Gary A. Weisman , PhD

Gary A. Weisman is a Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry. He received his B.S. degree in 1973 from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, NY and his PhD degree in 1982 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He did his postdoctoral work at Cornell University and then accepted an Assistant Professor position (tenure track) at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1985. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1992 and then Professor in 1998. He was appointed Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry in 2015.

Research

• Research Lab Website Gary A. Weisman Lab

Areas of expertise

• Disease Models
• Human Disease Genetics
• Signal Transduction

Research Summary

The Weisman laboratory studies the initiation of chronic inflammatory disorders such as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and they have found that blocking cell receptors that recognize the release of the molecule ATP from damaged cells prevents chronic inflammation which preserves tissue function. In mouse models of autoimmune Sjogren’s disease, they have demonstrated that inhibiting these ATP receptors prevents chronic immune cell activation in salivary and lacrimal gland to enhance saliva and tear secretion, respectively. Recently, they demonstrated that blocking the ATP receptors also retards tumor growth in mice, and they are now testing whether these approaches will prevent these chronic disorders in humans.