Douglas C. Weiser
I was one of those people who knew they wanted to be a biologist from the time I could walk. I spent much of my youth knee-deep in swamps near my childhood home in West Virginia and began a life-long passion for nature, especially reptiles and amphibians.
I thought I'd grow up to be a herpetologist and decided around the sixth grade that I wanted to be a college professor. In high school, however, I became increasingly interested in chemistry thanks to an amazing teacher.
After high school I went to the College of Wooster in Ohio. I started out as a double major in Chemistry and Biology, but reality set in and I decided to focus more on chemistry because of my stronger background in that area.
I next joined the Cell and Molecular Biology program at Duke University and joined the lab of Shirish Shenolikar in the Department of Pharmacology. I studied the mechanisms of regulation of Protein Phosphatase 1 by inhibitors and targeting subunits.
After earning my Ph.D. I moved to Seattle and worked with David Kimelman in the Department of Biochemistry. There I studied the role of scaffolding proteins such as Gravin and Mypt1 (a myosin phosphatase targeting subunit) in controlling cell movement during early zebrafish development. This research led to a number of discoveries that helped link the movement of cells during development to how cells migrate during tumor cell metastasis.
I started at Pacific in the fall of 2009. I am excited to continue my research on zebrafish development, and I will continue to focus on Mypt1, which will allow me to combine my interests in phosphatase regulation and cell movement. This year I am teaching Biochemistry and General Biology. I look forward to teaching a wide variety of cell and molecular courses in future years.
Areas of Focus
Cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, pharmacology, and developmental biology of zebrafish.
Courses I teach:
Principles of Biology
Elements of Biochemistry
Three Recent Publications (see my CV for more)
Douglas C. Weiser, Richard H. Row, David Kimelman. "Rho-regulated Myosin Phosphatase Establishes the Level of Protrusive Activity Required for Cell Movements During Zebrafish Gastrulation." (2009) Development. 136: 2375-2384.
Douglas C. Weiser, Krystal R. St Julien, James S. Lang, David Kimelman. "Cell Shape Regulation by Gravin Requires N-terminal Membrane Effector Domains." (2008) Biochemical Biophysical Research Communications, 375: 512-516.
Douglas C. Weiser, Ujwal J. Pyati, David Kimelman. "Gravin Regulates Mesodermal Cell Behavior Changes Required for Axis Elongation During Zebrafish Gastrulation." (2007) Genes and Development. 21: 1559-71.
Contact Information
Douglas C. Weiser
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
Biology Room 218
Email
209.946.2955
University of the Pacific
3601 Pacific Avenue
Stockton, CA 95211
