Sonja W. Scholz, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior Investigator

Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Section, Neurogenetics Branch (NGB)

NINDS

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Building 35, Room 1B-205
35 Convent Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892

301-496-0013

sonja.scholz@nih.gov

Research Topics

Advances in genomic technologies have provided us with unprecedented capabilities to explore heritable factors involved in the development of neurological diseases. Neurogenetics has already revolutionized how we think about common neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

We extend these powerful genomic techniques to other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Lewy body dementia, multiple system atrophy, frontotemporal dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration. The Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Section (NDRS) has been established to achieve this aim. Its primary mission is to unravel molecular genetic mechanisms that cause these devastating diseases. This knowledge identifies targets for drug development. To maximize our impact, we are building on our national and international collaborations, and we leverage the unique resources within the Intramural Research Program at the NIH.

Biography

Dr. Scholz is a physician-scientist specializing in neurodegenerative disorders. She received her medical degree from the Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. She is a Senior Investigator and chief of the Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Section at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University. Her primary area of research is the genetic characterization of parkinsonism syndromes, including Lewy body dementia, multiple system atrophy, and other understudied diseases. She specializes in applying modern genomic techniques and data-driven approaches to understand the genetic mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration, aiming to identify targets suitable for disease-modifying therapeutic interventions.

Selected Publications

  1. Chia R, Sabir MS, Bandres-Ciga S, Saez-Atienzar S, Reynolds RH, Gustavsson E, Walton RL, Ahmed S, Viollet C, Ding J, Makarious MB, Diez-Fairen M, Portley MK, Shah Z, Abramzon Y, Hernandez DG, Blauwendraat C, Stone DJ, Eicher J, Parkkinen L, Ansorge O, Clark L, Honig LS, Marder K, Lemstra A, St George-Hyslop P, Londos E, Morgan K, Lashley T, Warner TT, Jaunmuktane Z, Galasko D, Santana I, Tienari PJ, Myllykangas L, Oinas M, Cairns NJ, Morris JC, Halliday GM, Van Deerlin VM, Trojanowski JQ, Grassano M, Calvo A, Mora G, Canosa A, Floris G, Bohannan RC, Brett F, Gan-Or Z, Geiger JT, Moore A, May P, Krüger R, Goldstein DS, Lopez G, Tayebi N, Sidransky E, American Genome Center, Norcliffe-Kaufmann L, Palma JA, Kaufmann H, Shakkottai VG, Perkins M, Newell KL, Gasser T, Schulte C, Landi F, Salvi E, Cusi D, Masliah E, Kim RC, Caraway CA, Monuki ES, Brunetti M, Dawson TM, Rosenthal LS, Albert MS, Pletnikova O, Troncoso JC, Flanagan ME, Mao Q, Bigio EH, Rodríguez-Rodríguez E, Infante J, Lage C, González-Aramburu I, Sanchez-Juan P, Ghetti B, Keith J, Black SE, Masellis M, Rogaeva E, Duyckaerts C, Brice A, Lesage S, Xiromerisiou G, Barrett MJ, Tilley BS, Gentleman S, Logroscino G, Serrano GE, Beach TG, McKeith IG, Thomas AJ, Attems J, Morris CM, Palmer L, Love S, Troakes C, Al-Sarraj S, Hodges AK, Aarsland D, Klein G, Kaiser SM, Woltjer R, Pastor P, Bekris LM, Leverenz JB, Besser LM, Kuzma A, Renton AE, Goate A, Bennett DA, Scherzer CR, Morris HR, Ferrari R, Albani D, Pickering-Brown S, Faber K, Kukull WA, Morenas-Rodriguez E, Lleó A, Fortea J, Alcolea D, Clarimon J, Nalls MA, Ferrucci L, Resnick SM, Tanaka T, Foroud TM, Graff-Radford NR, Wszolek ZK, Ferman T, Boeve BF, Hardy JA, Topol EJ, Torkamani A, Singleton AB, Ryten M, Dickson DW, Chiò A, Ross OA, Gibbs JR, Dalgard CL, Traynor BJ, Scholz SW. Genome sequencing analysis identifies new loci associated with Lewy body dementia and provides insights into its genetic architecture. Nat Genet. 2021;53(3):294-303.
