UC Davis Health
Department of Neurological Surgery

Zwienenberg Research | Neurological Surgery | UC Davis Health

Zwienenberg Research

Zwienenberg, M.D. conducting surgery
  • Marike Zwienenberg, M.D.
    Principal Investigator

    Marike Zwienenberg, M.D.

    Marike Zwienenberg, M.D., is fellowship trained and board certified in general Neurological Surgery and Pediatric Neurological Surgery.

    Zwienenberg's research interests include studying the effects of injury to the developing brain and the long-term impact on neurological functioning and developmental outcome. Her clinical research interests include the development of clinical guidelines and decision instruments to optimize the care of children with traumatic brain injury, and she has validated and adapted guidelines to optimize our emergency triage and best identify children who need TBI care at a regional specialized center. 

    In craniofacial surgery, one of her major clinical interests, she has collaborated for many years with the UC Davis Health Pediatric Genetics team exploring the genetic basis of non-syndromic sagittal and metopic synostosis. More recently her work has focused on optimizing surgical treatment of craniosynostosis, including evaluation of minimally invasive endoscopic spring distraction as well as comparing 3D Virtual Surgical Planning to intra-operative Augmented Reality.

  • Research Goals

    Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can have a longstanding impact on the health and wellbeing of children as they grow up. Access to high level TBI care in a regional Level 1 trauma center is necessary for some children to achieve optimal outcomes. Research indicates that other children can achieve similar outcomes if they are cared for outside a regional center, reducing utilization of the most specialized medical and personal resources for cases where they are not needed and thereby improving access to tertiary care for the children in whose lives it will make a real difference. UC Davis Health has developed clinical and imaging guidelines to optimize emergency triage and best identify children who need TBI care at a regional center. The team is currently studying the implementation of these guidelines and expanding implementation studies to include our regional network of referring hospitals.

  • Current Projects

    Development of a novel regional Telehealth program for children with mild TBI and intracranial injury: In this project, a collaboration of multiple departments within UC Davis Health, the aim is to treat children definitively at the emergency department of origin instead of transferring them to a regional medical center like UC Davis Health. Referring physicians are supported with telehealth provided by our expert pediatric neurosurgery and trauma teams. Structured long-term follow up is organized in a dedicated TBI Telehealth clinic to ensure children receive equitable care, regardless of where they are treated initially. The associated research projects focus on outcome, utilization of health care resources and patient experience.