Michal Schwartz, PhD profile page

Schwartz is Professor of Neuroimmunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. She is the world pioneer in breaking the long-held dogma regarding the relationships between the central nervous system and the immune system. She introduced the current understanding that systemic immune cells are guardians of the brain, needed for life-long brain maintenance and repair. Based on her deep understanding of the brain-immune relationship, she proposed that senescence or exhaustion of the immune system plays a key role in brain aging, and in exacerbating Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other forms of dementia. She suggested a novel treatment for AD, currently in clinical trial, to harness the immune system to help the brain. The impact of her scientific insights is reflected in her extensive publication record in leading journals, and high citation number (H factor 124, Google Scholar; more than 60,000 citations), and her large number of invited lectures, including honorary, keynote, name and presidential lectures.