Felix D. Weiss., PhD

2015 – 2020
PhD in Biomedical Sciences
Imperial College London, London, UK
London Institute of Medical Sciences, MRC
Thesis: “Rapid proteolysis of RAD21 in primary cells defines the role of cohesin in cell type-specific gene expression”
Advisor: Prof. Matthias Merkenschlager, PhD

2011 – 2015
BSc in Neuroscience with Extramural Year (1st Class)
King’s College London, London, UK
Undergraduate Research Project: “Role of KLC-2 deficiency in hearing loss”
Advisor: Prof. Karen Steel, PhD, FRS

From 05/2025
Junior Group Leader
Laboratory of Inflammatory Control
German Rheumatology Research Institute (DRFZ), A Leibniz Institute, Berlin, DE

01/2021 – 04/2025
Postdoctoral Researcher
AG Meissner
Department of Systems Immunology & Proteomics
Institute of Innate Immunity, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Bonn, DE

04/2020 – 12/2020
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Lymphocyte Development Group
Imperial College London / Laboratory of Medical Sciences, MRC, London, UK

09/2015 – 04/2020
PhD Student
Lymphocyte Development Group
Imperial College London / Laboratory of Medical Sciences, MRC, London, UK

2013 – 2014
Laboratory Research Assistant
Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Prof. Nathaniel Heintz
Rockefeller University, New York, NY

2023
University of Bonn / University Hospital Bonn
BONFOR Start Up Postdoc Fellowship (€188,000)
“Interplay of Western diet consumption and cholesterol in neuroinflammation”
100% TV-L13 salary for 2 years & €30,000 for consumables

2021
ImmunoSensation Cluster, University of Bonn
Postdoc Innovation Fund (€12,000)
“Contribution of tonic signalling to macrophage reactivity”

2021
TRA Life and Health, University of Bonn
Method Development Grant (€18,000)
“Cell-type specific proteomics from whole tissue as a discovery tool for intercellular communication”

2019
Guarantors of Brain Travel Scholarship (£1000)

2015
MRC PhD Scholarship (4 years)

Weiss, F.D#., Alvarez, Y., Shakeri, F., Sahu, A., Leka, P., Dernst, A., Rollheiser, J., Vasconcelos, M., Geraci, A., Duthie, F., Stahl, R., Lee, H.E., Gellner, A-K., Buness, A., Latz, E., Meissner, F#. (2024) Retention of ES cell derived-129S genome drives NLRP1 hypersensitivity and transcriptional deregulation in Nlrp3tm1Flv mice. Cell Death & Differentiation.
#Co-corresponding

Calderon, L*., Weiss, F.D*., Beagan, J.A*., Oliveira, M.S., Wang, Y-F., Carroll, T., Dharmalingam, G., Gong, W., Tossell, K., de Paola, V., Whilding, C., Ungles, M.A., Fisher, A.G., Phillips-Cremins, J.E., Merkenschlager, M. (2022) Cohesin-dependence of neuronal gene expression relates to chromatin loop length. eLife, 11.
*Equally contributing

Weiss F.D*., Calderon L*., Wang Y., Georgieva R., Guo Y., Cvetesic N., Kaur M., Dharmalingam G., Krantz I., Lenhard B., Fisher A., Merkenschlager M (2021) Neuronal genes deregulated in Cornelia de Lange Syndrome respond to removal and re-expression of cohesin. Nature Communications 12, 2919
*Equally contributing

Ingham, N.J., Pearson, A.S., Vancollie, V.E., Rook, V., Lewis, M.A., Chen, J., Buniello, A., Marteletti, E., Preite, L., Lam, C.C., Weiss, F.D., Powis, Z., Suwannarat, P., Lelliott, C.J., Dawson, S.J., White, J.K., Steel, K.P. (2019) Mouse screen reveals multiple new genes underlying mouse and human hearing loss. PLoS Biology, 17(4), e2000194.

