Research Assistant Professor of Neurology
Phone: (412) 647-3783
e-mail: pindzolarr@upmc.edu

Specialized Areas of Interest

Cerebrovascular stroke; cognitive function; plaque characteristics; cerebral blood flow; genetics of stroke.

Biography

Ronda R. Pindzola, PhD, MPH, is a research assistant professor of neurology. She received her PHD degree in December 1984 from the University of Delaware and her MPH degree in August 2004 from the University of Pittsburgh. From 1986 to 1992 she held three postdoctoral positions at The Ohio State University with Dr. George Martin, at Case Western Reserve University with Dr. Jerry Silver, and at the University of Pittsburgh with Dr. Richard Koerber where she held an NRSA training fellowship. She was previously a member of the Society for Neuroscience and is now a member of the stroke council of the American Heart Association.

Dr. Pindzola began her career as a neuroanatomist studying the evolutionary characteristics of the reptilian olfactory system and moved on to the study of neurotransmitter systems in the developing opossum. She spent several years studying the development of inhibitory molecules, regeneration and plasticity of the spinal cord in rats. In 1994 she made a transition to clinical research when she became associated with Howard Yonas, MD, and began performing clinical studies concerning stroke risk prediction with cerebral blood flow methods. Her research interests include the use of cerebral blood flow methods for predicting the ischemic penumbra during acute stroke, evaluation of plaque characteristics and hemodynamic compromise in patients with carotid stenosis, cognitive status of patients with cerebrovascular disease and development of neuroprotective agents for stroke. She is currently involved in several research projects designed to assess whether cerebral blood flow measurements would be useful for selecting candidates for surgery among patients with internal carotid artery (ICA) disease. She previously held a Pittsburgh Foundation grant, and NIH R03, and an NIH K award. She is presently seeking funding from NIH and the American Heart Association. Currently Dr. Pindzola is developing a line of research to study the genetic determinants of plasticity and regeneration during acute stroke.

Dr. Pindzola and her colleagues compared positron emission tomography oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) to Xenon/CT cerebral blood flow (CBF) cerebrovascular reserve (CVR) for use in predicting hemodynamic compromise in patients with carotid occlusion. Their conclusion was that CVR has potential to be utilized as a diagnostic technology for patients with ICA occlusion, since it can identify hemodynamic failure and poses less technical burden and expense than PET OEF. In a previous publication by Dr. Pindzola, transcranial Doppler was shown to have 33% sensitivity when compared to Xe/CT CBF, and to be unable to separate those with mildly compromised reserves from those with severely compromised reserves as assessed by Xe/CT CBF. Dr. Pindzola and her collaborators evaluated hemodynamic status in 78 patients with symptomatic internal carotid artery occlusion by NIRS, TCD and Xe/CT CBF, with acetazolamide.

Dr. Pindzola is involved in an industry sponsored study entitled "A prospective collection of safety data related to respiratory slowing and apnea for Xenon-CT imaging for the purposes of measuring cerebral blood flow (CBF) in patients with a spectrum of neurological conditions”. In addition Dr. Pindzola is a co-investigator on the “Quantitative occlusive vascular disease study,” an NIH funded study to Edwin Nemoto, PhD.

Dr. Pindzola's publications can be reviewed through the National Library of Medicine's publication database.