Martin Schwartz, PhD

Martin Schwartz earned a BA in chemistry from New College in Sarasota FL and a PhD in physical chemistry from Stanford, where he worked in Harden McConnell’s lab on biophysics of phospholipid membranes.He then did postdoctoral research in biology at MIT in the laboratory of Richard Hynes where he studied interactions of fibronectin with cells and other proteins. He was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, Scripps Research Institute and the University of Virginia prior to moving to Yale in 2011. Starting in the 1980’s, his lab was among the first to report that integrin mediated adhesion could regulate signaling pathways in cells;that integrin-mediated adhesion promotes cell survival, that integrins synergize with growth factor receptors to activate growth signaling pathways and that integrins regulate Rho family GTPases. His lab has also elucidated mechanotransduction pathways by which endothelial cells respond to fluid shear stress to activate inflammatory pathways linked to atherosclerosis. His current research program combines studies using biophysical, cellular and animal approaches to important questions about integrin signaling, mechanotransduction and disease in the vascular system.