Dr. Gwendolyn A. Sowa is a nationally recognized physician-scientist and leader in musculoskeletal rehabilitation, with a distinguished career spanning clinical care, translational research, and academic leadership. She serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where she also holds joint appointments in Orthopaedic Surgery, Bioengineering, and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. She is Director of the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute and Medical Director of UPMC Total Care–Musculoskeletal Health, a multidisciplinary program integrating physiatry, physical therapy, psychology, nutrition, and sleep medicine to personalize care and improve outcomes.
Dr. Sowa’s work integrates molecular biology, biomechanics, and clinical analytics to inform individualized treatment strategies for low back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions. She co-directs the Ferguson Laboratory for Orthopaedic and Spine Research and serves as Co-Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded BACPAC Mechanistic Research Center, focusing on comprehensive phenotyping of people with low back pain through biology, biomechanics, and behaviors to guide precision medicine approaches to improve outcomes.
Dr. Sowa has authored more than 120 original research articles and has been continuously funded by the NIH, VA, and other federal agencies. She is a board-certified physiatrist and maintains an active clinical practice. A dedicated mentor, she has trained over 90 medical and graduate trainees, many of whom have received national and international recognition for their work.
She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has held leadership roles in numerous professional organizations, including serving as President of the Association of Academic Physiatrists. Her honors include the PASSOR Legacy Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and multiple best paper awards from the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine.
Dr. Sowa earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Lafayette College, followed by a PhD in Biochemistry and an MD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She completed her residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now Shirley Ryan Ability Lab).
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