Sonja W Scholz

Dr. Scholz is a physician-scientist who specializes in neurodegeneration. She received her medical degree from the Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. Following graduation, she was a post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. Laboratory of Neurogenetics at the National Institute on Aging. She subsequently obtained a Ph.D. in Neurogenomics from the University College London, UK. She then moved to Baltimore to complete her neurology residency training and specialization in neurodegenerative diseases at Johns Hopkins University. She is a Senior Investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and an Adjunct Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Scholz is the chief of the Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Section at NINDS. Her primary area of research is atypical parkinsonism. She specializes in applying modern genomic techniques and data-driven approaches to assess molecular genetic mechanisms implicated in neurodegenerative disorders and to identify targets that are suitable for disease-modifying therapeutic interventions. Some of her accomplishments include the discovery of risk genes underlying Lewy body dementia, the demonstration of molecular genetic relationships between Lewy body dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, and various descriptions of genetic pleiotropy in complex neurodegenerative syndromes.

Dr. Scholz received several honors, including the McFarland Transition to Independence Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral Neurology from the American Academy of Neurology, the Soriano Lecture Award from the American Neurological Association, the Lasker Clinical Research Scholar Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Dr. Scholz’s productivity is evidenced by an h-index of 60, over 150 publications, and > 25,000 citations.