Assistant Professor

Areas of Interest
pediatric plastic surgery, tissue engineering, tracking patient-reported and postoperative outcomes, AI-assisted generative patient education and assessment tools

Biography

Dr. Shelby Svientek is an assistant professor in the UAB Division Plastic Surgery. She joined the faculty of the UAB Department of Surgery in 2025.

After earning a Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois, Dr. Svientek earned her medical degree from the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Svientek completed the Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency and the Pediatric Plastic and Craniofacial Surgery Fellowship at the University of Michigan. During her training, she conducted research as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) F32 postdoctoral research fellow, and was the AO Foundation’s Craniomaxillofacial (CMF) North America fellow.

Dr. Svientek’s research interests include tissue engineering and related neuromuscular interfaces that facilitate rapid detection of motor intent to provide physiologic control of advanced prosthetics; tracking patient-reported and postoperative outcomes following gender affirming and, separately/unrelated, pediatric plastic surgery; and developing artificial intelligence-assisted generative patient education and assessment tools for the pediatric surgical population.

Honors and Awards

Best Paper Award, American Society for Peripheral Nerve Annual Meeting, Waikoloa, Hawaii - 2025

AO CMF North America Fellow - 2023-2024

Best Paper Award, Dingman Society Research Day, Ann Arbor, MI - 2023

Best Paper Award, Michigan Academy of Plastic Surgeons Biennial Meeting, Mackinac Island, Michigan - 2021

Best Scientific Paper Award, Michigan Academy of Plastic Surgeons Biennial Meeting, Mackinac Island, Michigan - 2021

Best Paper Award, American Society for Peripheral Nerve Annual Meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida - 2020

PSF Pilot Research Grant, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI - 2020

Selected Publications

 Hoelzle, D. J., Svientek, S. R., Alleyne, A. G., and Wagoner Johnson, A. J. Design and Manufacture of Combinatorial Calcium Phosphate Bone Scaffolds. ASME. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. October 2011; 133(10): 101001

Hoelzle, D. J., Svientek, S. R., Alleyne, A. G., and Wagoner Johnson, A. J. Manufacturing controls for the fabrication of tissue scaffolds with graded microstructures. 2011. Materials Science and Technology. 2011. 2. 1469-1476.

S. Svientek, J. Levine, M.D. Pediatric Burns of the Hand. April 2015, Plastic Surg Nurs 35(2)

S. Svientek, MD, D. Ursu, PhD, P. Cederna, MD, S. Kemp, PhD. Fabrication of the Composite Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (C-RPNI) in the Adult Rat. Journal of Visualized Experiments. (156), e60841, doi:10.3791/60841 (2020).

Bratley, J. V., Ursu, D. C., Svientek, S. R., Kubiak, C. A., Moon, J. D., Patil, P. G., Kung, T. A., Cederna, P. S., & Kemp, S. Electrophysiological and Histological Evaluation of Composite Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interfaces for Closed-loop Neuroprosthetic Control. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open, 8(4), 130-131.doi.org/10.1097/ 01.GOX.0000667820.53453.4d

S Svientek, M.D., SWP Kemp, Ph.D., P Cederna, M.D., T Kung, M.D. The Clinical Significance of a Swollen Neuroma: A Meaningful Distinction or an Incidental Finding? Annals of Palliative Medicine. 2020 Nov;9(6):4412-4415. Doi: 10.21037/apm-20-1021. PMID: 33183022.

Dehdashtian, A, Bratley J, Svientek, S, Kung, T, Awan, T, Cederna, P, Kemp, S. “Autologous fat grafting for nerve regeneration and neuropathic pain: Current state from bench-to-bedside.” Regenerative Medicine. December 2020. 15:10, 2209-2228. DOI 10.2217/rme-2020-0103

M. Lane, M. Kirsch, E. Sluiter, S. Svientek, J. Hamill, S. Morrison, G. Ives, E. Alman, R. Gilman, W. Kuzon, P. Cederna, E. Wilkins. “Gender Affirming Mastectomy Improves Quality of Life in Transmasculine Patients: A Single-Center Prospective Study. Annals of Surgery. August 2021. Doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005158

S Svientek* and C Kubiak*, A Dehdashtian, N Lawera, V Nadarajan, J Bratley, T Kung, P Cederna, S Kemp. Physiologic Signaling and Viability of the Muscle Cuff Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (MC-RPNI) for Intact Peripheral Nerves. Journal of Neural Engineering. August 2021. 18(0460d5). DOI 10.1088/1741-2552/ac1b6b.

S Svientek, J Wisely, A Dehdashtian, J Bratley, P Cederna, S Kemp. The Muscle Cuff Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (MC-RPNI): A surgical method to facilitate amplification of intact peripheral nerve signals. Journal of Visualized Experiments. January 2022. Doi: 10.3791/63222

Issa, C ; Svientek, S ; Dehdashtian, A; Cederna, P; Kemp, S. Pathophysiological and Neuroplastic Changes in Postamputation and Neuropathic Pain: Review of the Literature. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open: September 2022 – Volume 10 – Issue 9 – p e4549 doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000004549

A Dehdashtian, J Timek, S Svientek, M Risch, J Bratley, A Riegger, T Kung, P Cederna, S Kemp. Sexually Dimorphic Pattern of Pain Mitigation Following Prophylactic Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (RPNI) in a Rat Neuroma Model. Neurosurgery, 93(5), 1192-1201, 2023.

S. Vittert, M. Daniel, S. Svientek, M. Risch, N. Nelson, A. Donneys, A. Dehdashtian, G. Sacks, S. Buchman, S. Kemp. Pain Hypersensitivity, Sensorimotor Impairment, and Decreased Muscle Force in a Novel Rat Model of Radiation Induced Peripheral Neuropathy. Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System, 29(4), 505-513, 2024, DOI: 10.1111/jns.12654.

H. Prescher, S. Svientek, M. Habeshy, S. Kasten, S. Buchman, C. Vercler. Unexpected Outcomes: Late Fat Hypertrophy and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Following Fat Grafting to the Posterior Pharynx for Velopharyngeal Insufficiency. The Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal. Accepted December 2024.

Education

Medical School
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

Residency
University of Michigan
Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency

Fellowship
University of Michigan 
Pediatric Plastic and Craniofacial Surgery Fellowship

Contact

Phone
Patient Appointments and Questions: 205-801-8500 (Adults) 205-638-5388 (Pediatrics)
Academic Office: 205-934-2307

Email
srsvientek@uabmc.edu