Biography

Dana Mathews, Ph.D., M.D., is a Professor of Radiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a member of its Radiology Research Division. Her clinical interests include positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) imaging.

Dr. Mathews holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and biology from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. She earned a master’s degree in psychology and a doctoral degree in clinical science at Emory University in Atlanta. After earning her medical degree at UT Southwestern, she received advanced training through fellowship programs in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at State University of New York in Stony Brook, and at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. She later returned to UT Southwestern to perform residencies in neurology and nuclear medicine. 

Dr. Mathews joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 1993 as a member of its Nuclear Medicine Division. She retired as a full professor in 2018, but returned as a part-time faculty member in the Radiology Research Division. Prior to joining the faculty at UT Southwestern, Dr. Mathews served as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington.

At UT Southwestern, she has dedicated her time to developing nuclear imaging programs on campus, forming the first nuclear medicine service at Zale Lipshy University Hospital, and overseeing the purchase and installation of the university's first PET scanner in 2001.

Dr. Mathews focuses her research on evaluating cerebral blood flow and metabolism. She has worked alongside campus neurologists, neurosurgeons, and neuroradiologists to measure cerebral blood flow in cerebrovascular disease. More recently, she has investigated glucose metabolism and amyloid deposition in dementia and head trauma. She has co-authored nearly 50 peer-reviewed publications with the results of her studies, and has frequently been invited to present her findings at professional conferences throughout the country and around the world. 

Dr. Mathews is a member of the Radiology Residency Review Committee, the Nuclear Medicine Residency Curriculum Committee, and the Nuclear Medicine Program Evaluation Committee. Her commitment to translating radiology research into clinical practice is evidenced by her participation on the Radioactive Drug Research Committee, as well as the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's Brain Imaging Council, for which she serves as vice president.

Education

Undergraduate
Wittenberg University (1973), Psychology
Graduate School
Emory University (1975), Psychology
Graduate School
Emory University (1976), Clinical Sciences
Medical School
Univ of Tx Southwestern Med Ct (1987), Medicine

Research Interest

  • Evaluation and measurements of cerebral blood flow and metabolism; general nuclear medicine.

Publications

Featured Publications LegendFeatured Publications

Infra-manubrial parathyroid glands in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism: Alternatives to sternotomy
Nwariaku FE, Burkey SH, Mathews D, Watumull LM, and Snyder WH. FE, Burkey SH, Mathews D, Watumull LM, and Snyder WH. World Journal of Surgery 2005 29 491-494.
. Infra-manubrial parathyroid glands in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism: Alternatives to sternotomy
NwariakuNwariaku FE, Burkey SH, Mathews D, Watumull LM, and Snyder WH. FE, Burkey SH, Mathews D, Watumull LM, and Snyder WH. World Journal of Surgery 2005 29 491-494.
Changes in regional cerebral blood flow distribution during postexercise hypotension in humans
Williamson JW, McColl R, and Mathews D. Journal of Applied Physiology 2004 96 719-724
Directed parathyroidectomy: Feasibility and performance in 100 consecutive patients with primary hyperparathyroidism
Burkey SH, Snyder WH, Nwariaku F, Watumull L, Mathews D Archives of Surgery 2003 138 604-609
Evidence for central command activation of the human insular cortex during exercise
Williamson JW, McColl R, Mathews D Journal of Applied Physiology 2003 94 1726-1734
Positron emission tomography in prostate and renal cell carcinoma
Mathews D and Oz OK Current Opinions in Urology 2002 12 381-385

Honors & Awards

  • Trustee, Southwest Chapter of Nuclear Medicine
    (2002)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

  • Society of Nuclear Medicine
  • Southwest Chapter of Society of Nuclear Medicine