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John W. Swann, Ph.D.
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| John W. Swann,
Ph.D. |
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Dr. John W. Swann is the scientific
director of Texas Children’s Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric
Neurology Research Foundation Laboratories, where clinicians and
research scientists are focused on understanding—and ultimately
curing—the causes of childhood seizure disorders. Dr. Swann and his
colleagues began their pursuit to cure intractable epilepsy by
examining brain tissue removed from children during surgery. Since
these children usually stopped having seizures after the surgery,
the researchers concluded
that the tissue samples contained the molecular flaws responsible
for the disorder. After studying all of the 35,000 genes, several
abnormalities were discovered, including many regulating the release
of excitatory chemicals capable of inducing seizures.
Dr. Swann’s work impacts real patients, but his story begins in the
lab. During his early career, he discovered that the immature rat
brain is much more vulnerable to seizures than the adult brain and
that there was something fundamentally different about brain
structure and function in the young animals. Realizing the possible
implications for human children, Dr. Swann sought a research
environment that would enable him to pursue the full ramifications
of this discovery and took a position at Texas Children’s.
Collaborations with neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropathologists
and neurophysiologists ensued, and his work has shown that
intractable focal seizures are related to problems in the early
growth and migration of neurons. With the help of developmental
neurobiologists and bioinformaticians, Dr. Swann’s laboratory is
identifying molecules that could correct these errors, and they are
testing these possible therapies in animal models.
Born in Washington, D.C., Swann earned his master’s and Ph.D.
degrees from the University of Maryland and then completed a
fellowship in neurophysiology at the Marin Biological Laboratory in
Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Shortly after, Dr. Swann worked as an
assistant, then associate Professor, at the State University of New
York at Albany in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Since 1992,
Dr. Swann has been a professor in the Department of Pediatrics and
Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Swann has been recognized with many
honors including the American Epilepsy Society Research Award and
the Javits NIH Neuroscience Investigator Award. He currently chairs
the NIH’s Developmental Brain Disorders Study Section. Additionally,
he serves as the first vice president of the American Epilepsy
Society and will assume its presidency in 2007.
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For
medical inquiries: contact
Blue Bird Clinic
for Pediatric Neurology at 832-822-5046
To learn more
about donating:
contact
the Office of Development
at
832-824-2719
© 2008 Texas Children's Hospital |
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