Swanson Lab

Dr. Swanson is a physician scientist who specializes in metabolic bone disease and disorders of calcium and vitamin D metabolism. Her clinical research program, funded by the NIH since 2016, focuses on the skeletal effects of disrupted sleep. Data suggest that insufficient amounts of sleep and/or alternative sleep schedules (e.g., night shift work) may be novel risk factors for impaired bone health including osteoporosis and fracture.

She is an ISCD-certified clinical densitometrist and serves as the Medical Director for the High-Resolution peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (HR-pQCT) device, which was obtained through a collaborative S10 grant from NIGMS in 2019.

Research Topics


1

Novel Risk Factors for Osteoporosis

Identification of novel risk factors helps to prevent and treat disease. Dr. Swanson’s lab is interested in investigating novel risk factors for osteoporosis, including disrupted sleep.

2

Skeletal Effects of Disrupted Sleep

Dr. Swanson’s clinical research program investigates the relationship between sleep and bone health using interventional and observational studies. 

Interested in participating in Dr. Swanson’s research? We are looking for healthy men and women to study the effects of sleep disruption on bone.

Learn More
3

High Resolution peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (HR-pQCT)

Dr. Swanson serves as the Medical Director for the XtremeCT II HR-pQCT scanner (SCANCO Medical). The device can be used for clinical research studies. Find additional information about the scanner, including seed grant opportunities, at the link below.

HR-pQCT Imaging at CU-AMC
CMS Login