Brad Schwartz

Morgridge Institute for Research: The Morgridge Institute for Research’s mission is to improve human health through innovative, interdisciplinary biomedical discoveries, spark scientific curiosity and serve society through translational outcomes, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To do this, the institute pursues scientific challenges head-on with confidence and persistence. They also invest in high-performing research-intensive scholars that have the confidence to take a high-risk, high-reward to science. Additionally, the Morgridge Institute for Research supports young, exceptional scientists who fearlessly pursue basic biology questions and spark curiosity and passion for science through their unique Discovery Outreach programs.

Bio Highlights: Brad Schwartz is Chief Executive Officer of the Morgridge Institute for Research, a private, nonprofit research institute dedicated to interdisciplinary biomedical research in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Schwartz is a physician-scientist whose research and clinical activities focus on hemostasis and have a deep commitment to the mission of public research universities.

Brad earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his MD from Rush University in Chicago. He completed his residency at UW-Madison and pursued postdoctoral research with Tom Edgington, a pioneer in research on the role of blood clotting on many processes, including immunity and cancer. His clinical training at Scripps Clinic was with Ernie Beutler, an iconic figure in hematology whose contributions spanned genetic diseases of red blood cells to bone marrow transplantation.

Brad served as a faculty member at UW-Madison from 1983 to 1999, directing a research program, caring for patients with hematologic disorders, and maintaining an active teaching schedule. During this time, he added service and administrative responsibilities, including serving as the Vice-Chair of the Department of Medicine, directing the MD/Ph.D. program, and earning highly competitive Medical Science Training Program (MSTP) designation for the first time in the program’s history. He also served on the steering committee that brought multiple departmental clinical practice plans into a unified medical foundation.

In 1999, he was recruited to the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign, where he served as dean until 2011.  He then returned to UW-Madison as director of the Research Education and Career Development program at the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. He was subsequently tapped to lead the Morgridge Institute.

Brad is also a UW-Madison professor of Medicine and Biomolecular Chemistry. His research focuses on the initiation and regulation of protease cascades, which govern various essential physiological processes from blood clotting to cell death mechanisms. He has been active on National Institutes of Health study sections and several professional societies, most notably with the American Society of Hematology and the American Heart Association.