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

Senior Investigator

Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Unit

NINDS

View Site

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 Unit (NDRU) has been established to achieve this aim. NDRU is integrated within the Laboratory of Neurogenetics, a leader in this field over the last decade. 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 Neurologist and Neurogeneticist specialized in movement and cognitive disorders. She received her medical degree from the Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. Following graduation, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the Laboratory of Neurogenetics (NIA) under the supervision of Drs. Andrew Singleton and John Hardy. She obtained a Ph.D. in Neurogenomics from the University College London, UK in 2010. She then moved to Baltimore to complete her neurology residency training at Johns Hopkins. In 2015, Dr. Scholz received the McFarland Transition to Independence Award for Neurologist-Scientists. She is a Lasker Clinical Research Tenure Track Investigator within the Neurogenetics Branch (NINDS). Her laboratory focuses on identifying genetic causes of neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy, and frontotemporal dementia.

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. Geiger JT, Ding J, Crain B, Pletnikova O, Letson C, Dawson TM, Rosenthal LS, Pantelyat A, Gibbs JR, Albert MS, Hernandez DG, Hillis AE, Stone DJ, Singleton AB, North American Brain Expression Consortium, Hardy JA, Troncoso JC, Scholz SW. Next-generation sequencing reveals substantial genetic contribution to dementia with Lewy bodies. Neurobiol Dis. 2016;94:55-62.
  3. Jabbari E, Koga S, Valentino RR, Reynolds RH, Ferrari R, Tan MMX, Rowe JB, Dalgard CL, Scholz SW, Dickson DW, Warner TT, Revesz T, Höglinger GU, Ross OA, Ryten M, Hardy J, Shoai M, Morris HR, PSP Genetics Group. Genetic determinants of survival in progressive supranuclear palsy: a genome-wide association study. Lancet Neurol. 2021;20(2):107-116.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

Related Scientific Focus Areas

This page was last updated on Friday, March 22, 2024