The University of Western Australia

Adj/Prof Sibylle Schwab

Adjunct Professor
Clinical and Adjunct Staff (Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences)

Contact details

Address

Clinical and Adjunct Staff (Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences)
The University of Western Australia (M521)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia

Email

sibylle.schwab@uwa.edu.au

Qualifications

BPharm Berlin, PhD Munich

Key research

•Genetics of schizophrenia

•Genetics of substance dependence

•Analysis of candidate genes / candidate regions by means of linkage analysis, association / linkage disequilibrium analysis

•Identification and characterization of DNA variants associated with schizophrenia

Publications

Wildenauer DB & Schwab SG. (2004) Genetik schizophrener Erkrankungen [Genetics of schizophrenia] In: Remschmidt (Ed) Schizophrene Erkrankungen im Kindes- und Jugendalter: Klinik, Aetiologie, Therapie und Rehabilitation, Schattauer Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany (S.53-64)

Maier W, Wagner M, Falkai P, Schwab SG. (2004) Genetics of schizophrenia and the impact of neuropsychology. In: Gattaz WF, Haefner H (Eds) Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia, Volume V. Springer Verlag, Darmstadt, pp267-277

Maier, W., Schwab, S., Rietschel, M. (2003): Genetik psychischer Störungen. [Genetics of psychiatric disorders] In: Möller, H.-J., Laux, G., Kapfhammer, H.-P. (Eds.): Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie. Springer, Berlin 2nd edtition (S. 69-105)



