Daniel Geschwind

Daniel H. Geschwind is an American physician-scientist whose laboratory has made pioneering discoveries in the biology of brain disorders and the genetic and genomic analyses of the nervous system.

His laboratory showed that gene co-expression has a reproducible network structure that can be used to understand neurobiological mechanisms in health, evolution, and disease.^[2][3][4] He led the first studies to define the molecular pathology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and several other psychiatric disorders,^[5][6][7] and has made major contributions to defining the genetic basis of autism.^[8][9][10]

Currently, he is the Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics, Neurology and Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He also directs the UCLA Neurogenetics Program and the UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART).^[11][12] Since March 2016 he has served as the Senior Associate Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor for Precision Health at UCLA.^[13]

Geschwind received his A.B. degree in psychology and chemistry at Dartmouth College, and his MD/PhD at Yale School of Medicine under the supervision of Susan Hockfield, graduating Alpha Omega Alpha.^[14][12] He then completed an internship in internal medicine and residency in neurology at UCLA.^[11] He has been a member of the UCLA faculty since 1997.^[12]

He has trained over 70 graduate students and post-doctoral research fellows,^[15] and is among the highest cited scientists in neurology, neuroscience, systems biology, and precision health (H index > 195).^[16] He has been named in Clarivate Analytics’ Highly Cited Researchers list each year since 2017^[17] and has been elected as member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Association of American Physicians.^[18]

The Geschwind Lab at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine conducts research into three areas: autism and neurodevelopmental disorders, neurodegenerative syndromes, and human brain evolution.^[12][19] The overarching goal of Geschwind's work is to develop a more mechanistic understanding of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases by integrative analyses that connect human genetic variation to genes and neurobiological pathways.

Through functional genomics and large-scale data analyses that permit a more unbiased understanding of disease mechanisms, his laboratory's research has improved  our understanding of human brain evolution and language, ASD and schizophrenia, repair of the damaged nervous system and neurodegenerative dementias including Frontotemporal Dementia, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy and Alzheimer's disease. Together these studies have not only improved understanding of human brain disorders, but they also highlight the power of highly-parallel, high-throughput  biology.^[20]

Geschwind established the modern era of autism genetics research by developing and leading the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE)^[21] with the Cure Autism Now Foundation in 1997. AGRE was the first major community resource for genetic research on autism spectrum disorder (ASD), making biomaterials and phenotype data accessible to researchers worldwide. This initiative opened the field to many more researchers and led to significant discoveries, including the role of rare mutations and inherited genetic variation in ASD.^[10] He is an advocate for data sharing and led many national efforts, including PsychENCODE consortium, a public genomic data resource for mental health research. Over the last 10 years, he has led efforts with collaborators, including John Constantino and Ami Klin, to increase the representation of groups that have been historically underrepresented in autism research, via an NIH-funded Autism Center of Excellence Network that recruits African Americans with autism.^[10]

His work in autism genetics and functional genomics has been highly influential by translating genetic findings into biological understanding. He developed the concept of ASD as a developmental disconnection syndrome, recognizing its extreme heterogeneity and framing it as “the autisms.” Geschwind pioneered the study of language and social endophenotypes in genetic studies and demonstrated how transcriptomic and epigenetic profiling could define the molecular pathology of ASD and other neuropsychiatric disorders. In 2011, he was the senior author of a study that identified chemical differences between the brains of people with autism and those without it.^[22] Specifically, the study found common patterns in gene expression in the frontal and temporal lobes of autistic individuals. Geschwind has published research on numerous genes involved in language and human brain evolution, such as FOXP2, and how they differ between humans and chimpanzees. Additionally, Geschwind is known for his research into factors affecting handedness and the differences in brain structure between left-handed and right-handed people.

His brother, Michael Geschwind, is also a professor of neurology. Norman Geschwind, a pioneer in behavioral neurology, is his father's first cousin. From 1965 to 1982, his father, Stanley Geschwind, served as the head of the Quantum and Solid-State Physics Department at Bell Labs.^[23][24][8]

• 2024 Distinguished Clinical Research Scholar and Educator in Residence, NIH^[25]
• 2022 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health from the National Academy of Medicine^[10]
• 2022 Cotzias Award and Lecture, American Academy of Neurology^[26]
• 2021 Gold Medal, Society for Biological Psychiatry^[27]
• 2015 Paul G Allen Distinguished Investigator Award^[28]
• 2012 Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation^[9]
• 2011 Elected Member, National Academy of Medicine^[10]
• 2008 Scientific Service Award from Autism Speaks^[29]
• 2006 NIH MERIT Award^[30]
• 2004 Derek Denny-Brown Neurological Scholar Award from the American Neurological Association^[11]