Daniel Geschwind

Dr. Geschwind is the Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics, Neurology and Psychiatry at UCLA. In his capacity as Senior Associate Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor of Precision Health, he leads the Institute for Precision Health at UCLA. His laboratory has pioneered the application of systems biology methods in neurologic and psychiatric disease, with a focus on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and neurodegenerative conditions. A goal of this work is to understand how genetic variation increases risk for disease, fueling therapeutic development via improved understanding of causal factors and disease mechanisms.  Dr. Geschwind has also put considerable effort into fostering large-scale collaborative patient resources for genetic research and data sharing in autism research. He has served on several scientific advisory boards, including the Faculty of 1000 Medicine, the Scientific Advisory Board for the Allen Institute for Brain Science, the NIMH Advisory Council and the NIH Council of Councils. He has published over 400 papers and currently serves on the editorial boards of CellNeuron and Science.  He has received several awards for his laboratory’s work and leadership including the Ruane Prize from the Brain and Behavior Foundation in 2013 and the Derek Denny-Brown Neurological Scholar Award from the American Neurological Association (ANA) in 2004.  He is an elected Member of the American Association of Physicians and the National Academy of Medicine.