Journal Articles
Petryshen TL, Middleton FA, Tahl AR, Rockwell GN, Purcell S, Aldinger KA, Kirby A, Morley CP, McGann L, Gentile KL, Waggoner SG, Medeiros HM, Carvalho C, Macedo A, Albus M, Maier W, Trixler M, Eichhammer P, Schwab SG, Wildenauer DB, Azevedo MH, Pato MT, Pato CN, Daly MJ, Sklar P (2005). Genetic investigation of chromosome 5q GABA(A) receptor subunit genes in schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry 10:1074-1088.
Schwab SG, Hoefgen B, Hanses C, Hassenbach MB, Albus M, Lerer B, Trixler M, Maier W, Wildenauer DB (2005). Further evidence for association of variants in the AKT1 gene with schizophrenia in a sample of European sib-pair families. Biol Psychiatry 58:446-450
Schwab SG, Franke PE, Hoefgen B, Guttenthaler V, Lichtermann D, Trixler M, Knapp M, Maier W, Wildenauer DB (2005). Association of DNA polymorphisms in the synaptic vesicular amine transporter gene (SLC18A2) with alcohol and nicotine dependence. Neuropsychopharmacology 30:2263-2268
Sanders AR, Rusu I, Duan J, Vander Molen JE, Hou C, Schwab SG, Wildenauer DB, Martinez M, Gejman PV (2005). Haplotypic association spanning the 22q11.21 genes COMT and ARVCF with schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry 10:353-365
Xu K, Lichtermann D, Lipsky RH, Franke P, Liu X, Hu Y, Cao L, Schwab SG, Wildenauer DB, Bau CH, Ferro E, Astor W, Finch T, Terry J, Taubman J, Maier W, Goldman D. (2004) Association of specific haplotypes of D2 dopamine receptor gene with vulnerability to heroin dependence in 2 distinct populations. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 61:597-606
Hranilovic D, Stefulj J, Schwab S, Borrmann-Hassenbach M, Albus M, Jernej B, Wildenauer D. (2004) Serotonin transporter promoter and intron 2 polymorphisms: relationship between allelic variants and gene expression. (2004) Biol Psychiatry. 55:1090-4
Mowry BJ, Holmans PA, Pulver AE, Gejman PV, Riley B, Williams NM, Laurent C, Schwab SG, Wildenauer DB, Bauche S, Owen MJ, Wormley B, Sanders AR, Nestadt G, Liang KY, Duan J, Ribble R, Norton N, Soubigou S, Maier W, Ewen-White KR, DeMarchi N, Carpenter B, Walsh D, Williams H, Jay M, Albus M, Nertney DA, Papadimitriou G, O'Neill A, O'Donovan MC, Deleuze JF, Lerer FB, Dikeos D, Kendler KS, Mallet J, Silverman JM, Crowe RR, Levinson DF. (2004) Multicenter linkage study of schizophrenia loci on chromosome 22q. Mol Psychiatry. 9:784-795
Schwab SG, Mondabon S, Knapp M, Albus M, Hallmayer J, Borrmann-Hassenbach M, Trixler M, Gross M, Schulze TG, Rietschel M, Lerer B, Maier W, Wildenauer DB. (2003) Association of tumor necrosis factor alpha gene -G308A polymorphism with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 65:19-25
Lewis CM, Levinson DF, Wise LH, DeLisi LE, Straub RE, Hovatta I, Williams NM, Schwab SG, Pulver AE, Faraone SV, Brzustowicz LM, Kaufmann CA, Garver DL, Gurling HM, Lindholm E, Coon H, Moises HW, Byerley W, Shaw SH, Mesen A, Sherrington R, O'Neill FA, Walsh D, Kendler KS, Ekelund J, Paunio T, Lonnqvist J, Peltonen L, O'Donovan MC, Owen MJ, Wildenauer DB, Maier W, Nestadt G, Blouin JL, Antonarakis SE, Mowry BJ, Silverman JM, Crowe RR, Cloninger CR, Tsuang MT, Malaspina D, Harkavy-Friedman JM, Svrakic DM, Bassett AS, Holcomb J, Kalsi G, McQuillin A, Brynjolfson J, Sigmundsson T, Petursson H, Jazin E, Zoega T, Helgason T (2003). Genome scan meta-analysis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, part II: Schizophrenia. Am J Hum Genet 73:34-48
Herbon N, Werner M, Braig C, Gohlke H, Dutsch G, Illig T, Altmuller J, Hampe J, Lantermann A, Schreiber S, Bonifacio E, Ziegler A, Schwab S, Wildenauer D, van den Boom D, Braun A, Knapp M, Reitmeir P, Wjst M (2003). High-resolution snp scan of chromosome 6p21 in pooled samples from patients with complex diseases. Genomics 81:510-518
Schwab SG, Knapp M, Mondabon S, Hallmayer J, Borrmann-Hassenbach M, Albus M, Lerer B, Rietschel M, Trixler M, Maier W, Wildenauer DB (2003). Support for Association of Schizophrenia with Genetic Variation in the 6p22.3 Gene, Dysbindin, in Sib-Pair Families with Linkage and in an Additional Sample of Triad Families. Am J Hum Genet. 72: 185-190
Levinson DF, Holmans PA, Laurent C, Riley B, Pulver AE, Gejman PV, Schwab SG, Williams NM, Owen MJ, Wildenauer DB, Sanders AR, Nestadt G, Mowry BJ, Wormley B, Bauche S, Soubigou S, Ribble R, Nertney DA, Liang KY, Martinolich L, Maier W, Norton N, Williams H, Albus M, Carpenter EB, DeMarchi N, Ewen-White KR, Walsh D, Jay M, Deleuze JF, O'Neill FA, Papadimitriou G, Weilbaecher A, Lerer B, O'Donovan MC, Dikeos D, Silverman JM, Kendler KS, Mallet J, Crowe RR, Walters M (2002). No major schizophrenia locus detected on chromosome 1q in a large multicenter sample. Science 296:739-741.
Schwab, SG, Hallmayer, J., Freimann, J., Lerer, B., Albus, M., Borrmann-Hassenbach, M., Segman, R.H., Trixler, M., Rietschel, M., Maier, W., Wildenauer, DB (2002). Investigation of linkage and association/linkage disequilibrium of HLA A-, DQA1-, DQB1-, and DRB1-alleles in 69 sib-pair- and 89 trio-families with schizophrenia. Am J Med Genet 114: 315-320
Sklar, P., Schwab, S. G., Williams, N. M., Daly, M., Schaffner, S., Maier, W., Albus, M., Trixler, M., Eichhammer, P., Lerer, B., Hallmayer, J., Norton, N., Williams, H., Zammit, S., Cardno, A. G., Jones, S., McCarthy, G., Milanova, V., Kirov, G., O'Donovan, M. C., Lander, E. S., Owen, M. J., & Wildenauer, D. B. (2001). Association analysis of NOTCH4 loci in schizophrenia using family and population-based controls. Nat Genet 28: 126-8.

