Lauren Weiss

Lauren Weiss, PhD is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine and a faculty member at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. Her research focuses on understanding the genetic architecture of autism spectrum disorder through genome-wide genetic data analysis and human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models.

Dr. Weiss's laboratory investigates the genetic mechanisms by which DNA variants influence autism risk, examining questions about copy number vs. SNP variation, rare vs. common variation, gene-sex interaction, gene-gene interaction, and gene-environment interaction. Her team uses rich genetic datasets to identify susceptibility loci and the physiological pathways these risk loci implicate. Additionally, they employ iPSC models to study known mutations or copy number variants predisposing to autism, first identifying the effects of genetic risk variants and then determining whether these effects can be modified at the cellular level by environmental or pharmacological agents.

Analysis of Dr. Weiss's recent publications reveals a strong focus on sex differences in autism genetics, the role of specific copy number variants (particularly 16p11.2 and 22q11.2), maternal environmental factors during pregnancy, and the integration of multi-omics data to understand neurodevelopmental pathways. Her work bridges basic genetic research with potential clinical applications for improving understanding, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of autism and related traits.

Dr. Weiss has secured significant research funding as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH grants, including R01MH114924 (Decoding the Genetics of Sexual Dimorphism in Autism Spectrum Disorders), R01MH107467 (Utilizing eQTL networks to gain biological insight into multigenic CNVs), and DP2OD007449 (Dissecting Epistasis and Pleiotropy in Autism towards Personalized Medicine). Her laboratory offers research opportunities for students interested in analytical genetics projects related to gene-environment effects, gene-sex effects, gene-gene effects, and the relationship between ASD and brain size.

Dr. Weiss actively collaborates with numerous researchers across institutions, particularly on large-scale genomic studies of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Her work has contributed significantly to our understanding of the complex genetic architecture underlying autism spectrum disorder and related conditions.