Middle‑aged person with short, dark, wavy hair smiles softly at the camera. They are wearing a dark blue shirt, and the background shows a bright room with large windows and blurred office equipment.”

Thomas Schwarz, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology in the Department of Neurology
Boston Children's Hospital

Thomas Schwarz, Ph.D. – Faculty Profile

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Title: Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology in the Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital.

The Aim

The Schwarz Lab studies the inner workings of neurons, including how they transport essential materials and how mitochondria sustain them. The lab aims to reveal how breakdowns in these processes contribute to disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and optic neuropathy.

The Impact

The Schwarz Lab investigates how nerve cells keep their many parts healthy and connected, focusing on how organelles like mitochondria or molecules like RNA are delivered across long distances. By uncovering the basics of nerve cell maintenance and transport, their work sheds light on how failures in these systems can lead to disorders like Parkinson’s disease and neuropathy. Their research bridges fundamental cell biology and neuroscience, helping to reveal how brain cells grow, adapt, and break down in both health and disease.

A Closer Look

Article: How Mitochondria Stay Still in Neurons , The Scientist, March 2024. This article explains how brain cells use a helper protein to hold their “power plants” (mitochondria) in the right spots so they can reliably fuel learning and memory.

Article: New Research Offers Hope to Preserve Vision in Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy , News Medical Life Sciences, July 2025. The article describes how Dr. Thomas Schwarz’s team discovered that shutting down a single protein called SARM1 in a mouse model can protect the eye’s vision‑carrying nerve cells, offering a promising new path to preserve sight in people with autosomal dominant optic atrophy.