Poster presentations
8th Annual Molecular Psychiatry Meeting Park City, USA, February 4-6, 2001
Oral presentation: Searching for schizophrenia susceptibility loci on chromosomes 6 and 10p: progress report

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: 2001 Meeting on Genome Sequencing & Biology, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA, May 9-13, 2001
Poster presentation: Association of SNPs with schizophrenia on chromosome 10p, a region with previously detected linkage

9th World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics, Saint Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., October 6-10, 2001
Oral presentation: Association of SNPs with schizophrenia on chromsome 10p, a region with previously detected linkage

51th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, San Diego, California, USA, October 12-16, 2001
Poster presentation: Investigation of association of SNPs with schizophrenia in a linked region on chromosome 10p

11th Biennial Winter Workshop on Schizophrenia, Davos, Switzerland, February 24-March 01, 2002
Oral presentation: From linkage to gene: Association/linkage disequilibrium of SNPs in and around the gene for phosphatidyl-4-phosphate 5-kinase IIA (PIP5K2A) on chromosome 10p
Poster presentation: A Jewish isolate in southern Israel for genetic linkage studies: Investigation of candidate genes

9th Annual Molecular Psychiatry Meeting, Nappa Valley, California, March25-26, 2002:
Oral presentation: Searching for susceptibility genes on 6p: a progress report

10th World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics, Brussels, Belgium., October 9-13, 2002
Oral presentation: Association/linkage diseqilibrium studies in substance dependence
Oral presentation: The MHC region on chromosome 6p21.31: Investigation of association/linkage disequilibrium
Poster presentation: Investigation of chromosomal regions with reported linkage to schizophrenia in a sample with 57 affected sib-pair families from Croatia

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: 2002 Meeting on Human Origin and Disease, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA, October 30 – November 3, 2002
Oral presentation: Schizophrenia and genetic variation in the 6p22.3 gene dysbindin: Association with common alleles in two family samples

Symposium of the National Genome Research Network (NGFN) and the German Human Genome Project (DHGP), Berlin, November 17-19, 2002
Poster presentation: Searching for genetic factors conferring risk to substance dependence.

10th Annual Molecular Psychiatry Meeting, Lake Louise, Canada, February 23-25, 2003:
Oral presentation: Searching for susceptibility genes on 10p: progress report

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory: 2003 68th Cold Spring Harbour Meeting on Quantitative Biology, The Genome of Homo Sapiens, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA, May 28 – June 2 2003
Poster Presentation: From linkage to genes: Variants in candidate genes on chromosome 6p and 10p associated with schizophrenia

11th World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics, Quebec, Canada, October 2-10, 2003
Invited oral presentation: Schizophrenia and genetic variation in the gene DTNBP1, the human ortholog of the mouse dysbindin gene

Genes West, 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Human Genetics Society of Australasia, Fremantle, WA, Australia, August 11-13, 2004
Oral presentation: Analysis of association of genetic variation and expression of DTNBP1 with schizophrenia

12th World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics, Dublin, Ireland, October 9 – 13, 2004
Poster presentation: Analysis and genetic variation of the dystrobrevin binding protein gene (DTNBP1) in schizophrenia

Annual Meeting of the Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research, Fremantle WA, Australia, December 2 – 3, 2004
Oral presentation: Association of schizophrenia with DNA sequence variants in genes coding for proteins involved in cell signalling pathways

11th Annual Molecular Psychiatry Meeting, Park City, USA, February 6 – 8, 2005
Oral presentation: Schizophrenia and 6p: progress report

