Sonja Waltraud Scholz, M.D., Ph.D.

Headshot of Sonja Waltraud Scholz

Specializes in: Adults (18+ years), Geriatrics (55+ years)

Female

Languages: English, German

Expertise

Neurology

Research Interests

Movement Disorders; Parkinsonism; Neurodegeneration; Neurogenomics ...read more

Locations

Sonja Scholz, MD PhD

35 Convent DR
Bldg 35 Room 1A-215
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone: 301-402-6249 | Fax: 301-480-4821
Sonja Scholz, MD PhD - Google Maps

Background

Dr. Scholz is a neurologist and geneticist specializing in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease, atypical parkinsonism and dementia syndromes. She received her medical degree from the Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. Following graduation, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health 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 Lasker Clinical Research Scholar at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke focusing on genetic causes of neurodegenerative syndromes, and an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins' department of neurology.

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Departments / Divisions

Education

Degrees

  • MD; Medical University of Innsbruck (2004)

Residencies

  • Neurology; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2015)

Board Certifications

  • American Board of Psychiatry And Neurology (Neurology) (2015)

Research & Publications

Selected Publications

View all on PubMed

Next-generation sequencing reveals substantial genetic contribution to dementia with Lewy bodies. 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. Neurobiol Dis. 2016 Oct;94:55-62.

A hexanucleotide repeat expansion in C9ORF72 is the cause of chromosome 9p21-linked ALS-FTD. Renton AE, Majounie E, Waite A, Simón-Sánchez J, Rollinson S, Gibbs JR, Schymick JC, Laaksovirta H, van Swieten JC, Myllykangas L, Kalimo H, Paetau A, Abramzon Y, Remes AM, Kaganovich A, Scholz SW, Duckworth J, Ding J, Harmer DW, Hernandez DG, Johnson JO, Mok K, Ryten M, Trabzuni D, Guerreiro RJ, Orrell RW, Neal J, Murray A, Pearson J, Jansen IE, Sondervan D, Seelaar H, Blake D, Young K, Halliwell N, Callister JB, Toulson G, Richardson A, Gerhard A, Snowden J, Mann D, Neary D, Nalls MA, Peuralinna T, Jansson L, Isoviita VM, Kaivorinne AL, Hölttä-Vuori M, Ikonen E, Sulkava R, Benatar M, Wuu J, Chiò A, Restagno G, Borghero G, Sabatelli M; ITALSGEN Consortium, Heckerman D, Rogaeva E, Zinman L, Rothstein JD, Sendtner M, Drepper C, Eichler EE, Alkan C, Abdullaev Z, Pack SD, Dutra A, Pak E, Hardy J, Singleton A, Williams NM, Heutink P, Pickering-Brown S, Morris HR, Tienari PJ, Traynor BJ. Neuron. 2011 Oct 20;72(2):257-68

Genome-wide association study reveals genetic risk underlying Parkinson's disease. Simón-Sánchez J, Schulte C, Bras JM, Sharma M, Gibbs JR, Berg D, Paisan-Ruiz C, Lichtner P, Scholz SW, Hernandez DG, Krüger R, Federoff M, Klein C, Goate A, Perlmutter J, Bonin M, Nalls MA, Illig T, Gieger C, Houlden H, Steffens M, Okun MS, Racette BA, Cookson MR, Foote KD, Fernandez HH, Traynor BJ, Schreiber S, Arepalli S, Zonozi R, Gwinn K, van der Brug M, Lopez G, Chanock SJ, Schatzkin A, Park Y, Hollenbeck A, Gao J, Huang X, Wood NW, Lorenz D, Deuschl G, Chen H, Riess O, Hardy JA, Singleton AB, Gasser T. Nat Genet. 2009 Dec;41(12):1308-12

SNCA variants are associated with increased risk for multiple system atrophy. Scholz SW, Houlden H, Schulte C, Sharma M, Li A, Berg D, Melchers A, Paudel R, Gibbs JR, Simon-Sanchez J, Paisan-Ruiz C, Bras J, Ding J, Chen H, Traynor BJ, Arepalli S, Zonozi RR, Revesz T, Holton J, Wood N, Lees A, Oertel W, Wüllner U, Goldwurm S, Pellecchia MT, Illig T, Riess O, Fernandez HH, Rodriguez RL, Okun MS, Poewe W, Wenning GK, Hardy JA, Singleton AB, Del Sorbo F, Schneider S, Bhatia KP, Gasser T. Ann Neurol. 2009 May;65(5):610-4.

Genotype, haplotype and copy-number variation in worldwide human populations. Jakobsson M, Scholz SW, Scheet P, Gibbs JR, VanLiere JM, Fung HC, Szpiech ZA, Degnan JH, Wang K, Guerreiro R, Bras JM, Schymick JC, Hernandez DG, Traynor BJ, Simon-Sanchez J, Matarin M, Britton A, van de Leemput J, Rafferty I, Bucan M, Cann HM, Hardy JA, Rosenberg NA, Singleton AB. Nature. 2008 Feb 21;451(7181):998-1003

Activities & Honors

Honors

  • McFarland Transition to Independence Award, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  • Lasker Clinical Research Scholar Award, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2018
  • Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral Neurology, American Academy of Neurology, 2019

Memberships

  • American Academy of Neurology
  • Movement Disorders Society
  • Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
  • American Neurological Association
  • American Society of Human Genetics
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