Deborah A. Crane, MD, MPH

Title: Professor, Chief of Service, Harborview Medical Center; Medical Director, Inpatient Rehabilitation, Harborview Medical Center
Division: General Physiatry

Deborah A. Crane, MD, MPH is a neuro-rehabilitation and spinal cord injury (SCI) medicine physician. She is a professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and a board-certified rehabilitation medicine physician who is also sub-specialty board certified in spinal cord injury (SCI) medicine. She is the medical director of the inpatient rehabilitation unit and the Chief of Service for rehabilitation medicine at Harborview Medical Center. She possesses clinical expertise in acute and chronic SCI, trauma rehabilitation and spasticity management. Her research interests include health services, epidemiology and outcomes related to secondary conditions of SCI.

Dr. Crane strives to help patients optimize their quality of life after a significant injury or illness. To this end, she works closely with many rehabilitation professionals including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, rehabilitation nurses, psychologists, social workers, and recreational therapists to individualize patients’ rehabilitation plans and to help them achieve the greatest functional outcomes.

Education and Training

  • BS, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, 1999 
  • MD, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 2005 
  • MPH (Epidemiology), Tulane University, School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 2005 
  • Internship, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, 2006 
  • Residency, University of Washington School of Medicine Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seattle, WA, 2009 
  • Fellowship, Spinal Cord Injury Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seattle, WA, 2009

Board Certification

  • Board Certification in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
  • Subspecialty in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Medicine, American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Notable Awards

  • 2011: AAPMR Neurological Best Research Presentations, American Academy for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R)
  • 2020: PM&R Best Original Research Award, Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (FPM&R)

Clinical Interests

  • Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) 
  • Neurorehabilitation 
  • Trauma rehabilitation 
  • Spasticity management

Teaching Interests

  • Clinical training of medical students, rehabilitation medicine residents, and SCI medicine fellows.

Research Interests

  • Health services 
  • Epidemiology and outcomes related to secondary conditions of SCI

Recent Publications

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UW Department of Rehabilitation Medicine  
325 Ninth Avenue, Box 359612  
Seattle, WA 98104 
rehab@uw.edu | 206.543.3600 

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