Suzanne Groah, MD, MSPH is the director of the Spinal Cord Injury and Disease Rehabilitation and Recovery Program and of Spinal Cord Injury Research at MedStar National Rehabilitation Network and Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Georgetown University.
Dr. Groah has been the Project Director of four federally-funded rehabilitation center grants: the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Secondary Conditions after Spinal Cord Injury (2003-2009 and 2009-2014), and the National Capital Spinal Cord Injury Model System (2006-2011 and 2021-2026). She has a subspecialty certification in spinal cord injury medicine from the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR) and has written for the ABPMR SCI Subspecialty Examination for the past three years. She has served as Editor of Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation and reviews regularly for the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spinal Cord, American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, and Journal of NeuroTrauma.
She has been an expert panel member for the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Consortium Guidelines on Bladder Management and the PVA Consortium Guideline on Carbohydrate and Lipid Disorders after SCI, and is currently an expert panel member for the upcoming PVA Consortium Guideline on Bladder Health. She is a member of the review panel for Spinal Cord Injury Research on the Translational Spectrum (SCIRTS) of the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation. Dr. Groah has been continually grant funded since 2003. She has received grant funding from NIDILRR/ACL, CDMRP, PCORI, and the Neilsen Foundation.
Prior to joining MedStar, Dr. Groah served for 3 years as the Director of Spinal Cord Injury at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California. After completing her residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dr. Groah completed a fellowship in Aging with Spinal Cord Injury and a fellowship in Neurorehabilitation at Craig Hospital. She received her MSPH from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and her medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia.
Dr. Groah's portfolio includes clinical and research leadership in the area of spinal cord injury and she has an extensive record of publications and conferences presentations on various topics related to rehabilitation and spinal cord injury.
Research Interests
Dr. Groah's research interests include
- Spinal cord injury
- Urinary tract infection
- Neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction
- Neurogenic bladder
- Neuromodulation
- Rehabilitation
Learn more about MedStar's neurology and rehabilitation research programs.
Selected research
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We recently complete work on a CDMRP study assessing dosing (2 vs 4 doses) of intravesical Lacticaceibacillus rhamnosus (LGG) for urinary symptoms among people with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction due to spinal cord injury. The majority of people in both groups (both 2- and 4-doses) met the study goal of at least a 20% reduction in symptoms. While this intervention remains experimental, this study supports continued advancement of this therapeutic option.
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Groah SL, Wolfe A. Urinary tract infection diagnosis among people with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction due to spinal cord injury and disease: time for a change. Topics SCI Rehabil 2025. Doi: 10.46292/sci24-00064.
In this paper we describe the problems with current diagnostics for urinary tract infection, as well as discuss potential novel diagnostics that may be used in the future. -
Groah SL, Rounds AK, Perez-Losada M. Intravesical Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG alters urobiome composition and diversity among people with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction. Top SCi Rehabil 2023;29(3):44-57. https://doi.org/10.46292/sci23-00004
In this paper we describe changes in the urobiome as a result of intravesical instillation of L. rhamnosus for urine symptoms.
Research Areas
- NeurosciencePhysical Medicine And Rehabilitation