M. Schwartz

Michal Schwartz is a Professor of neuroimmunology at The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Schwartz was the first to claim that the integrity of the immune system is pivotal for neural tissue survival and repair. She pioneered the concept of “protective autoimmunity” and its role in CNS maintenance, cognitive activity, and cell renewal from adult stem cells in the healthy and the diseased CNS. Her work has led to a paradigm shift in the perception of central issues in immunology, neurobiology, and adult neural stem cells by suggesting, against the common wisdom, that immune surveillance by autoreactive T cells maintain, fight off, and correct dysfunction of the CNS. Her publications include numerous peer-reviewed articles and invited reviews, many of which appear in the highest ranked journals. Schwartz has received a number of prestigious awards for her research, including the 2002 Friedenwald Award. She was appointed by the American Spinal Cord Injury Association, to the Distinguished G. Heiner Sell Memorial Lectureship in 2002 for outstanding achievement in the field of spinal cord injury. Lately she was one of the recipients of the The Mental Health Research Association (NARSAD) Distinguished Investigative Award. She has developed a cell-based therapy, based on the therapeutic activity of immune cells, for partial recovery after severe spinal cord injury. Her novel view of the cross-talk between the immune and the nervous systems is a basis for development of therapeutic vaccinations, and for searching for biological markers for chronic neurodegenerative disorders.

Biography Updated on 27 June 2007

Scholarly Contributions [Data Provided by ]