Biography
Patricia McSweeney Arenth, PhD is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and director of the Division of Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Psychology. Dr. Arenth is also the associate director for Resident Research. She is currently the primary psychologist for the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute inpatient SCI program at Mercy Hospital. She is also a member of the research faculty at the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, a joint venture between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

During her doctoral program, she worked as a clinical research assistant at Dodd Hall at the Ohio State University Medical Center. Her predoctoral internship was completed at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, with a focus on neuropsychology and behavioral medicine, and an externship in rehabilitation psychology. She completed a post doctoral fellowship in 2005 in neuropsychology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. She has been a faculty member of this department since 2005.

CONTACT
412-232-8918
arenthpm@upmc.edu

Specialized Areas of Interest
Neuropsychological rehabilitation, memory and executive functioning, neuropsychological testing and neuroimaging techniques to study cognitive functioning, neuropharmacology, adjustment to disability issues after sci and tbi

Board Certifications
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Psychology License

Professional Organization Membership
The American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association, Rehabilitation Psychology Division 22
The American Psychological Association, Clinical Psychology Division 40
Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals
American college of Rehabilitation Medicine

Education & Training
BA, Psychology, University of Notre Dame, 1985
MA, Counseling Psychology, University of Notre Dame,1990
PhD, Counseling Psychology, Ohio State University, 2003

Selected Publications
1. A Dopamine Pathway Gene Risk Score for Cognitive Recovery Following Traumatic Brain Injury: Methodological Considerations, Preliminary Findings, and Interactions With Sex. Myrga JM, Failla MD, Ricker JH, Dixon CE, Conley YP, Arenth PM, Wagner AK.J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2015 Nov 17

2. Persistent Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism in Men After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Temporal Hormone Profiles and Outcome Prediction. Juengst SB, Graham KM, Pulantara IW, McCue M, Whyte EM, Dicianno BE, Parmanto B, Arenth PM, Skidmore ER, Wagner AK. Brain Inj. 2015;29(11):1351-61. doi: 10.3109/02699052.2015.1045031. Epub 2015 Aug 7. PMID: 26287756

3. Preliminary Associations Between Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Memory Impairment, Functional Cognition, and Depressive Symptoms Following Severe TBI.Failla MD, Juengst SB, Arenth PM, Wagner AK. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2015 Aug 13. pii: 1545968315600525. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 26276123 Barton DJ, Kumar RG, McCullough EH, Galang G, Arenth PM, Berga SL, Wagner AK. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2015 Sep 10. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 26360007

Dr. Arenth's publications on PubMed.

Research Activites
Dr. Arenth’s primary clinical and research interests are in rehabilitation and optimizing outcome following traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, including adjustment to disability, coping and well-being for patients and families, and neuropsychological outcome. She is a Co-Director of the NIDDLR funded University of Pittsburgh TBI Model Systems Grant. Additional areas of clinical research have included functional neuroimaging, psychopharmacology and cognition following traumatic brain injury. She also works closely with Dr. Amy Wagner on the application of a Rehabilomics framework to TBI. Dr. Arenth is also interested in the application of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for emotional, physical, and cognitive recovery after significant illness.