Bjoern Schwer, MD, PhD
Research Interests: DNA repair, genome stability, chromatin regulation, transcriptional regulation, cell cycle regulation, brain cancer, neural stem cells
The Schwer lab investigates mechanisms of genomic instability and DNA repair in neural lineage cells to answer fundamental questions about the development and progression of brain cancers and ultimately develop curative approaches. Based on basic research findings from the Schwer lab, current efforts include the development of targeted therapeutic modalities for glioblastoma and other brain tumors. Our ultimate goal is to reduce therapeutic resistance and enhance the overall efficacy of glioblastoma treatment, ultimately leading to more effective and lasting treatment options.
2003: MD, University of Heidelberg, Germany
2005: PhD, University of Heidelberg, Germany
2007: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, San Francisco
2010: Research Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School
2010-2014: Instructor, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
2014-2016: Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
2016-2022: Assistant Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery, UCSF
2016-Present: Core Member, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, UCSF
2016-Present: Associate Member, Neurologic Oncology (Cancer Genetics), Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCSF
2022-Present: Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Surgery, UCSF
2023-Present: Associate Professor, Department of Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology, UCSF
2024: Deleage Prize, Deleage Foundation
2023: Keynote Lecture, Annual DFG Research Meeting on “Physiological causes and consequences of genome instability”, University of Cologne, Germany
2021–2022: Investigator Award, Bakar Aging Research Institute (BARI)
2021–2023: Carol and Gene Ludwig Award for Early Career Research
2019: Keynote Lecture, 5th Annual Charbonneau Cancer Research Symposium, University of Calgary, Canada
2017–2019: Kimmel Scholar, Sidney Kimmel Foundation
2016–2018: UCSF Brain Tumor SPORE Career Enhancement Award
2013–2015: V Scholar, Martin D. Abeloff Award, The V Foundation for Cancer Research
2012–2017: NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development Award
2008–2010: Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR Fellowship Award
Long neural genes harbor recurrent DNA break clusters in neural stem/progenitor cells
Wei PC, Chang AN, Kao J, Du Z, Meyers RM, Alt FW, Schwer B.
Cell. 2016 Feb 11;164(4):644-55.
Neural blastocyst complementation enables mouse forebrain organogenesis
Chang AN, Liang Z, Dai HQ, Chapdelaine-Williams AM, Andrews N, Bronson RT, Schwer B, Alt FW.
Nature. 2018 Nov;563(7729):126-130.
Direct analysis of brain phenotypes via neural blastocyst complementation
Dai HQ, Liang Z, Chang AN, Chapdelaine-Williams AM, Alvarado B, Pollen AA, Alt FW, Schwer B.
Nat Protoc. 2020 Oct;15(10):3154-3181.
Relationships between genome-wide R-loop distribution and classes of recurrent DNA breaks in neural stem/progenitor cells
Thongthip S, Carlson A, Crossley MP, Schwer B.
Sci Rep. 2022 Aug 4;12(1):13373.
Type-I-interferon-responsive microglia shape cortical development and behavior
Escoubas CC, Dorman LC, Nguyen PT, Lagares-Linares C, Nakajo H, Anderson SR, Barron JJ, Wade SD, Cuevas B, Vainchtein ID, Silva NJ, Guajardo R, Xiao Y, Lidsky PV, Wang EY, Rivera BM, Taloma SE, Kim DK, Kaminskaya E, Nakao-Inoue H, Schwer B, Arnold TD, Molofsky AB, Condello C, Andino R, Nowakowski TJ, Molofsky AV.
Cell. 2024 Apr 11;187(8):1936-1954.e24.
PRDM6 promotes medulloblastoma by repressing chromatin accessibility and altering gene expression
Schmidt C, Cohen S, Gudenas BL, Husain S, Carlson A, Westelman S, Wang L, Phillips JJ, Northcott PA, Weiss WA, Schwer B.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jul 12;14(1):16074.
Endogenous neuronal DNA double-strand breaks are not sufficient to drive brain aging and neurodegeneration
Cohen S, Cheradame L, Pratt KJB, Collins S, Barillas A, Carlson A, Ramani V, Legube G, Villeda SA, Mullins RD, Schwer B.
bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Oct 23:2024.10.22.619740. doi: 10.1101/2024.10.22.619740.