Michal Schwartz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michal Schwartz
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| Born | 1 January 1950 Tel Aviv, Israel
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| Nationality | Israeli |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neuroimmunology |
| Institutions | Weizmann Institute of Science |
| Doctoral students |
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Michal Schwartz (born 1 January 1950) is a professor who studies the brain and the immune system. She works at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. Her special field is called neuroimmunology.
Professor Schwartz studies how our body's defense system, the immune system, can help the brain. She focuses on serious brain diseases like Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Her research shows that the immune system is very important for keeping the brain healthy. It also helps the brain heal after an injury or when it gets sick.
She came up with the idea of "protective autoimmunity". This means that sometimes, the immune system can protect the body, even when it reacts to its own parts. She found that special immune cells help repair the brain and even grow new brain cells. Since 2016, she has been the leader of the International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI). In 2023, she won the important Israel Prize for her work in life sciences.
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Learning and Education
Michal Schwartz started her science journey at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She earned her first degree in chemistry in 1972. Then, in 1977, she received her Ph.D. in Immunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science. This is where she would later spend most of her career. She also spent some time at the University of Michigan in the United States. There, she researched how nerves can grow back after damage.
Discoveries and Research
At the Weizmann Institute, Professor Schwartz became a full professor in 1998. In 2016, she was given a special professorship in Neuroimmunology. Her work has looked at many brain problems. These include injuries, diseases that damage the brain over time, mental health issues, and how the brain changes as we get older.
She showed that certain immune cells, like macrophages and T cells, help repair the spinal cord. She also found special areas in the brain where the brain and the immune system "talk" to each other. This communication is key for sending immune cells to the brain and keeping it healthy. If this communication breaks down, it can lead to brain aging and diseases.
Her research also showed that problems with the mother's immune system during pregnancy can affect a baby's brain development. This might be linked to certain brain development problems in children. Recently, she has also explored using treatments for cancer to help treat brain diseases like Alzheimer's.
Immune Cells and the Brain
Professor Schwartz's team found that certain immune cells, called macrophages, are needed to fix injuries in the brain and spinal cord. These macrophages come from the bone marrow. They are different from other immune cells that already live in the brain. Both types of cells have important jobs in helping the brain recover from swelling or injury.
Helpful Autoimmunity
Normally, we think of "autoimmunity" as bad, like when the immune system attacks the body by mistake. But Professor Schwartz discovered something different. She found that to heal from brain injuries, the immune system needs to respond in a helpful way. She called this "protective autoimmunity". It's different from harmful autoimmune diseases because this response stays under control. Over time, it became clear that this helpful immune response brings in other important cells. These cells help clean up damaged areas and control swelling in the brain.
Brain Health and Immune System
Professor Schwartz's team found that immune cells, especially T cells, help the healthy brain in many ways. They support our ability to think and learn. They also help new brain cells grow throughout life and keep the brain flexible. These discoveries showed how closely the brain and immune system work together.
The Brain's Special Gateway
Professor Schwartz's team found a special place in the brain called the choroid plexus (CP). This area acts like a gateway between the brain and the immune system. It holds immune cells and lets other immune cells enter the brain. Her team showed that a signal called IFN-γ helps control this gateway.
They also found that in older brains or in people with brain diseases, this gateway doesn't work as well. This problem comes from both the brain and the aging immune system. They identified another signal, IFN-I, at the CP that can be harmful to the aging brain. Other scientists later found similar IFN-I signals in Alzheimer's disease and in the brains of people who died from COVID-19.
New Treatments for Brain Diseases
Because the immune system is so important for brain health and repair, Professor Schwartz suggested a new way to treat diseases like Alzheimer's. These diseases often happen as people get older, and the immune system also changes with age.
She proposed boosting the immune system using a type of treatment called immunotherapy. This involves gently blocking a pathway called PD1/PD-L1. This treatment helps the body's own immune cells, like macrophages and regulatory T cells, to clear harmful substances from the brain. It also helps stop swelling in the brain. This could be a way to treat many problems that happen in Alzheimer's disease at once.
Professor Schwartz has patents for this immunotherapy for Alzheimer's. A company called Immunobrain Checkpoint is now working on this. They are preparing for a clinical trial to test this treatment in people with Alzheimer's disease. This work is supported by important groups like the National Institute of Aging and The Alzheimer's Association.
Mentoring Students
Professor Schwartz has guided many students in their scientific careers. She has mentored about 40 students for their Ph.D. degrees and around 39 students for their Master's degrees. Some of her former Ph.D. students include Jonathan Kipnis, Noga Ron Harel, Jasmin Fisher, and Asya Rolls.
