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
Schwarz Lab Website

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
The exocyst component Sec5 is required for membrane traffic and polarity in the Drosophila ovary.
Authors: Authors: Murthy M, Schwarz TL.
Development
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Mitochondria are redistributed in Drosophila photoreceptors lacking milton, a kinesin-associated protein.
Authors: Authors: Górska-Andrzejak J, Stowers RS, Borycz J, Kostyleva R, Schwarz TL, Meinertzhagen IA.
J Comp Neurol
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Mutations in the exocyst component Sec5 disrupt neuronal membrane traffic, but neurotransmitter release persists.
Authors: Authors: Murthy M, Garza D, Scheller RH, Schwarz TL.
Neuron
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Hohenheimer Consensus Talk. Oxidative and premature skin ageing.
Authors: Authors: Biesalski HK, Berneburg M, Grune T, Kerscher M, Krutmann J, Raab W, Reimann J, Reuther T, Robert L, Schwarz T.
Exp Dermatol
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Axonal transport of mitochondria to synapses depends on milton, a novel Drosophila protein.
Authors: Authors: Stowers RS, Megeath LJ, Górska-Andrzejak J, Meinertzhagen IA, Schwarz TL.
Neuron
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Distribution of rSlo Ca2+-activated K+ channels in rat astrocyte perivascular endfeet.
Authors: Authors: Price DL, Ludwig JW, Mi H, Schwarz TL, Ellisman MH.
Brain Res
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Members of the synaptobrevin/vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP) family in Drosophila are functionally interchangeable in vivo for neurotransmitter release and cell viability.
Authors: Authors: Bhattacharya S, Stewart BA, Niemeyer BA, Burgess RW, McCabe BD, Lin P, Boulianne G, O'Kane CJ, Schwarz TL.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
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Response: meaningless minis?
Authors: Authors: Saitoe M, Schwarz TL, Umbach JA, Gundersen CB, Kidokoro Y.
Trends Neurosci
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Synaptotagmins I and IV promote transmitter release independently of Ca(2+) binding in the C(2)A domain.
Authors: Authors: Robinson IM, Ranjan R, Schwarz TL.
Nature
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Interleukin-12 suppresses ultraviolet radiation-induced apoptosis by inducing DNA repair.
Authors: Authors: Schwarz A, Ständer S, Berneburg M, Böhm M, Kulms D, van Steeg H, Grosse-Heitmeyer K, Krutmann J, Schwarz T.
Nat Cell Biol
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