After an extensive national search, the Health Science Center is pleased to welcome David S. Weiss, Ph.D., as professor and chair of the department of physiology. His appointment began Aug. 1.
Dr. Weiss is an internationally recognized neurophysiologist who was a professor of neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham prior to joining the Health Science Center. He received his doctorate in neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in 1987 and spent his postdoctoral interval at the University of Miami, School of Medicine.
Merle Olson, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, said, “David Weiss is an exceptional scientist and will be a visible and creative force in the academic pursuits of the Graduate School. He has inherited an excellent department and has been provided substantial new resources to vault the programs and prospects of our physiology department to a very high level.”
Dr. Weiss’ research is essential to learning more about neurological disorders such as epilepsy. Although the cause of epilepsy is unknown, one theory suggests that nerve cells in the brain that become overly excited can lead to seizures. Dr. Weiss studies the structure and function of the GABA (the body’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter) receptor and its ability to alter cell excitability.
“There are medications such as benzodiazepines that increase the amount of inhibition in the brain to treat epileptics,” he said. “But learning the actual structure of the receptor and exactly how it works may lead to more-effective drugs and help us to understand the cause of select neural disorders that involve dysfunctions in GABA-mediated inhibition.”
Dr. Weiss holds three grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/National Institutes of Health. One is focused on the study of the action of valium, a benzodiazepine, on the GABA receptor. He is in the process of moving his laboratory to San Antonio.
“The Health Science Center is a superlative institution with very high standards for productive research in the biomedical sciences and the provision of clinical care,” Dr. Weiss said. “There is tremendous potential for growth here and I am glad to be a part of that endeavor. The department of physiology here at the Health Science Center has several young investigators whose research careers are about to take off. My first priority is to provide resources and support for the group that is here now while we position ourselves to recruit the next generations of faculty-investigators who understand the importance of physiological mechanisms in both biology and medicine.”
Maharaj K. Ticku, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and psychiatry, headed the search committee that selected Dr. Weiss.
“Dr. Weiss has the leadership, vision and mentorship abilities to lead the physiology department into the future,” he said. “He has a clear understanding of what an academic department should be and he brings the ability to develop collaborations between Health Science Center departments. We are delighted that he came aboard.”
Dr. Weiss succeeds John Johnson, Ph.D, who has been interim chair since Vernon Bishop, Ph.D., retired in 2003.
“Dr. Johnson provided exactly what his department needed in this interim period between regimes of leadership,” Dr. Olson said. “His approach to his departmental colleagues was measured and thoughtful, and the important business of the department was accomplished without perturbation.”
Dr. Weiss is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the convocation exercises for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences on Friday, August 26 at 4 pm.
Dr. Weiss brings his wife and three children with him to San Antonio.
