : Antithrombin III alone recapitulates plasma-mediated blood-brain barrier stabilization and neurological recovery after traumatic brain injury [in press]. J Am Coll Surg 2026.Yang SJ, Lin AA, Shen H, Pappalardo LW, Spychalski GB, Rosario J, Forsberg LK, Grant KM, Buser JR, Savica R, O'Bryant S, Jones DT, Dickson DW, Reichard RR, Nguyen AT, Meaney DF, Boeve BF, Ross OA, McLean PJ, Issadore D.: Microfluidic nanomagnetically isolated neuron- and astrocyte-derived extracellular vesicles to differentiate Lewy body and Alzheimer's disease. NPJ Biosens 2026.
Thomas R, Ghio M, Pappalardo L, Shammassian BH.: Fluids, Electrolytes, and Nutrition in the Critically Ill Patient with Neurotrauma. Neurosurg Clin N Am 2025.
Elser H, Pappalardo LW, Gottesman RF, Coresh J, Diaz-Arrastia R, Mosley TH, Kasner SE, Koton S, Schneider ALC.: Head Injury and Risk of Incident Ischemic Stroke in Community-Dwelling Adults. Stroke 2024.
Rachel Thomas, Cillian Lynch, Laura W. Pappalardo, Alexa Walter, Nathan Smyk, Danielle Sandsmark, Ramon Diaz-Arrastia: Levels of tau phosphorylated at threonine-181 vary with specific lesion types in acute traumatic brain injury. J Neurotrauma 2023.
Pappalardo LW, Samad OA, Liu S, Zwinger PJ, Black JA, Waxman SG.: Nav1.5 in astrocytes plays a sex-specific role in clinical outcomes in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Glia 2018.
Cao XC, Pappalardo LW, Waxman SG, Tan AM.: Dendritic spine dysgenesis in superficial dorsal horn sensory neurons after spinal cord injury. Mol Pain 2017.
Pappalardo LW, Black JA, Waxman SG.: Sodium channels in astroglia and microglia. Glia 2016.
Pappalardo LW, Liu S, Black JA, Waxman SG.: Dynamics of sodium channel Nav1.5 expression in astrocytes in mouse models of multiple sclerosis. Neuroreport 25: 1208-15, Oct 2014.
Pappalardo LW, Samad OA, Black JA, Waxman SG.: Voltage-gated sodium channel Nav 1.5 contributes to astrogliosis in an in vitro model of glial injury via reverse Na+ /Ca2+ exchange. Glia 2014.