Contact

Email: thomas.schwarz@childrens.harvard.edu
Lab website: www.schwarzlab.org

Publications View
Kymolyzer, a Semi-Autonomous Kymography Tool to Analyze Intracellular Motility.
Authors: Authors: Basu H, Ding L, Pekkurnaz G, Cronin M, Schwarz TL.
Curr Protoc Cell Biol
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QuoVadoPro, an Autonomous Tool for Measuring Intracellular Dynamics using Temporal Variance.
Authors: Authors: Basu H, Schwarz TL.
Curr Protoc Cell Biol
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A High-Content Screen Identifies TPP1 and Aurora B as Regulators of Axonal Mitochondrial Transport.
Authors: Authors: Shlevkov E, Basu H, Bray MA, Sun Z, Wei W, Apaydin K, Karhohs K, Chen PF, Smith JLM, Wiskow O, Roet K, Huang X, Eggan K, Carpenter AE, Kleiman RJ, Schwarz TL.
Cell Rep
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The light-sensitive dimerizer zapalog reveals distinct modes of immobilization for axonal mitochondria.
Authors: Authors: Gutnick A, Banghart MR, West ER, Schwarz TL.
Nat Cell Biol
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Kinetochore Proteins Have a Post-Mitotic Function in Neurodevelopment.
Authors: Authors: Zhao G, Oztan A, Ye Y, Schwarz TL.
Dev Cell
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The EANM practical guidelines for sentinel lymph node localisation in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.
Authors: Authors: Giammarile F, Schilling C, Gnanasegaran G, Bal C, Oyen WJG, Rubello D, Schwarz T, Tartaglione G, Miller RN, Paez D, van Leeuwen FWB, Valdés Olmos RA, McGurk M, Delgado Bolton RC.
Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging
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Search for the Exotic Meson X(5568) with the Collider Detector at Fermilab.
Authors: Authors: Aaltonen T, Amerio S, Amidei D, Anastassov A, Annovi A, Antos J, Apollinari G, Appel JA, Arisawa T, Artikov A, Asaadi J, Ashmanskas W, Auerbach B, Aurisano A, Azfar F, Badgett W, Bae T, Barbaro-Galtieri A, Barnes VE, Barnett BA, Barria P, Bartos P, Bauce M, Bedeschi F, Behari S, Bellettini G, Bellinger J, Benjamin D, Beretvas A, Bhatti A, Bland KR, Blumenfeld B, Bocci A, Bodek A, Bortoletto D, Boudreau J, Boveia A, Brigliadori L, Bromberg C, Brucken E, Budagov J, Budd HS, Burkett K, Busetto G, Bussey P, Butti P, Buzatu A, Calamba A, Camarda S, Campanelli M, Canelli F, Carls B, Carlsmith D, Carosi R, Carrillo S, Casal B, Casarsa M, Castro A, Catastini P, Cauz D, Cavaliere V, Cerri A, Cerrito L, Chen YC, Chertok M, Chiarelli G, Chlachidze G, Cho K, Chokheli D, Clark A, Clarke C, Convery ME, Conway J, Corbo M, Cordelli M, Cox CA, Cox DJ, Cremonesi M, Cruz D, Cuevas J, Culbertson R, d'Ascenzo N, Datta M, de Barbaro P, Demortier L, Deninno M, D'Errico M, Devoto F, Di Canto A, Di Ruzza B, Dittmann JR, Donati S, D'Onofrio M, Dorigo M, Driutti A, Ebina K, Edgar R, Elagin A, Erbacher R, Errede S, Esham B, Farrington S, Fernández Ramos JP, Field R, Flanagan G, Forrest R, Franklin M, Freeman JC, Frisch H, Funakoshi Y, Galloni C, Garfinkel AF, Garosi P, Gerberich H, Gerchtein E, Giagu S, Giakoumopoulou V, Gibson K, Ginsburg CM, Giokaris N, Giromini P, Glagolev V, Glenzinski D, Gold M, Goldin D, Golossanov A, Gomez G, Gomez-Ceballos G, Goncharov M, González López O, Gorelov I, Goshaw AT, Goulianos K, Gramellini E, Grosso-Pilcher C, Guimaraes da Costa J, Hahn SR, Han JY, Happacher F, Hara K, Hare M, Harr RF, Harrington-Taber T, Hatakeyama K, Hays C, Heinrich J, Herndon