Alan R. Schwartz, M.D.

Professor

Dr. Schwartz is recognized for work on upper airway physiology during sleep and effects on obstructive sleep apnea.  His laboratory has developed physiologic tools for assessing the severity of upper airway obstruction during sleep and novel treatment strategies for obstructive sleep apnea. His laboratory has also specialized in piloting novel therapeutic strategies for sleep apnea with electrical stimulation of the hypoglossal and phrenic nerves as well as with high flow tracheal and nasal insufflation.   Dr. Schwartz is focused on clinical and murine investigations on the pathogenesis of sleep disordered breathing and the neuromechanical determinants of upper airway obstruction during sleep in humans and mice.  Basic studies have probed new ways to activate upper airway motor pathways with neuro-humoral agents, viral vectors and electrical stimulation.  Clinical and population-based studies have examined the burden the sleep disordered breathing in Peruvian highlanders, which is linked to chronic cardiometabolic diseases. Streamlined approaches for diagnosing sleep and breathing disturbances have been implemented in susceptible clinical populations. 

Dr. Schwartz has mentored numerous fellows and students in his laboratory from around the world.  His mentoring activities include the establishment of the Johns Hopkins Sleep Fellowship Training Program, and ABIM-accredited post-graduate training program in Sleep Medicine. Dr. Schwartz serves as the co-director for the Johns Hopkins Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Education (CISRE, http://cisre.jhu.edu/) and as medical director for the Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorders Center at Bayview Medical Center. He has served on the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology Program Committee, and is an active reviewer for multiple biomedical journals.