Russell H. Swerdlow, MD

Professional Background

Dr. Russell Swerdlow is a professor in the Departments of Neurology, Cell Biology & Anatomy, and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City, Kansas, and in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy in Lawrence, Kansas. He directs the University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, its Neurodegenerative Disorders Program, and the Heartland Center for Mitochondrial Medicine. He received undergraduate and MD degrees from New York University and trained as a neurologist and Alzheimer’s specialist at the University of Virginia. He holds the Gene and Marge Sweeney Chair at the University of Kansas and is a recipient of an S. Weir Mitchell Award from the American Academy of Neurology, a Cotzias Award from the American Parkinson’s Disease Association, a Chancellor’s Club Research Award from the University of Kansas, a Dolph Simons Research Achievement Award in the Biomedical Sciences from the University of Kansas, and the Oskar Fischer Prize. In 2025, he was named a University Distinguished Professor. From 2017-2021 he sat on the NIA Board of Scientific Counselors. He previously chaired the CurePSP Foundation's Research Committee and chaired the Commonwealth of Virginia's Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Commission. He currently serves on advisory committees for several biomedical Foundations, and on the editorial boards of several biomedical research journals. In 2026 he was appointed to the National Advisory Council on Aging. Dr. Swerdlow’s research focuses on brain energy metabolism, its role in Alzheimer’s disease, and its therapeutic manipulation.

Dr. Swerdlow has over 30 years of experience in the evaluation and treatment of patients with memory complaints, cognitive disorders, and behavioral disorders.

• BA, Psychobiology, New York University
• MD, Medicine, New York University
• Internship, Internal Medicine, University of Virginia
• Residency, Neurology, University of Virginia
• Clinical Fellowship, Geriatric Neuropsychiatry, University of Virginia / Western State Hospital
• Post Doctoral Fellowship, Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Virginia

• American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
• Medical Doctor (MD), Kansas State Board of Healing Arts

• Alzheimer's Drug Development Foundation, Alzheimer's Drug Development Foundation Clinical Advisory Board, Member, 2014 - Present
• American Academy of Neurology, Alliance Awards Subcommittee, Member, 2001 - 2007
• Society for Neuroscience, Member, 1999 - Present
• American Academy of Neurology, Member, 1992 - Present

Research

Overview

My research focuses on why brain bioenergetic function declines with advancing age, why brain bioenergetic changes are accentuated in neurodegenerative disease states, and how to repair and reverse age-and-neurodegeneration-related bioenergetic dysfunction. I began this line of investigation as an undergraduate trainee, and as a medical student I continued my research training as part of my university’s Research Honors Program. During my post-graduate neurology training I focused on studies of mitochondrial function and genetics in a basic science laboratory. Following my residency, I served as a postdoctoral fellow in a mitochondria-focused laboratory. With the support of a K08 Award I transitioned to an independent investigator, and since then I have continuously pursued my research program. My research has covered several research disciplines, including basic, translational, and clinical research and I have served as a principal investigator on multiple types of NIH grants with a cumulative portfolio value of over $40 million. The central components of my research program are captured by my previously described "Alzheimer's Disease Mitochondrial Cascade Hypothesis." The sum of my experience to date puts me in a good position pursue a broad range of research projects relating to brain bioenergetics, brain aging, and neurodegenerative diseases.

• Weidling IW, Wilkins HM, Koppel SJ, Hutfles L, Wang X, Kalani A, Menta BW, Ryan B, Perez-Ortiz J, Gamblin TC, Swerdlow RH. 2020. Mitochondrial DNA Manipulations Affect Tau Oligomerization.. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 77 (1), 149-163
• Andrews SJ, Fulton-Howard B, Patterson C, McFall GP, Gross A, Michaelis EK, Goate A, Swerdlow RH, Pa J. 2020. Mitonuclear interactions influence Alzheimer's disease risk.. Neurobiology of aging, 87, 138.e7-138.e14
• Swerdlow RH. 2020. The mitochondrial hypothesis: Dysfunction, bioenergetic defects, and the metabolic link to Alzheimer's disease.. International review of neurobiology, 154, 207-233
• Vidoni ED, Choi IY, Lee P, Reed G, Zhang N, Pleen J, Mahnken JD, Clutton J, Becker A, Sherry E, Bothwell R, Anderson H, Harris RA, Brooks W, Wilkins HM, Mosconi L, Burns JM, Swerdlow RH. 2020. Safety and target engagement profile of two oxaloacetate doses in Alzheimer's patients.. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association
• Swerdlow RH. 2018. Mitochondria and Mitochondrial Cascades in Alzheimer's Disease.. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 62 (3), 1403-1416
• Swerdlow RH, Burns JM, Khan SM. 2014. The Alzheimer's disease mitochondrial cascade hypothesis: progress and perspectives.. Biochimica et biophysica acta, 1842 (8), 1219-31
• Rademakers R, Baker M, Nicholson AM, Rutherford NJ, Finch N, Soto-Ortolaza A, Lash J, Wider C, Wojtas A, DeJesus-Hernandez M, Adamson J, Kouri N, Sundal C, Shuster EA, Aasly J, MacKenzie J, Roeber S, Kretzschmar HA, Boeve BF, Knopman DS, Petersen RC, Cairns NJ, Ghetti B, Spina S, Garbern J, Tselis AC, Uitti R, Das P, Van Gerpen JA, Meschia JF, Levy S, Broderick DF, Graff-Radford N, Ross OA, Miller BB, Swerdlow RH, Dickson DW, Wszolek ZK. 2011. Mutations in the colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) gene cause hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with spheroids.. Nature genetics, 44 (2), 200-5
• Swerdlow RH, Parks JK, Cassarino DS, Maguire DJ, Maguire RS, Bennett, Jr JP, Davis RE, Parker, Jr WD. 1997. Cybrids in Alzheimer's disease: a cellular model of the disease?. Neurology, 49 (4), 918-25
• Swerdlow RH, Parks JK, Miller SW, Tuttle JB, Trimmer PA, Sheehan JP, Bennett, Jr JP, Davis RE, Parker, Jr WD. 1996. Origin and functional consequences of the complex I defect in Parkinson's disease.. Annals of neurology, 40 (4), 663-71