Director of Academic Clinical Research, Orlando Health
Areas of expertise include but are not limited to:
- Emergency Medicine
- Trauma
- Traumatic Brain Injury/ Concussion
- Clinical Research
Linda Papa, MD, MSC, FACEP is a board certified emergency medicine physician and the director of Academic Clinical Research at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Dr. Papa led a study looking at biomarkers in the brain after mild traumatic brain injuries to determine severity on the injury. For more than a decade, Dr. Papa’s research has focused on the development of a blood test to detect brain injury and concussion after head trauma.
Dr. Papa is also highly active in teaching at the university level and has had appointments at three institutions in Florida. She is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine, was Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine, was Associate Professor at Florida State University’s College of Medicine, and finally, was Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine.
Dr. Papa received her medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where she also completed her residency. She completed a fellowship at the University of Ottawa before taking a position at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Dr. Papa is the principal investigator of a $2.25million dollar NIH funded clinical study to validate a blood test for traumatic brain injury that physicians could use to diagnose and treat patients after they have suffered a traumatic injury to the head. Results from her research are very promising and show that a blood test taken within hours of injury in the emergency department indicates how bad a brain injury or concussion is, in both children and adults. The blood test could be used in many situations including motor vehicle accidents, falls, sports injuries, and military service. She has published close to 250 original peer-reviewed research articles, book chapters, and abstracts and is the recipient of various awards, including America’s Top Emergency Physician and Patient’s Choice Award. Dr. Papa serves a reviewer for several federal funding agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Department of Defense.