Cuartero, S., Weiss, F.D*., Dharmalingam, G*., Guo, Y*., Ing-Simmons, E*., Masella, S., Robles-Rebollo, I., Xiao, X., Wang, Y., Barozzi, I., Djeghloul, D., Amano, M., Niskanen, H., Petretto, E., Dowell, R., Tachibana, K., Kaikkonen, M., Nasmyth, K., Lenhard, B., Natoli, G., Fisher, A. and Merkenschlager, M. (2018). Control of inducible gene expression links cohesin to hematopoietic progenitor self-renewal and differentiation. Nature Immunology, 19(9), pp.932-941.
*Equally contributing

Li, Q., Wang, Y., Sun, Q., Knopf, J., Herrmann, M., Lin, L., Jiang, J., Shaw, C., Li, P., He, X., Hua, F., Niu, Z., Ma, C., Zhu, Y., Ippolito, G., Piacentini, M., Estaquier, J., Melin, S., Weiss, F.D., Andreano, E., Latz, E., Schultze, J., Rappuoli, R., Mantovani, A., Mak, T.W., Melino, G., Shi, Y. (2022) Immune response in COVID-19: what is next? Cell Death & Differentiation, 29, 1107-1122

Oral Presentations

Innate Immune Signaling in Central Nervous System Inflammation.
2nd IFReC-ImmunoSensation2 International School on Advanced Immunology, Mariah Laach, Germany. September, 2023.

Functional proteomics dissection of phagocyte derived signals during CNS inflammation and recovery.
TRR274 Checkpoints of Central Nervous System Recovery, Martinsried, Germany. November, 2021.

Cohesin is continuously required to sustain neuronal gene expression.
29th Annual Mammalian Genetics and Development Workshop, London, UK. December, 2018.

Poster Presentations

Strain-specific regulation drives NLRP1 hypersensitivity in Nlrp3-/- macrophages.
From Innate and Adaptive Immunity: A question of memory, Berlin, Germany. July, 2024.

Strain-specific regulation drives NLRP1 hypersensitivity in Nlrp3-/- macrophages
CSHL Gene Expression & Signaling in the Immune System, Cold Spring Harbour, New York, NY, USA. April, 2024

Retention of a hypersensitive NLRP1 allele drives excessive inflammation in Nlrp3-/- macrophages.
ImmunoSensation2 Cluster of Excellence, Bonn, Germany. November, 2023.

In vivo cell-type specific proteomics to study CNS inflammation.
EMBO Proteomics in Cell Biology and Disease Mechanisms, Heidelberg, Germany. October, 2023.

Innate Immune Signaling in Central Nervous System Inflammation.
SFB1454 Metaflammation and Cellular Reprogramming, Venice, Italy. June, 2023.

In vivo cell-type specific proteomics to study CNS inflammation.
ImmunoSensation2 Cluster Hybrid Science Days, Bonn, Germany. November, 2021.

Cohesin sustains neuronal gene expression.
Keystone Epigenetics and Chromatin, Banff, Canada. March, 2019.

Control of inducible gene expression links cohesin to hematopoietic progenitor self-renewal and differentiation.
EMBO Transcription and Chromatin, Heidelberg, Germany. September, 2018.

Advanced Techniques in Molecular Neuroscience. June – July 2015. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory, NY.

• Three-week course covering a wide range of techniques including: viral prep and infection, CRISPR design, in vitro transfection, in utero electroporation, RT-PCR analysis, and mRNA isolation using TRAP.

Supervision / Mentorship:

PhD Students
Julia Noras 2024 – Present
Alesja Dernst 2021 – Present

Master’s Students:
Ilayda Senyuz 2023
Viktoria Moczigemba 2023
Julia Noras 2022 – 2023

2018
Genetics Society Presentation Award

Prof. Dr. med. Eicke Latz
Pathophysiology of Rheumatic Inflammation
German Rheumatology Research Institute (DRFZ), A Leibniz Institute
+49 30 28460601, eicke.latz@drfz.de

Prof. Felix Meissner, PhD
Department of Systems Immunology & Proteomics
Institute of Innate Immunity, UKB, DE
+49 22 828751210, felix.meissner@ukbonn.de

Prof. Matthias Merkenschlager, PhD
Lymphocyte Development Group
London Institute of Medical Sciences, MRC, UK
+44 20 3313 8239, matthias.merkenschlager@lms.mrc.ac.uk