Michael W. Schwartz, MD
Roy O. Greep Award for Outstanding Research
Michael W. Schwartz, MD, holds the Robert H. Williams Chair in Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash., where he has been on faculty since 1996.
He’s published over 260 peer-reviewed studies that have shaped our understanding of how the brain regulates energy balance and glucose homeostasis, and his work investigating the central actions of leptin on energy balance and glucose metabolism over the last two decades has provided a novel avenue for developing weight-loss therapeutics. His lab currently focuses on the anti-diabetic effects of members of the FGF family, including FGF19, FGF21, and FGF1. A key long-term goal of these studies is to translate the findings into novel approaches for treating type 2 diabetes.
How has the Endocrine Society supported your professional development/career journey?
The first meeting where I presented my research was at the annual meeting of Endocrine Society in 1989. At that time, my focus on insulin action in the brain and mechanisms governing energy homeostasis was seen as something of a “scientific outlier,” but the Endocrine Society always welcomed my work and ideas. I met many colleagues that went on to become collaborators and, in some cases, dear friends, through our connection to ENDO. Indeed, my father, Dr. Theodore B. Schwartz, was also an academic endocrinologist and a member in good standing of the Endocrine Society for his entire career, so in a sense I have been carrying on a family tradition.
As a Laureate Award recipient, do you have any advice for those just beginning their careers?
Perseverance in the face of failure is the key to success. As my mentor Dr. Dan Porte, Jr. used to tell me, “If more than half of your studies give the outcome you expected, you’re not asking tough enough questions.” The key is to learn from studies that don’t turn out the way you expected and allow that new perspective to drive your research forward. At its best, this is a fundamentally dynamic and creative process.
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