Top Researchers
Top Medicine Researchers at Drexel University for 2026
Drexel University’s recent Medicine scholarship spans clinical care, population health, rehabilitation, and device-focused research, showing how broad medical inquiry can be when it is connected to real-world problems. Over the past year, the institution’s researchers have contributed work across surgery, epidemiology, public health, and mental health.
Below, you’ll find a snapshot of the people shaping that activity, along with the themes that appear most often in their recent publications. Together, these patterns offer a useful view of where Drexel’s medical research community has been concentrating its efforts recently.
Featured Researchers
Laura N. Gitlin
Laura N. Gitlin’s recent Drexel University work centers on dementia care, with attention to psychiatric health, occupational therapy, and home-based reablement approaches.
Activity over the last year: 23 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Effectiveness of the Interdisciplinary Home-bAsed Reablement Programme (I-HARP) on improving functional independence of people living with dementia: a multicentre, pragmatic, randomised, open-label, controlled trial (Jan 2025)
- Nonpharmacological Pain Management for People With Dementia: A Scoping Review Mapping Research Gaps From a Pragmatic Lens (Mar 2025)
- Fidelity matters: implementing ADS Plus, an evidence-based program, in multiple adult day service sites (Jul 2025)
Asif M. Ilyas
Asif M. Ilyas has been publishing on surgery and rehabilitation topics, including xylazine-associated wounds, medical cannabis in pain care, and changing fracture treatment trends.
Activity over the last year: 16 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- The Management of Upper-Extremity Xylazine-Associated Wounds (Jan 2025)
- Patterns, Efficacy, and Cognitive Effects of Medical Cannabis Use in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain Patients (May 2025)
- Changing Demographic and Treatment Trends of Proximal Humerus Fractures: A TriNetX Analysis of 74,781 Patients (Aug 2025)
Stephen E. Lankenau
Stephen E. Lankenau’s recent Drexel University publications examine medical cannabis use through a public health and epidemiology lens, especially among parents and people managing pain or anxiety.
Activity over the last year: 14 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Role Strain Among Parents Who are Medical Cannabis Patients in Pennsylvania (Aug 2025)
- Mothers and fathers who use medical cannabis: A comparison of sociodemographic characteristics, cannabis use, and health (Oct 2025)
- Cannabis Practices and Cannabinoid/Terpene Preferences in Medical Cannabis Patients Who Use Cannabis for Pain and Anxiety (Jul 2025)
Steven M. Kurtz
Steven M. Kurtz is focusing on arthroplasty outcomes and implant performance, with recent work on patient-reported measures, metal release, and sleeve corrosion.
Activity over the last year: 14 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- Patient-reported outcome measures offer little additional value two years after arthroplasty (Mar 2025)
- Metal Release in Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Review of Mechanisms, Adverse Local Tissue Reactions, and Biological Effects (Mar 2025)
- Crevice Corrosion Degrades Metaphyseal Sleeves Following Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Retrieval Study (Jun 2025)
Heinz Drexel
Heinz Drexel’s recent publications address dyslipidaemia management and cardiovascular risk, including guideline updates and combination-therapy strategies.
Activity over the last year: 13 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- 2025 Focused Update of the 2019 ESC/EAS Guidelines for the management of dyslipidaemias (Aug 2025)
- Expert opinion on the integration of combination therapy into the treatment algorithm for the management of dyslipidaemia: the integration of ezetimibe and bempedoic acid may enhance goal attainment (Mar 2025)
- Relation of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein, and Lipoprotein(a) Each to Future Cardiovascular Events and Death After Acute Coronary Syndrome on High-Intensity Statin Therapy: An Analysis of the Placebo Arm of ODYSSEY OUTCOMES (Apr 2025)
Robert T. Sataloff
Robert T. Sataloff’s recent Drexel University work spans voice and laryngeal care, from vocal fold masses and dystonia treatment to cases involving rheumatologic disease.
Activity over the last year: 11 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
Arthur L. Frank
Arthur L. Frank’s recent publications focus on occupational and environmental exposure risks, including asbestos hazards and cancer reporting policy.
Activity over the last year: 12 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
Alexis M. Roth
Alexis M. Roth is publishing on HIV prevention and service delivery, with recent qualitative work on PrEP choices and syringe services programs.
Activity over the last year: 12 indexed journal articles.
Top publications:
- “The Simplest Way to Go”: An Exploration of Why Women Who Inject Drugs Chose Long-Acting Injectable Cabotegravir Instead of Daily Oral PrEP (Aug 2025)
- HIV Services Implementation Within US Syringe Services Programs: A Qualitative Exploration (Sep 2025)
- The Landscape of HIV Services Delivery in U.S. Syringe Services Programs: A Qualitative Exploration of Current Models and Opportunities (Feb 2025)
What Drexel University's Medicine Community Is Working On
Across these featured researchers, the most common subfields point to a community actively working at the intersection of surgery, epidemiology, and public health. That mix suggests a strong emphasis on both clinical outcomes and the systems that shape care delivery, from implant performance and fracture management to HIV services and environmental exposure risk. Psychiatry and mental health, along with pulmonary and respiratory medicine, also appear repeatedly, reflecting continued attention to dementia care, voice and laryngeal health, and occupational hazards that affect respiratory well-being.- Surgery - seen across 3 of the featured researchers
- Epidemiology - seen across 3 of the featured researchers
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health - seen across 3 of the featured researchers
- Psychiatry and Mental health - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine - seen across 2 of the featured researchers
These recent publications show a community working across bedside care, service delivery, and population-level questions, with a strong focus on practical impact. If you’re exploring how researchers organize, format, and prepare manuscripts for submission, Resub can help streamline that workflow so you can spend more time on the science itself.
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