Robert E. Schwartz, MD, PhD, a highly regarded clinician internationally noted for his research on stem cell biology, liver biology and infectious diseases, has been named director of the Division of Gastroenterology in the John T. Milliken Department of Medicine at WashU Medicine and gastroenterologist-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. He began his new role on Oct. 6.
Schwartz is recognized for his research on using stem cell technology and tissue engineering to grow human liver cells and miniature organ models in the lab. His research also examines how viruses such as hepatitis and SARS-CoV-2 affect the liver, aiming to advance drug discovery and improve understanding of liver disease.
“Dr. Schwartz is an outstanding gastroenterologist, hepatologist, and an internationally recognized physician-scientist in stem cell biology and infectious disease modeling,” said Victoria J. Fraser, MD, the Adolphus Busch Professor of Medicine and head of the Department of Medicine. “Additionally, he is deeply committed to institutional leadership and has a stellar track record of dedication to faculty development and training the next generation of researchers. We are thrilled he is here.”
Schwartz was a professor of medicine and of physiology, biophysics and systems biology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and of biomedical engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He also served as an attending physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Before Schwartz joined the faculty at Weill Cornell Medicine in 2014, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a clinical fellow and an instructor of internal medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.