M, Hocker A, Hong Z, Hopkins W, Hou S, Hughes RE, Husemann U, Hussein M, Huston J, Introzzi G, Iori M, Ivanov A, James E, Jang D, Jayatilaka B, Jeon EJ, Jindariani S, Jones M, Joo KK, Jun SY, Junk TR, Kambeitz M, Kamon T, Karchin PE, Kasmi A, Kato Y, Ketchum W, Keung J, Kilminster B, Kim DH, Kim HS, Kim JE, Kim MJ, Kim SH, Kim SB, Kim YJ, Kim YK, Kimura N, Kirby M, Kondo K, Kong DJ, Konigsberg J, Kotwal AV, Kreps M, Kroll J, Kruse M, Kuhr T, Kurata M, Laasanen AT, Lammel S, Lancaster M, Lannon K, Latino G, Lee HS, Lee JS, Leo S, Leone S, Lewis JD, Limosani A, Lipeles E, Lister A, Liu Q, Liu T, Lockwitz S, Loginov A, Lucchesi D, Lucà A, Lueck J, Lujan P, Lukens P, Lungu G, Lys J, Lysak R, Madrak R, Maestro P, Malik S, Manca G, Manousakis-Katsikakis A, Marchese L, Margaroli F, Marino P, Matera K, Mattson ME, Mazzacane A, Mazzanti P, McNulty R, Mehta A, Mehtala P, Mesropian C, Miao T, Mietlicki D, Mitra A, Miyake H, Moed S, Moggi N, Moon CS, Moore R, Morello MJ, Mukherjee A, Muller T, Murat P, Mussini M, Nachtman J, Nagai Y, Naganoma J, Nakano I, Napier A, Nett J, Nigmanov T, Nodulman L, Noh SY, Norniella O, Oakes L, Oh SH, Oh YD, Okusawa T, Orava R, Ortolan L, Pagliarone C, Palencia E, Palni P, Papadimitriou V, Parker W, Pauletta G, Paulini M, Paus C, Phillips TJ, Piacentino G, Pianori E, Pilot J, Pitts K, Plager C, Pondrom L, Poprocki S, Potamianos K, Pranko A, Prokoshin F, Ptohos F, Punzi G, Redondo Fernández I, Renton P, Rescigno M, Rimondi F, Ristori L, Robson A, Rodriguez T, Rolli S, Ronzani M, Roser R, Rosner JL, Ruffini F, Ruiz A, Russ J, Rusu V, Sakumoto WK, Sakurai Y, Santi L, Sato K, Saveliev V, Savoy-Navarro A, Schlabach P, Schmidt EE, Schwarz T, Scodellaro L, Scuri F, Seidel S, Seiya Y, Semenov A, Sforza F, Shalhout SZ, Shears T, Shepard PF, Shimojima M, Shochet M, Shreyber-Tecker I, Simonenko A, Sliwa K, Smith JR, Snider FD, Song H, Sorin V, St Denis R, Stancari M, Stentz D, Strologas J, Sudo Y, Sukhanov A, Suslov I, Takemasa K, Takeuchi Y, Tang J, Tecchio M, Teng PK, Thom J, Thomson E, Thukral V, Toback D, Tokar S, Tollefson K, Tomura T, Tonelli D, Torre S, Torretta D, Totaro P, Trovato M, Ukegawa F, Uozumi S, Vázquez F, Velev G, Vellidis C, Vernieri C, Vidal M, Vilar R, Vizán J, Vogel M, Volpi G, Wagner P, Wallny R, Wang SM, Waters D, Wester WC, et al.
Phys Rev Lett
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Combined Forward-Backward Asymmetry Measurements in Top-Antitop Quark Production at the Tevatron.
Authors: Authors: Aaltonen T, Abazov VM, Abbott B, Acharya BS, Adams M, Adams T, Agnew JP, Alexeev GD, Alkhazov G, Alton A, Amerio S, Amidei D, Anastassov A, Annovi A, Antos J, Apollinari G, Appel JA, Arisawa T, Artikov A, Asaadi J, Ashmanskas W, Askew A, Atkins S, Auerbach B, Augsten K, Aurisano A, Aushev V, Aushev Y, Avila C, Azfar F, Badaud F, Badgett W, Bae T, Bagby L, Baldin B, Bandurin DV, Banerjee S, Barbaro-Galtieri A, Barberis E, Baringer P, Barnes VE, Barnett BA, Barria P, Bartlett JF, Bartos P, Bassler U, Bauce M, Bazterra V, Bean A, Bedeschi F, Begalli M, Behari S, Bellantoni L, Bellettini G, Bellinger J, Benjamin D, Beretvas A, Beri SB, Bernardi G, Bernhard R, Bertram I, Besançon M, Beuselinck R, Bhat PC, Bhatia S, Bhatnagar V, Bhatti A, Bland KR, Blazey G, Blessing S, Bloom K, Blumenfeld B, Bocci A, Bodek A, Boehnlein A, Boline D, Boos EE, Borissov G, Bortoletto D, Borysova M, Boudreau J, Boveia A, Brandt A, Brandt O, Brigliadori L, Brochmann M, Brock R, Bromberg C, Bross A, Brown D, Brucken