Rachelle L. Crescenzi, Ph.D.

Rachelle L. Crescenzi, PhD, is a translational imaging scientist and Associate Professor in the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). She studied Physics at the University of Delaware and received a Bachelors of Science degree with honors in January 2009. She completed undergraduate internships at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Pennsylvania where she was first introduced to radiology. In 2015, she earned her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania in the Center for Magnetic Resonance and Optical Imaging (CMROI). Her postdoctoral training in the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science (VUIIS) focused on clinical vascular imaging in patients with lymphatic disease. She was awarded a postdoctoral research fellowship through the Lipedema Foundation (2015-2017), and a career development award through the American Heart Association before joining the VUMC faculty in 2018.

Dr. Crescenzi’s research focuses on developing advanced imaging tools to address clinical needs for 1) objective diagnostic criteria for lipedema, 2) risk assessment for lymphedema and fibrosis secondary to lymph node removal, and 3) radiologic markers of salt sensitive blood pressure. Dr. Crescenzi is a member of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM, since 2009), the Fat Disorders Resource Society (FDRS, since 2015), the Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN, since 2015), the American Heart Association (AHA, since 2018), and The Obesity Society (TOS, since 2018).

Publications

Petersen KJ, Garza M, Donahue PMC, Harkins KD, Marton A, Titze J, Donahue MJ, Crescenzi R. Neuroimaging of Cerebral Blood Flow and Sodium in Women with Lipedema. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2020 Jul; 28(7): 1292-300. PMID: 32568462, PMCID: PMC7360333, DOI: 10.1002/oby.22837, ISSN: 1930-739X.

Crescenzi R, Donahue PMC, Petersen KJ, Garza M, Patel N, Lee C, Beckman JA, Donahue MJ. Upper and Lower Extremity Measurement of Tissue Sodium and Fat Content in Patients with Lipedema. Obesity (Silver Spring) [print-electronic]. 2020 May; 28(5): 907-15. PMID: 32270924, PMCID: PMC7180116, DOI: 10.1002/oby.22778, ISSN: 1930-739X.

Crescenzi R, Donahue PM, Braxton VG, Scott AO, Mahany HB, Lants SK, Donahue MJ. 3.0 T relaxation time measurements of human lymph nodes in adults with and without lymphatic insufficiency: Implications for magnetic resonance lymphatic imaging. NMR Biomed [print-electronic]. 2018 Dec; 31(12): e4009. PMID: 30311705, PMCID: PMC6263822, DOI: 10.1002/nbm.4009, ISSN: 1099-1492.

Crescenzi R, Marton A, Donahue PMC, Mahany HB, Lants SK, Wang P, Beckman JA, Donahue MJ, Titze J. Tissue Sodium Content is Elevated in the Skin and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue in Women with Lipedema. Obesity (Silver Spring) [print-electronic]. 2018 Feb; 26(2): 310-7. PMID: 29280322, PMCID: PMC5783748, DOI: 10.1002/oby.22090, ISSN: 1930-739X.

Crescenzi R, Donahue PMC, Hartley KG, Desai AA, Scott AO, Braxton V, Mahany H, Lants SK, Donahue MJ. Lymphedema evaluation using noninvasive 3T MR lymphangiography. J Magn Reson Imaging [print-electronic]. 2017 Nov; 46(5): 1349-60. PMID: 28245075, PMCID: PMC5573666, DOI: 10.1002/jmri.25670, ISSN: 1522-2586.

Donahue PM, Crescenzi R, Scott AO, Braxton V, Desai A, Smith SA, Jordi J, Meszoely IM, Grau AM, Kauffmann RM, Sweeting RS, Spotanski K, Ridner SH, Donahue MJ. Bilateral Changes in Deep Tissue Environment After Manual Lymphatic Drainage in Patients with Breast Cancer Treatme
A complete list of Dr. Crescenzi’s publications can be found at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1nKf6JFqWGG5x/bibliography/public/