Robby Weimer

Senior Scientist (technology), Biomedical Imaging

POSTDOC MENTOR

"The beauty of optical imaging is the breadth of instrumentation and reporters that have been developed to enable visualization of structures from the cm to sub-micron range in vivo."

• 1
  years at Genentech
• 5
  publications (2010-12)

I am interested in understanding the mechanisms that regulate the stability of neuronal connections in vivo. In the central nervous system, neurons are connected via synapses to form circuits that relay, process and store information.

We aim to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways that influence the stability of these connections both in naive and disease paradigms. We rely on morphological and functional 2-photon in vivo imaging paradigms to study the interplay between neurons, glia and vascular function in regulating synaptic connectivity.

• My Focus

  My lab's research is focused on combining in vivo optical imaging technologies with cellular and molecular tools to study the pathophysiology of human disease modeled in mice.

  The beauty of optical imaging is the breadth of instrumentation and reporters that have been developed to enable visualization of structures from the cm to sub-micron range in vivo. We employ bioluminescence imaging, planar near-infrared fluorescence imaging, fluorescence-mediated tomography and 2-photon in vivo microscopy to span this range of resolution. Our instrumentation base is supplemented by a growing list of in-house probes that report aspects of animal physiology, disease state, and cellular and sub-cellular physiology. Many of these probes are genetically encoded.

  To express these reporters in vivo we take advantage of transgenic models and rapid in vivo transfection techniques. Together we can examine cellular and sub-cellular behavior in conjunction with physiological readouts to better understand disease progression modeled in mice and assess mechanisms of action of potential therapeutics.

• Publications

  • A caspase cascade regulating developmental axon degeneration

    Journal of Neuroscience, 2012, ISSN: 0270-6474

    Simon, David J.; Weimer, Robby M.; Mclaughlin, Todd; Kallop, Dara; Stanger, Karen; Yang, Jing; O'Leary, Dennis D.M.; Hannoush, Rami N.; Tessier-Lavigne, Marc

     View on PubMed

  • Spatially coordinated kinase signaling regulates local axon degeneration

    Journal of Neuroscience, 2012, ISSN: 0270-6474

    Chen, Mark; Maloney, Janice A; Kallop, Dara Y; Atwal, Jasvinder K; Tam, Stephen J; Baer, Kristin; Kissel, Holger; Kaminker, Joshua S; Lewcock, Joseph W; Weimer, Robby M; Watts, Ryan J

     View on PubMed

  • An effector-reduced anti-β-amyloid (Aβ) antibody with unique Aβ binding properties promotes neuroprotection and glial engulfment of Aβ

    Journal of Neuroscience, 2012, ISSN: 0270-6474

    Adolfsson, Oskar; Pihlgren, Maria; Toni, Nicolas; Varisco, Yvan; Buccarello, Anna Lucia; Antoniello, Katia; Lohmann, Sophie; Piorkowska, Kasia; Gafner, Valerie; Atwal, Jasvinder K.; Maloney, Janice; Chen, Mark; Gogineni, Alvin; Weimer, Robby M.; Mortensen, Deborah L.; Friesenhahn, Michel; Ho, Carole; Paul, Robert; Pfeifer, Andrea; Muhs, Andreas; Watts, Ryan J.

     View on PubMed

  • An Automated Method to Quantify Microglia Morphology and Application to Monitor Activation State Longitudinally In Vivo

    PloS ONE, 2012, ISSN:

    Cleopatra Kozlowski ; Robby M Weimer

     View on PubMed

  • Death Receptors DR6 and TROY Regulate Brain Vascular Development

    Developmental cell, 2012, ISSN: 1534-5807

    Tam, Stephen J; Richmond, David L; Kaminker, Joshua S; Modrusan, Zora; Martin-McNulty, Baby; Cao, Tim C; Weimer, Robby M; Carano, Richard A D; van Bruggen, Nick; Watts, Ryan J

• Education
  • Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Postdoctoral Felow – 2006
  • Ecole Normale Superieure, Postdoctoral Fellow – 2004
  • University of Utah, Ph.D Biology – 2002
  • University of Idaho, Zoology, B.S. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry – 1996