E, Bu XB, Budagov J, Budd HS, Buehler M, Buescher V, Bunichev V, Burdin S, Burkett K, Busetto G, Bussey P, Buszello CP, Butti P, Buzatu A, Calamba A, Camacho-Pérez E, Camarda S, Campanelli M, Canelli F, Carls B, Carlsmith D, Carosi R, Carrillo S, Casal B, Casarsa M, Casey BCK, Castilla-Valdez H, Castro A, Catastini P, Caughron S, Cauz D, Cavaliere V, Cerri A, Cerrito L, Chakrabarti S, Chan KM, Chandra A, Chapelain A, Chapon E, Chen G, Chen YC, Chertok M, Chiarelli G, Chlachidze G, Cho K, Cho SW, Choi S, Chokheli D, Choudhary B, Cihangir S, Claes D, Clark A, Clarke C, Clutter J, Convery ME, Conway J, Cooke M, Cooper WE, Corbo M, Corcoran M, Cordelli M, Couderc F, Cousinou MC, Cox CA, Cox DJ, Cremonesi M, Cruz D, Cuevas J, Culbertson R, Cuth J, Cutts D, Das A, d'Ascenzo N, Datta M, Davies G, de Barbaro P, de Jong SJ, De La Cruz-Burelo E, Déliot F, Demina R, Demortier L, Deninno M, Denisov D, Denisov SP, D'Errico M, Desai S, Deterre C, DeVaughan K, Devoto F, Di Canto A, Di Ruzza B, Diehl HT, Diesburg M, Ding PF, Dittmann JR, Dominguez A, Donati S, D'Onofrio M, Dorigo M, Driutti A, Drutskoy A, Dubey A, Dudko LV, Duperrin A, Dutt S, Eads M, Ebina K, Edgar R, Edmunds D, Elagin A, Ellison J, Elvira VD, Enari Y, Erbacher R, Errede S, Esham B, Evans H, Evdokimov A, Evdokimov VN, Farrington S, Fauré A, Feng L, Ferbel T, Fernández Ramos JP, Fiedler F, Field R, Filthaut F, Fisher W, Fisk HE, Flanagan G, Forrest R, Fortner M, Fox H, Franc J, Franklin M, Freeman JC, Frisch H, Fuess S, Funakoshi Y, Galloni C, Garbincius PH, Garcia-Bellido A, García-González JA, Garfinkel AF, Garosi P, Gavrilov V, Geng W, Gerber CE, Gerberich H, Gerchtein E, Gershtein Y, Giagu S, Giakoumopoulou V, Gibson K, Ginsburg CM, Ginther G, Giokaris N, Giromini P, Glagolev V, Glenzinski D, Gogota O, Gold M, Goldin D, Golossanov A, Golovanov G, Gomez G, Gomez-Ceballos G, Goncharov M, González López O, Gorelov I, Goshaw AT, Goulianos K, Gramellini E, Grannis PD, Greder S, Greenlee H, Grenier G, Gris P, Grivaz JF, Grohsjean A, Grosso-Pilcher C, Grünendahl S, Grünewald MW, Guillemin T, Guimaraes da Costa J, Gutierrez G, Gutierrez P, Hahn SR, Haley J, Han JY, Han L, Happacher F, Hara K, Harder K, Hare M, Harel A, Harr RF, Harrington-Taber T, Hatakeyama K, Hauptman JM, Hays C, Hays J, Head T, Hebbeker T, Hedin D, Hegab H, Heinrich J, Heinson AP, Heintz U, Hensel C, Heredia-De La Cruz I, Herndon M, Herner K, Hesketh G, Hildreth MD, Hirosky R, Hoang T, Hobbs JD, Hocker A, Hoeneisen B, Hogan J, Hohlfeld M, Holzbauer JL, Hong Z, Hopkins W, Hou S, Howley I, Hubacek Z, Hughes RE, Husemann U, Hussein M, Huston J, Hynek V, Iashvili I, Ilchenko Y, Illingworth R, Introzzi G, Iori M, Ito AS, Ivanov A, Jabeen S, Jaffré M, James E, Jang D, Jayasinghe A, Jayatilaka B, Jeon EJ, Jeong MS, Jesik R, Jiang P, Jindariani S, Johns K, Johnson E, Johnson M, Jonckheere A, Jones M, Jonsson P, Joo KK, Joshi J, Jun SY, Jung AW, Junk TR, Juste A, Kajfasz E, Kambeitz M, Kamon T, Karchin PE, Karmanov D, et al.
Phys Rev Lett
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Mitostasis in Neurons: Maintaining Mitochondria in an Extended Cellular Architecture.
Authors: Authors: Misgeld T, Schwarz TL.
Neuron
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The Mammalian-Specific Protein Armcx1 Regulates Mitochondrial Transport during Axon Regeneration.
Authors: Authors: Cartoni R, Norsworthy MW, Bei F, Wang C, Li S, Zhang Y, Gabel CV, Schwarz TL, He Z.
Neuron
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