Biography
Jan Schwab, MD PhD is a physician-scientist and board-certified Neurologist specialized on spinal cord injury (SCI). His main interest is focused on deciphering the underlying pathomechanisms of the maladaptive immune response after CNS injury. In addition, he has an interest to develop and apply tools to improve prediction of animal models for clinical trials, reduce inherent bias and increase experimental value in SCI research.
After internships at Tel Aviv and Cornell University he received his MD from the University of Tuebingen followed by a PhD from the Max Planck Research School. He completed Neurological residency at the Charité – School of Medicine Berlin. Subsequently to his Habilitation in “Experimental Neuropathology” he was appointed as CNRS and DFG-scholarship-fellow at the Université Pierre et Maire Curie in Paris and Harvard Medical School in Boston. 2015 he became appointed as W.E. Hunt & WE Curtis chair at the Ohio State University.
Main research contributions were i) unmasking non-resolving aspects of the inflammatory response after human CNS injury (2000-2004), ii) in-vivo evidence for active resolution of inflammation (2005-2007), iii) the identification of the spinal cord injury-induced immune deficiency syndrome (2003-ongoing), iv) and the designation of infections as negative disease modifying factor after SCI (2012-ongoing).
Clinical Research Areas
Protection of the intrinsic recovery potential after spinal cord injury. Resolution of inflammation in the lesioned CNS.
Control of the CNS on the immune system.
Honors, Awards & Service
2015 Member of the NINDS – Spinal Cord Injury – Common-data-element oversight-committee.
2015 Section-Head „Spinal Cord Injury“ CAMARADES Collaboration.
2015 Tator-Turnbull lecturer, Krembil Neuroscience Program, Toronto University.
2014 Editorial Member „Evidence-based preclinical Medicine“.
2012 “ISCoS” Award (International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS)) (Paraplegiology).
2012 Editorial-Board-Member ‘Journal of Neuroimmunology’.
2012 German medical delegation (Federal Foreign Ministry) ‘Victims of the Revolution’, Tunesia.
2011 “Novartis Award”, German Society of Pharmacology and Toxicology (DGPT).
2010 Editorial-Board-Member ‘Brain’.
2006 “Sir Ludwig Guttmann Award” (German Medical Society for Paraplegia, DMGP). 2005 “German Pain Award”, German Pain Society (DGSS)).
2005 “Hannelore Kohl Foundation/Kuratorium CNS-Award” (Neurotraumatology).
2005 “DFG-Research Fellowship”, Boston.
2004 “Poste Rouge-Award”, CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientific), Paris. 2002 “Young Scientist”, German-Israeli Foundation, Research & Development (G.I.F.).