Ian Weaver

Education

BSc (Aberdeen)
MSc (Bristol)
PhD (McGill)

Interested in Joining Us?

WE ARE LOOKING FOR QUALIFIED GRADUATE STUDENTS AND POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS. If you are interested in joining our research group, please send the following information to ian.weaver@dal.ca: 1. Your complete CV, 2. Research statement stating how your training matches our research goals and why you would like to join our team.

Applying for a Certificate in Genetics?

As a Certificate in Genetics Coordinator, I provide approval of the research component for applicants in the Psychology & Neuroscience Department and the Medical Sciences program. Please send your one-page honours research proposal to ian.weaver@dal.ca for review.

Research Interests

Our multi-disciplinary research program focuses on molecular, metabolic, and immunological aspects of cellular and behavioural neuroscience, with a special focus on mechanisms of gene regulation. Current projects explore the potential role of chromatin remodeling genes, DNA methylation and DNA repair mechanisms in social, emotional and cognitive development. Additionally, our lab examines altered metabolism and gene regulatory networks in cancer and neurodegenerative disease.

Our research employs several state-of-the-art molecular, cellular, and behavioural assays to provide a complete picture of how experiences propagate from external to internal variables, and the role chromatin structure and remodelling genes play in neurobehavioural development.

Through cross-appointments with the Departments of Pathology and Psychiatry, and as a member of the Brain Repair Centre (www.brainrepair.ca) and the Atlantic Canada Chapter Chair for the Canadian Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Network (www.dohad.ca), my research group is well positioned to advance (epi)genetic profiling and integrative analysis of gene expression and regulation across a variety of animal and human tissues. We have also formed research partnerships with Canadian biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industry to further biomedical applications.

Selected Publications

• Fertan E., Gendron WH, Wong AA, Hanson G, Brown RE, WEAVER ICG. 2023. Noncanonical regulation of imprinted gene Igf2 by amyloid-beta 1-42 in Alzheimer's disease. Scientific Reports. Feb 4;13(1): 2043.
• Korgan A, Foxx CL, Hashmib H, Sagob SA, Stamper CE, Heinze JD, O’Leary E, King JL, Perrot TS, Lowery CA and WEAVER ICG. 2022. Effects of paternal high-fat diet and maternal rearing environment on the gut microbiota and behavior. Scientific Reports. Jun 17;12(1):10179.
• Fertan E, Purdon M, Wong AA, WEAVER ICG and Brown RE. 2021. The Effect of Background Strain on the Behavioural and Neurochemical Phenotype of the MDGA2+/- Mouse Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Genes, Brain and Behavior. Mar;20(3):1-18.
• Dahn ML, Cruickshank BM, Jackson AJ, Dean C, Holloway RW, Hall SR, Coyle KM, Maillet H, Waisman DM, Goralski KB, Giacomantonio CA, WEAVER ICG and Marcato P. 2020. Decitabine response in breast cancer requires efficient drug processing and is not limited by multidrug resistance. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. May 4;19(5):1110-1122.
• Huynh TT, Sultan M, Vidovic D, Dean CA, Cruickshank BM, Lee K, Loung CY, Holloway RW, Hoskin DW, Waisman DM, WEAVER ICG and Marcato P. 2019. Retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide induce lasting differentiation and demethylation of target genes in APL cells. Scientific Reports. Jul 1;9(1):9414.
• Fertan E, Rodrigues GJ, Wheeler RV, Goguen D, Wong AA, James H, Stadnyk A, Brown RE and WEAVER ICG. 2019. Cognitive decline, cerebral-spleen tryptophan metabolism, oxidative stress, cytokine production, and regulation of the txnip gene in a triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer disease. American Journal of Pathology. Jul;189(7):1435-1450.
  
• Connor KL, Bourque SL and WEAVER ICG. 2019. A Canadian perspective on the developmental origins of health and disease: Understanding the past as a way forward. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. Feb;10(1):1-4.
• Sharif T, Martell E, Dai C, Ghassemi-Rad MS, Lee K, Singh SK, WEAVER ICG and Gujar S. 2018. Phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase inhibition induces p-mTOR-independent autophagy and promotes multilineage differentiation in embryonal carcinoma stem-like cells. Cell Death and Disease. Sep 24;9(10):990
  
• Bydoun M, Sterea A, WEAVER ICG, Bharadwaj AD and Waisman DM. 2018. A novel mechanism of plasminogen activation in epithelial and mesenchymal cells. Scientific Reports. Sep 20;8(1):14091
• Bydoun M, Sterea A, Liptay H, Uzans A, Huang WY, Rodrigues GJ, WEAVER ICG, Gu H and Waisman DM. 2018. S100A10, a novel biomarker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Molecular Oncology. Nov;12(11):1895-1916.
• Korgan AC, O'Leary E, King JL, WEAVER ICG and Perrot TS. 2018. Effects of paternal high-fat diet and rearing environment on maternal investment and development of defensive responses in the offspring. Psychoneuroendocrinology. May;91:20-30.
• Sultan M, Vidovic D, Paine AS, Huynh TT, Coyle KM, Thomas ML, Cruickshank BM, Dean CA, Clements DR, Kim Y, Lee K, Gujar SA, WEAVER ICG and Marcato P. 2018. Epigenetic silencing of tap1 in aldefluor(+) breast cancer stem cells contributes to their enhanced immune evasion. Stem Cells. May;36(5):641-654.
• Antony JM, WEAVER ICG, Rueffer M, Guthrie N and Evans M. 2017. The essentials of a global index for cognitive function. Translational Neuroscience. 8:87-96.
• WEAVER ICG, Korgan AC, Lee K, Wheeler RV, Hundert AS and Goguen D. 2017. Stress and the emerging roles of chromatin remodeling in signal integration and stable transmission of reversible phenotypes. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00041.
  
• Kennedy BE, Hundert AS, Goguen D, WEAVER ICG and Karten B. 2016. Presymptomatic alterations in amino acid metabolism and DNA methylation in the cerebellum of a murine model of niemann-pick type c disease. American Journal of Pathology. Jun;186(6):1582-1597.
• Korgan AC, O'Leary E, Bauer J, Fortier A, WEAVER ICG and Perrot TS. 2016. Effects of paternal predation risk and rearing environment on maternal investment and development of defensive responses in the offspring. eNeuro. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0231-16.2016.
• Coyle KM, Murphy JP, Vidovic D, Vaghar-Kashani A, Dean CA, Sultan M, Clements D, Wallace M, Thomas ML, Hundert A, Giacomantonio CA, Helyer L, Gujar SA, Lee PW, WEAVER ICG and Marcato P. 2016. Breast cancer subtype dictates DNA methylation and ALDH1A3-mediated expression of tumor suppressor RARRES1. Oncotarget. Jul 12;7(28):44096-44112.
• WEAVER ICG, Cervoni N, Champagne FA, D'Alessio AC, Sharma S, Seckl JR, DymovS, Szyf M and Meaney MJ. 2004. Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior. Nature Neuroscience. Aug;7(8):847-854.Selected Publications