Allison Weis
Assistant Professor of Gastroenterology and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Microbiology, microbiome, tumor immunology, mucosal immunology, colon cancer
Molecular Biology Program
Education
B.A. Lewis & Clark College
Ph.D. University of California, Davis
Research
The Weis lab investigates fundamental questions regarding the biology of the gut microbiome, the mucosal immune system, and how this impacts gastrointestinal diseases such as colon cancer and colitis.
We are also focused on the immunology of the tumor microenvironment, and how anti-tumor immune cells are affected by microbes, and how we can harness members of the gut microbiome for therapy.
References
Select publications
- Weis AM, Bauer K, Tang WW, Stephen-Victor E, Bell R, Brown DG, Ekiz HA, Tran V, Klag KA, Swanson EA, Greenewood M, Barrios L, Hill JH, Ost KS, Gigic B, Schneider M, Ose J, Hardikar S, Toriola AT, Shibata D, Li CI, Figueiredo JC, Byrd DA, Siegel EM, O’Connell RM, Ulrich CM, Stephens WZ, Round JL. A capsular polysaccharide from a member of the healthy human microbiota activates a Lag-3-NK cell axis to restrain colon cancer and augment immunotherapy. In press,Cell Reports2025
- Hill JH, Bell R, Barrios L, Baird H, Ost K, Greenewood M, Monts JK, Tracy E, Meili CH, Chiaro TR, Weis AM, Guillemin K, Beaudin AE, Murtaugh LC, Stephens WZ, Round JL. Neonatal fungi promote lifelong metabolic health through macrophage-dependent β cell development. Science. 2025 Mar 7;387(6738):eadn0953. doi: 10.1126/science.adn0953. Epub 2025 Mar 7. PubMed PMID: 40048508; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12036834.
- Tang WW, Battistone B, Bauer KM, Weis AM, Barba C, Fadlullah MZH, Ghazaryan A, Tran VB, Lee SH, Agir ZB, Nelson MC, Victor ES, Thibeaux A, Hernandez C, Tantalla J, Tan AC, Rao D, Williams M, Drummond MJ, Beswick EJ, Round JL, Ekiz HA, Voth WP, O'Connell RM. A microRNA-regulated transcriptional state defines intratumoral CD8(+) T cells that respond to immunotherapy. Cell Rep. 2025 Feb 25;44(2):115301. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115301. Epub 2025 Feb 12. PubMed PMID: 39951377; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11924119.
- Chiaro TR, Greenewood M, Bauer KM, Ost KS, Stephen-Victor E, Murphy M, Weis AM, Nelson MC, Hill JH, Bell R, Voth W, Jackson T, Klag KA, O'Connell RM, Zac Stephens W, Round JL. Clec12a controls colitis by tempering inflammation and restricting expansion of specific commensals. Cell Host Microbe. 2025 Jan 8;33(1):89-103.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2024.12.009. PubMed PMID: 39788099; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11824846.
- Weis AM, Matthews OJ, Mulvey MA, Round JL. Draft genome of a human-derived pks+ E. coli that caused spontaneous disseminated infection in a mouse. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2024 Jul 18;13(7):e0038724. doi: 10.1128/mra.00387-24. Epub 2024 Jun 4. PubMed PMID: 38832767; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11256781.
- Weis AM, Round JL. Microbiota-antibody interactions that regulate gut homeostasis. Cell Host Microbe. 2021 Mar 10;29(3):334-346. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2021.02.009. Review. PubMed PMID: 33705705; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7990058.
- Weis AM, Storey DB, Taff CC, Townsend AK, Huang BC, Kong NT, Clothier KA, Spinner A, Byrne BA, Weimer BC. Genomic Comparison of Campylobacter spp. and Their Potential for Zoonotic Transmission between Birds, Primates, and Livestock. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2016 Dec 15;82(24):7165-7175. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01746-16. Print 2016 Dec 15. PubMed PMID: 27736787; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5118927.
- Taff CC, Weis AM, Wheeler S, Hinton MG, Weimer BC, Barker CM, Jones M, Logsdon R, Smith WA, Boyce WM, Townsend AK. Influence of Host Ecology and Behavior on Campylobacter jejuni Prevalence and Environmental Contamination Risk in a Synanthropic Wild Bird Species. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2016 Aug 1;82(15):4811-20. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01456-16. Print 2016 Aug 1. PubMed PMID: 27260356; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4984290.
- Draper JL, Hansen LM, Bernick DL, Abedrabbo S, Underwood JG, Kong N, Huang BC, Weis AM, Weimer BC, van Vliet AH, Pourmand N, Solnick JV, Karplus K, Ottemann KM. Fallacy of the Unique Genome: Sequence Diversity within Single Helicobacter pylori Strains. mBio. 2017 Feb 21;8(1). doi: 10.1128/mBio.02321-16. PubMed PMID: 28223462; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5358919.
- Arabyan N, Park D, Foutouhi S, Weis AM, Huang BC, Williams CC, Desai P, Shah J, Jeannotte R, Kong N, Lebrilla CB, Weimer BC. Salmonella Degrades the Host Glycocalyx Leading to Altered Infection and Glycan Remodeling. Sci Rep. 2016 Jul 8;6:29525. doi: 10.1038/srep29525. PubMed PMID: 27389966; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4937416.
- Weis AM, Miller WA, Byrne BA, Chouicha N, Boyce WM, Townsend AK. Prevalence and pathogenic potential of campylobacter isolates from free-living, human-commensal american crows. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2014 Mar;80(5):1639-44. doi: 10.1128/AEM.03393-13. Epub 2013 Dec 27. PubMed PMID: 24375131; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3957608.