  2. Chia R, Moaddel R, Kwan JY, Rasheed M, Ruffo P, Landeck N, Reho P, Vasta R, Calvo A, Moglia C, Canosa A, Manera U, Snyder A, Saez-Atienzar S, Grassano M, Brunetti M, Casale F, Ray A, Arvind K, Comertpay B, Zhu M, Gibbs JR, American Genome Center, Alba C, Dawson TM, Rosenthal LS, Hall AJ, Pantelyat AY, Narendra DP, Ehrlich DJ, Walker KA, Kosa P, Bielekova B, Egan JM, Candia J, Tanaka T, Ferrucci L, Dalgard CL, Scholz SW, Chiò A, Traynor BJ. A plasma proteomics-based candidate biomarker panel predictive of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Nat Med. 2025.
  3. Chia R, Ray A, Shah Z, Ding J, Ruffo P, Fujita M, Menon V, Saez-Atienzar S, Reho P, Kaivola K, Walton RL, Reynolds RH, Karra R, Sait S, Akcimen F, Diez-Fairen M, Alvarez I, Fanciulli A, Stefanova N, Seppi K, Duerr S, Leys F, Krismer F, Sidoroff V, Zimprich A, Pirker W, Rascol O, Foubert-Samier A, Meissner WG, Tison F, Pavy-Le Traon A, Pellecchia MT, Barone P, Russillo MC, Marín-Lahoz J, Kulisevsky J, Torres S, Mir P, Periñán MT, Proukakis C, Chelban V, Wu L, Goh YY, Parkkinen L, Hu MT, Kobylecki C, Saxon JA, Rollinson S, Garland E, Biaggioni I, Litvan I, Rubio I, Alcalay RN, Kwei KT, Lubbe SJ, Mao Q, Flanagan ME, Castellani RJ, Khurana V, Ndayisaba A, Calvo A, Mora G, Canosa A, Floris G, Bohannan RC, Moore A, Norcliffe-Kaufmann L, Palma JA, Kaufmann H, Kim C, Iba M, Masliah E, Dawson TM, Rosenthal LS, Pantelyat A, Albert MS, Pletnikova O, Troncoso JC, Infante J, Lage C, Sánchez-Juan P, Serrano GE, Beach TG, Pastor P, Morris HR, Albani D, Clarimon J, Wenning GK, Hardy JA, Ryten M, Topol E, Torkamani A, Chiò A, Bennett DA, De Jager PL, Low PA, Singer W, Cheshire WP, Wszolek ZK, Dickson DW, Traynor BJ, Gibbs JR, Dalgard CL, Ross OA, Houlden H, Scholz SW. Genome sequence analyses identify novel risk loci for multiple system atrophy. Neuron. 2024;112(13):2142-2156.e5.
  4. Kaivola K, Chia R, Ding J, Rasheed M, Fujita M, Menon V, Walton RL, Collins RL, Billingsley K, Brand H, Talkowski M, Zhao X, Dewan R, Stark A, Ray A, Solaiman S, Alvarez Jerez P, Malik L, Dawson TM, Rosenthal LS, Albert MS, Pletnikova O, Troncoso JC, Masellis M, Keith J, Black SE, Ferrucci L, Resnick SM, Tanaka T, American Genome Center, International LBD Genomics Consortium, International ALS/FTD Consortium, PROSPECT Consortium, Topol E, Torkamani A, Tienari P, Foroud TM, Ghetti B, Landers JE, Ryten M, Morris HR, Hardy JA, Mazzini L, D'Alfonso S, Moglia C, Calvo A, Serrano GE, Beach TG, Ferman T, Graff-Radford NR, Boeve BF, Wszolek ZK, Dickson DW, Chiò A, Bennett DA, De Jager PL, Ross OA, Dalgard CL, Gibbs JR, Traynor BJ, Scholz SW. Genome-wide structural variant analysis identifies risk loci for non-Alzheimer's dementias. Cell Genom. 2023;3(6):100316.
  5. Dewan R, Chia R, Ding J, Hickman RA, Stein TD, Abramzon Y, Ahmed S, Sabir MS, Portley MK, Tucci A, Ibáñez K, Shankaracharya FNU, Keagle P, Rossi G, Caroppo P, Tagliavini F, Waldo ML, Johansson PM, Nilsson CF, American Genome Center (TAGC), FALS Sequencing Consortium, Genomics England Research Consortium, International ALS/FTD Genomics Consortium (iAFGC), International FTD Genetics Consortium (IFGC), International LBD Genomics Consortium (iLBDGC), NYGC ALS Consortium, PROSPECT Consortium, Rowe JB, Benussi L, Binetti G, Ghidoni R, Jabbari E, Viollet C, Glass JD, Singleton AB, Silani V, Ross OA, Ryten M, Torkamani A, Tanaka T, Ferrucci L, Resnick SM, Pickering-Brown S, Brady CB, Kowal N, Hardy JA, Van Deerlin V, Vonsattel JP, Harms MB, Morris HR, Ferrari R, Landers JE, Chiò A, Gibbs JR, Dalgard CL, Scholz SW, Traynor BJ. Pathogenic Huntingtin Repeat Expansions in Patients with Frontotemporal Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Neuron. 2021;109(3):448-460.e4.

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This page was last updated on Tuesday, August 26, 2025