Rachelle Crescenzi, PhD
Rachelle Crescenzi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is supported by the Lipedema Foundation, Fat Disorders Research Society (FDRS), and Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN) to research an understudied lymphatic fat disorder called lipedema. Her research focuses on developing clinical molecular MRI techniques to measure tissue sodium, protein, and fat accumulation in diseases of impaired lymphatic vascular clearance as part of the lymphatic team in The Center for Transational Vascular and Physiological Imaging. Her research seeks to address the clinical need for 1) differential diagnostics of lipedema, 2) risk assessment for the development of lymphedema secondary to lymph node removal, and 3) treatment optimization of lymphatic therapies.
She brings with her prior experience in neuroimaging of glutamate metabolism and histopathology of neurodegenerative disease processes from her graduate training at the Center for Magnetic Resonance and Optical Imaging at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. Coincidental with labmate Spencer Waddle, she also completed her bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Delaware, and now enjoys living down south with her husband, two children, and their menagerie.