Research Team
Douglas Smith, MD
Robert A. Groff Professor of Neurosurgery
Vice Chairman for Research and Education, Dept. of Neurosurgery
Director, Penn's Center for Brain Injury and Repair (CBIR)
smithdou@mail.med.upenn.edu
Dr. Smith serves as director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair (CBIR). He is the Robert A. Groff Professor of Neurosurgery and vice chairman for research and education in the University of Pennsylvania Department of Neurosurgery. Penn's multidisciplined CBIR includes more than 20 principal investigators and their laboratory staff, collectively studying mechanisms, diagnosis and potential treatments of traumatic brain injury. Dr. Smith is also the director of a multicenter NIH program grant on mild traumatic brain injury and oversees an NIH brain injury training grant. His laboratory investigates the effects of mechanical stretch of 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 over 140 published reports.
Sherman Stein, MD
Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery
sherman.stein@uphs.upenn.edu
Dr. Stein was born in Philadelphia in 1942 and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963. He received his MD from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in 1967. After serving as a clinical associate in surgical neurology at the National Institutes of Health, he returned to the University of Pennsylvania for his neurosurgical residency. Dr. Stein has practiced at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Baystate Medical Center in Massachusetts, and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Currently retired from clinical practice, Dr. Stein is involved in neurosurgical research and resident teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, where he serves as clinical professor of neurosurgery. Author of 126 professional articles and book chapters, his present research interests include normal pressure hydrocephalus, traumatic brain injury, complications of subarachnoid hemorrhage and applications of decision analysis for neurosurgery.
Victoria E. Johnson, MD
Post-doctoral Researcher
vje@mail.med.upenn.edu
Dr. Johnson is a visiting scholar from the UK. She graduated from The University of Glasgow medical school in 2005, during which time she also completed an intercalated degree with honors in clinical neuroscience. Victoria is interested in neurodegeneration following head trauma and in understanding the links between head trauma and dementing disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. She also has a number of projects exploring various potential genetic influences on the pathological response to trauma.
Kristin Hamann, PhD, DVM
Post-doctoral Researcher
khamann@mail.med.upenn.edu
Dr. Hamann is a postdoctoral researcher interested in mechanisms of repair and degeneration following head trauma. She received her DVM and PhD from Purdue University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Texas A&M University with a BS in zoology and a Spanish minor. When she is not busy with research, she can be found backpacking in the mountains, adventure racing or participating in her favorite activity, rock climbing.
Kevin Browne, BS
Research Specialist
kbrowne@mail.med.upenn.edu
Kevin is interested in exploring the neurochemical changes associated with trauma, especially the relationship between axonal injury and amyloid beta production and buildup. His research examines the roles of A-beta anabolism and catabolism following brain injury in rats and pigs. In addition, he is currently directing research on blast-induced neurotrauma, focusing on the neuropathological sequelae that result from blast over-pressure. His work in this area centers on the glial response to injury as well as synaptic changes that may occur.
Isaac Chen, MD
Neurosurgery Resident
Isaac.Chen@uphs.upenn.edu
Isaac is a fourth-year neurosurgery resident with an interest in nervous system repair and functional restoration using both cellular and device-based approaches. He obtained his MD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007 and graduated from Harvard University in 2002 with an AB in biochemical sciences. His work in the lab focuses on applying the stretch-growth model to the brain and advancing prior work on neural-electric interfaces.
Timur Litvinov, MD, PhD
Visiting Scholar
Timur is a visiting scholar from Kazan, Russia, with 10 years of clinical experience as a neurosurgeon in traumatic brain injury (TBI). He received a PhD in 2009 after studying late neurological and psychological consequences of TBI, such as the post-concussion syndrome. He has found that the so called mild TBI may have long-term serious sequels, seemingly disproportionate to the severity of the head trauma. He has recently joined the Smith Lab to investigate new mechanisms of brain damage and neuronal regeneration and has been involved in a number of current and prospective experimental projects.
Andrew Jaye, BS
Lab Technician
ajaye@mail.med.upenn.edu
Andy is a biology graduate of Penn State University, with a focus in neuroscience. He assists with several projects throughout the lab including spinal cord injury, cortical axonal injury using in vitro model, stretch growth in dorsal root ganglion cells, and many more neurotrauma projects in the future.
