PEOPLE
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Douglas H. Smith, MD
The Robert A. Groff Endowed Professor and Vice Chairman for Research and Education in Neurosurgery
215-573-3156
As one of the world’s foremost experts on concussion and more severe forms of traumatic brain injury (TBI), Dr. Smith is the Robert A. Groff Endowed Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania. His international leadership includes currently serving as President-elect of the National Neurotrauma Society and as the Scientific Director of the Big 10/ Ivy league Collaboration on Concussion. He also serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of the US National Football League (NFL), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-DoD consortium on concussion and the International Concussion Society. Furthermore, Dr. Smith serves as an inaugural trustee of the Mind Your Brain Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to outreach and education of brain injury patients and caregivers.
Dr. Smith contributions include the discovery of the underlying cause of concussion symptoms as well as approaches for its diagnosis and treatment. Specifically, his group identified that physical and functional damage to nerve fibers (axons) due to concussion disrupts electrical signaling through brain networks and that blood biomarkers of axonal damage can be used to predict the length of recovery. In addition, his group was the first to discover mechanisms of concussion and more severe traumatic brain injury that lead to progressive neurodegeneration, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Smith’s work attracted attention of the U.S. State Department who asked him to assemble a team of experts to investigate mysterious neurological deficits affecting members of the US embassy in Cuba. Their findings led to a newly discovered disorder, “Havana Syndrome.” Dr. Smith’s collective efforts are represented in over 300 published scientific reports that are among the most highly cited in the field. From this work, Dr. Smith is ranked amongst the top of world scientists. His awards include the Dorothy Russell medal, the highest honor conveyed by the British Neuropathological Society, the William Osler Patient Oriented Research Award from the University of Pennsylvania, the Anthony B. Marmarou Memorial Neurotrauma Lecture Award from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the Deal of the Year Award from Penn’s Center for Innovation for a licensed invention that has promise in repairing the brain. 
RESEARCHERS
Jean-Pierre Dollé, PhD
Senior Research Investigator
Jean-Pierre received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University, his MS in Biomedical Engineering from Drexel University and his BSc in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. His research interests involve investigating the increased risk of dementia following traumatic brain injury events.
Hailong Song, PhD
Faculty - Postdoctoral Researcher
BM, Capital Medical University, China
PhD, Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri
Research Interest: Developmental axon degeneration and sodium changes following experimental TBI
Mariana Ilha, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Mariana Ilha studied at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil where she received her bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences, and her MSc and PhD in Biochemistry.
Before coming to the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Ilha dedicated three years as a Post Doctoral Researcher at the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Eastern Finland, Finland.
Research interest: Understanding the underlying causes that determine axonal degeneration versus regeneration following a traumatic brain injury.
Kathryn Jacobson, PhD
NRSA T32 Postdoctoral Fellow
PhD, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University
BA, Physics and Mathematics, College of Saint Benedict
My primary research interest is to understand how structural damage in the brain is repaired after traumatic brain injury.
Subash Bhandari
Postdoctoral Researcher
PhD in Integrative Biology, Neuroscience, Florida Atlantic University
BS, Biology, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
Research Interest: Developmental Axonal Degeneration and Acute and Chronic Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury
Brian J. Kelley, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, UConn Health
MD, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Residency, Neurological Surgery, Yale-New Haven Hospital
Fellowship, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Fellowship, Pediatric Spinal Deformity, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
Research Interest: Changes in axon initial segment following experimental TBI
Frank Rauscher
Research Specialist
BS in Biology, Villanova University
Research interest: Traumatic axonal injury changes following in vitro stretch injury.
Yue "Sunny" Qiu
Research Specialist
Master of Regulatory Affairs for Drug, Biologics, and Medical Devices, Northeastern University
BS in Bio-Pharmacy, Shanghai Ocean University
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
STUDENTS
Mihiar Wannousse
University of Pennsylvania, C'27
Candidate for BA in Biology and Biochemistry
Vagelos Molecular Life Sciences Scholar
ALUMNI
Eashwar Kantemneni
University of Pennsylvania, C'24
Candidate for BA in Neuroscience
Minor Studies: Health Care Management, South Asia Studies
Alex Palma
University of Pennsylvania, C’22
BA in Neuroscience
Minor Studies: Health Care Management, Chemistry, and Music
Former Staff
Yoonjung Kim
Research Specialist
BA in Biology, Ursinus College
Research Interest: Determining injury thresholds following in vitro axonal injury
