Mena T. Scavina, DO
NeurologyPrimary Office
Get to Know Me
My interest in muscular dystrophy started early on. As kids, my brother, sister, and I were always very active in sports and dance. We loved watching the Jerry Lewis telethons and would even host our own backyard festivals to raise money.Why I Treat Children
During my training, I helped run a muscular dystrophy association clinic and learned how to treat children with a variety of complex disease processes early on. After that experience, I felt compelled to go into pediatrics. For me, it was the place to be.What I'm Passionate About
When a child has a chronic medical issue, it affects the whole family. So I always want to be there for those in my care – I’m happy to be part of their lives. I also feel strongly that it’s important for physicians to keep a hand in research. I obtained a patent related to genetic testing for spinal muscular atrophy.How I Try to Make A Difference
I do my best to make visits more enjoyable and develop a relationship with the kids I care for. If we can make little things happen for them – equipment for the home, medications, anything to make life less of a hassle – it makes a big difference. I also worked with the team that developed the Wilmington Robotic EXoskelton (WREX).Education & Training
Fellowship
- Neuromuscular - Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, 1996
- MDA Research Fellowship - The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 1995
Internship
- Medical - Mountainside Hospital, 1991
- Rotating - Kennedy Health Systems, 1990
Residency
- Neurology - Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 1994
Medical/Dental School
- Osteopathic Physician - University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 1989
Board Certifications
- American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Awards & Recognition
- 2016 Philadelphia Magazine's Top Doctors
- 2017 Castle Connelly Exceptional Women In Medicine
- 2017 Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Award
- 2017 Philadelphia Magazine's Top Doctors
Insurance Accepted
- Aetna Better Health PA Kids HMO
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna PPO/POS/EPO
- Amerihealth Caritas Delaware
- Carefirst MD Community Health Plan Mcaid
- Cigna Lifesource Transplant
- Cigna/Great West HMO EPO POS
- Cigna/Great West PPO
- Delaware First Health
- Delaware Medicaid/Diamond State
- Delaware Medicare
- Devon Health Services
- Fidelis Care NJ Medicaid HMO
- First Health/Affordable PPO
- Geisinger Health Plan Commercial
- Global Medical Managment DE/PA
- Health Partners Medicaid/Kidz Partner HMO
- Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware Traditional
- Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delware HMO PPO POS EPO
- Highmark Medicaid Health Options
- Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield NJ HMO
- Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NJ PPO
- Independence Blue Cross/Amerihealth/Keystone HMO PPO
- Insurance Administrators of America
- INTEGRA Administrative Group (ClaimsBridge)
- Keystone First Medicaid HMO
- Lifetrac Transplant
- Maryland Medicaid
- Multiplan PPO
- National Transplant (Humana)
- Pennsylvania Medicaid
- Plan Vista/NPPN PPO
- Preferred Healthcare PPO
- Private Health Care Systems (PHCS)
- Qualcare HMO/POS/PPO
- Star Healthcare Network
- Three Rivers Provider Network
- Tricare/Humana Military Health Services
- United Healthcare of the Mid-Atlantic
- UPMC MCAID/CHIP PA DE
- Wellpoint Maryland Medcaid
- Myasthenia Gravis
- Myotonic Dystrophy
- Neuromuscular Disorders
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy
Research Activities
I’m involved in research in a variety of movement disorders, as well as surgical techniques and other ways to treat and manage musculoskeletal diseases.
Medical Interests
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
- Hypotonia
- Metabolic mitochondrial diseases
- Mycopathologies
- Myotonic dystrophy
- Neuromuscular diseases
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
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Apkon, S., Kinnett, K., Cripe, L., Duan, D., Jackson, J. L., Kornegay, J. N., & Flanigan, K. M. (2021). Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy Females with Dystrophinopathy Conference, Orlando, Florida June 26 - June 27, 2019. Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases, 8(2), 315-322. doi:10.3233/JND-200555
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Stabley, D. L., Holbrook, J., Scavina, M., Crawford, T. O., Swoboda, K. J., Robbins, K. M., & Butchbach, M. E. R. (2021). Detection of SMN1 to SMN2 gene conversion events and partial SMN1 gene deletions using array digital PCR. Neurogenetics, 22(1), 53-64. doi:10.1007/s10048-020-00630-5
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Dankwa, L., Richardson, J., Motley, W. W., Scavina, M., Courel, S., Bardakjian, T., & Scherer, S. S. (2019). A novel MFN2 mutation causes variable clinical severity in a multi-generational CMT2 family. Neuromuscular Disorders, 29(2), 134-137. doi:10.1016/j.nmd.2018.12.008
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Burns, D. T., Donkervoort, S., Muller, J. S., Knierim, E., Bharucha-Goebel, D., Faqeih, E. A., & Bonnemann, C. G. (2018). Variants in EXOSC9 Disrupt the RNA Exosome and Result in Cerebellar Atrophy with Spinal Motor Neuronopathy. American Journal of Human Genetics, 102(5), 858-873. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.03.011
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Chen, D.-H., Ma, M., Scavina, M., Blue, E., Wolff, J., Karna, P., & Bird, T. D. (2018). An 8-generation family with X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth: Confirmation Of the pathogenicity Of a 3' untranslated region mutation in GJB1 and its clinical features. Muscle and Nerve, 57(5), 859-862. doi:10.1002/mus.26037
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Brenn, B. R., Theroux, M. T., Shah, S. A., Mackenzie, W. G., Heinle, R., & Scavina, M. T. (2018). Critical airway stenosis in an adolescent male with pompe disease and thoracic lordosis: A case report. In 100 Selected Case Reports from Anesthesia and Analgesia. doi:10.1213/XAA.0000000000000564
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Pode-Shakked, B., Barash, H., Ziv, L., Gripp, K. W., Flex, E., Barel, O., & Raas-Rothschild, A. (2017). Microcephaly, intractable seizures and developmental delay caused by biallelic variants in TBCD: further delineation of a new chaperone-mediated tubulinopathy. Clinical Genetics, 91(5), 725-738. doi:10.1111/cge.12914
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Gripp, K. W., Baker, L., Kandula, V., Conard, K., Scavina, M., Napoli, J. A., & Keppler-Noreuil, K. M. (2016). Nephroblastomatosis or Wilms tumor in a fourth patient with a somatic PIK3CA mutation. American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A, 170(10), 2559-2569. doi:10.1002/ajmg.a.37758
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Jensen, B. S., Willer, T., Saade, D. N., Cox, M. O., Mozaffar, T., Scavina, M., & Mathews, K. D. (2015). GMPPB-Associated Dystroglycanopathy: Emerging Common Variants with Phenotype Correlation. Human Mutation, 36(12), 1159-1163. doi:10.1002/humu.22898
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Stabley, D. L., Harris, A. W., Holbrook, J., Chubbs, N. J., Lozo, K. W., Crawford, T. O., & Butchbach, M. E. R. (2015). Smn1 and smn2 copy numbers in cell lines derived from patients with spinal muscular atrophy as measured by array digital pcr. Molecular Genetics and Genomic Medicine, 3(4), 248-257. doi:10.1002/mgg3.141
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