The American Society of Human Genetics, Annual Meeting 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, October 25-29, 2005
Poster presentation: Evidence for sex-specific transmission of DNA sequence variants in the dysbindin gene to offspring affected with schizophrenia

Invited Presentations
•July 11th, 2005, Asthma and Allergy Research Institute Medical Research Seminar Series, Perth, Australia. “Genetic factors in nicotine- and alcohol dependence”.
•April 28th, 2005, Department of Biochemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore. “Genetic factors in schizophrenia: From linkage to candidate susceptibility genes (dysbindin, TNFalpha, AKT-1, PIP5K2A)”
•March 9th, 2005, Seminar Series of the Western Australian Institute for Medical Genetics, Perth, Australia. “The molecular genetics approach to search for causes of schizophrenia”
•November 15th, 2004, Symposium on “The interface between clinical and laboratory genetics” CRC for Asthma and Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, Perth, Australia: “Variants in genes coding for proteins involved in cell signaling pathways confer susceptibility to schizophrenia”
•April 21st, 2004, Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA: “Chromosome 6p – association with schizophrenia”
•November 12th, 2003, Department of Psychiatry, University of Freiburg, Germany: “Susceptibility genes for schizophrenia”
•September 13th, 2003, 4th Mitteldeutsche Psychiatrietage, Jena, Germany: “Molecular genetics and psychosis”
•July 5th, 2003, Symposium on “Schizophrenia: History, Reality and Visions”, Monastery Eberbach, Germany: “Genetics of schizophrenia: therapeutic consequences”
•November 19th, 2002, Medical Association Hamburg, Germany: “Basic research in the field of psychiatric genetics”
•March 16th, 2001 GSF & Technical University of Munich, Institute of Human Genetics, Munich, Germany: “SNP genotyping and association studies in families with schizophrenia”
•February 8th, 2001, Department of Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA: “Genotyping families with schizophrenia using SNP technology”

Funding received

NHMRC Project Grant ID 404012 (2006-2008) Principal Investigators: Sibylle G Schwab, Dieter B Wildenauer, Markus Wenk, Assen Jablensky Title: “PIPKIIA, a candidate gene for schizophrenia: the impact of DNA polymorphisms on gene- and protein expression and –function”
National Institutes of Health USA (NIH) Project Number 2R01MH062276-04A1: “Multicenter Genetic Studies of Schizophrenia” Period 2004-2007 PI: Douglas Levinson, CI: SG Schwab, DB Wildenauer, J Mallet, C Laurent, MJ Owen, MC O’Donovan, PA Holmans, N Craddock, PV Gejman, A Sanders, AE Pulver, G Nestadt, KY Liang, KS Kendler, B Riley, BJ Mowry, K Ewen-White.
National Institutes of Health USA (NIH) Project Number 2R01MH041953-13 “Genetic Epidemiology of Schizophrenia in Ireland” Period 2004 – 2008. PI: K Kendler, CI: SG Schwab, DB Wildenauer, B Riley, K Kidd
NHMRC Application ID:303251 (2004-2006) Chief investigators: Dr. Dieter Wildenauer, Dr. Sibylle Schwab, Prof. Assen Jablensky Title: From linkage to genes conferring susceptibility to schizophrenia: Investigation of candidate genes on chromosome 6p
2003 NARSAD Independent Investigator Award, 2003 Lieber Investigator. (2004-2005) Chief Investigator: Dr. Sibylle Schwab. Title: Investigation of dysbindin: a candidate gene for schizophrenia in chromosome 6p22.3

Honours and awards

•1993 Young Scientist Award of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics
•1996 Kurt Schneider Prize (together with Prof Wolfgang Maier and Dr. Petra Franke)
•1998 Young Scientist Award, Biennial Winter Workshop on Schizophrenia
•2002 Senior Scientist Award, Biennial Winter Workshop on Schizophrenia

Teaching

•Molecular Pharmacology 301

Research profile

Research profile and publications