Professor Malcolm von Schantz

Professor Malcolm von Schantz

24 May 1966 – 24 October, 2026

It is with great sadness that we announce Prof Malcolm von Schantz’s passing. Malcolm died unexpectedly in Brazil last Friday (24 October), suffering a massive heart attack. He was attending the XVIII Latin American Symposium on Chronobiology in Maceió, Brazil.

Following two post-doctoral appointments in the US and the UK, Malcolm joined the Research Group of Prof Josephine Arendt at the University of Surrey as a Lecturer in 1997. He brought his molecular biology knowledge to the Chronobiology group at an exciting time when clock genes were being identified. Early pioneering work (MRC- and BBSRC funded) with his postdoc Simon Archer (now Professor at Surrey) investigating clock gene polymorphisms in humans added another important dimension to Surrey’s circadian and sleep research and had lasting international impact.

Malcolm received his Professorship in 2017 for his significant contribution to chronobiology research and his Faculty administration duties (Associate Dean International). Malcolm was passionate about building international collaborations and received funds to successfully establish multidisciplinary projects in Brazil and South Africa. He took a year’s sabbatical in São Paulo to cement these connections.

Malcolm left Surrey in 2021 to take up a Professorship at Northumbria University in Newcastle, where he was Deputy Faculty Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange). He was actively involved in several clock/sleep initiatives, Wellcome-funded Circadian Mental Health Network and work with British Sleep Society on daylight saving. Malcolm was Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Sleep Research Society (ESRS), and was a Fellow of the Linnean Society.

Malcolm loved Brazil and had many friends and colleagues in many of their cities. It’s fitting that he enjoyed his last days in a place he loved at a Chronobiology conference (that was suspended following his death).

On a personal note, Malcolm was one of a kind! Always enthusiastic, positive, and happy to share knowledge with colleagues and support his undergraduate and postgraduate students. He was kind and generous and had many friends from all periods of his life. He loved classical music and opera and loved to cook, eat and drink. Readers of his Twitter feed can vouch for this. He was a world traveller (gold Lufthansa card) and my lasting memory will be drinking champagne with him in the first-class airport lounges he invited me to!

Malcolm was a well-loved character in chronobiology and sleep research and will be missed by his many colleagues and friends.

If you wish to share memories of Malcolm, please send your message to info@ebrs-online.org or directly to sonia.viteri@ebrs-online.org. All messages will be gathered and displayed on the European Biological Rhythms Society (EBRS) webpage dedicated to Malcolm’s memory.

Debra J. Skene and Simon Archer

University of Surrey