Lois Weisman, Ph.D.

The Weisman Lab researches the underlying causes of neurodegeneration and other neurological diseases, of which little is known. Our work focuses on myosin V-based transport and phosphoinositide lipid signaling in yeast and neurons. The overall goal is to uncover new, essential subcellular processes and determine how these impact human physiology.

Currently, we are pursuing PI3,5P2 signaling pathway research, which the lab found causes severe neuropathy in people when there are even minor defects in the pathway. It was an unexpected discovery; now, we focus on understanding how the pathway is regulated, what PI3,5P2 regulates downstream effectors, and if defects in the pathway are a common cause of human disease. Our Lab hopes to find that upregulation of this pathway will show therapeutic promise.

In addition, we are working on solving a second puzzle: how do organelles move to the correct place at the proper time? This directed organelle movement is critical during cell division and differentiation, and defects in the movement have wide-ranging effects, such as neurological disease and defects in pigmentation.