Dr. Daniel E Weeks, PhD

Dr. Weeks' research focuses on statistical human genetics in the area of mapping susceptibility loci involved in complex diseases. His primary interest is developing new mapping methods, which involves developing algorithms and statistics, implementing them in computer programs, and testing them on real and simulated data. In addition, he is actively involved in a number of collaborative human genetics projects, all of which constantly challenge him to develop new and more useful methods for dealing with the complexities of real data. He is studying the genetic influences on obesity, lipids, body composition, and age-related macular degeneration.  In addition, he and his colleagues are studying the effects of methylation on risk for pre-eclampsia, on patient recovery outcomes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and traumatic brain injury, and on cognitive function within the context of treatment for breast cancer.

1983         B.A., summa cum laude, Biology and Mathematics, Colby College, Waterville, ME

1983-84   Graduate studies in Applied Mathematics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
1985         M.S., Biomathematics, University of California, Los Angeles
1988         Ph.D., Biomathematics (Kenneth Lange, mentor), University of California, Los Angeles
1989-90    Postdoctoral training (Jurg Ott, mentor), Columbia University, New York, NY

Fellowships:
1982       Research Training Program, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME (David E. Harrison, mentor)
1983       Summer Student Fellow, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA (Hal Caswell, mentor)
1986-87  Genetic Mechanisms Training Program, UCLA
1987-88  Systems and Integrative Biology Training Program, UCLA
1989-90  Postdoctoral Fellow with Jurg Ott, Ph.D., Columbia University

HUGEN 2071 Genomic Data Processing and Structures
HUGEN 2080 Statistical Genetics

Search for students' electronic thesis and dissertations
Click here to search

1989-90   Research Scientist, New York State Psychiatric Institute
1990-96   Assistant Professor of Human Genetics (tenure-track), University of Pittsburgh
1994-98   Head of Statistical Genetics - Methods, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford
1996-02   Associate Professor of Human Genetics (tenured), University of Pittsburgh
2002-03   Associate Professor of Biostatistics (joint appointment), University of Pittsburgh
2004        Acting Chair, Department of Human Genetics
2005        Acting Vice Chair, Department of Human Genetics
2002-       Professor of Human Genetics (tenured), University of Pittsburgh
2003-       Professor of Biostatistics (joint appointment), University of Pittsburgh
2021-22   Acting Chair, Department of Human Genetics

Search PubMed
Europe PMC profile
Google Scholar profile
My Bibliography
Orcid ID

Recent publications (from more than 234 peer-reviewed manuscripts)
Last updated July 13, 2022 - use the links above for up-to-date information.

†Graduate student; ‡Post-doctoral trainee.

1. Bastard P, Hsiao KC, Zhang Q, Choin J, Best E, Chen J, Gervais A, Bizien L, Materna M, Harmant C, Roux M, Hawley NL, Weeks DE, McGarvey ST, Sandoval K, Barberena-Jonas C, Quinto-Cortes CD, Hagelberg E, Mentzer AJ, Robson K, Coulibaly B, Seeleuthner Y, Bigio B, Li Z, Uze G, Pellegrini S, Lorenzo L, Sbihi Z, Latour S, Besnard M, Adam de Beaumais T, Jacqz Aigrain E, Beziat V, Deka R, Esera Tulifau L, Viali S, Reupena MS, Naseri T, McNaughton P, Sarkozy V, Peake J, Blincoe A, Primhak S, Stables S, Gibson K, Woon ST, Drake KM, Hill AVS, Chan CY, King R, Ameratunga R, Teiti I, Aubry M, Cao-Lormeau VM, Tangye SG, Zhang SY, Jouanguy E, Gray P, Abel L, Moreno-Estrada A, Minster RL, Quintana-Murci L, Wood AC, Casanova JL (2022) A loss-of-function IFNAR1 allele in Polynesia underlies severe viral diseases in homozygotes. J Exp Med 219. PMCID: PMC9026234
2. Fu H^†, Hawley NL, Carlson JC, Russell EM^‡, Pomer A, Cheng H, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Deka R, Choy CC, McGarvey ST, Minster RL, Weeks DE (2022) The missense variant, rs373863828, in CREBRF plays a role in longitudinal changes in body mass index in Samoans. Obes Res Clin Pract 16:220-227
3. Heinsberg LW^‡, Weeks DE (2022) Post hoc power is not informative. Genet Epidemiol
4. Liu D, Zusman BE, Shaffer JR, Li Y, Arockiaraj AI^†, Liu S^†, Weeks DE, Desai SM, Kochanek PM, Puccio AM, Okonkwo DO, Conley YP, Jha RM (2022) Decreased DNA Methylation of RGMA is Associated with Intracranial Hypertension After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: An Exploratory Epigenome-Wide Association Study. Neurocrit Care
5. Russell EM^‡, Carlson JC, Krishnan M^‡, Hawley NL, Sun G, Cheng H, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Viali S, Tuitele J, Major TJ, Miljkovic I, Merriman TR, Deka R, Weeks DE, McGarvey ST, Minster RL (2022) CREBRF missense variant rs373863828 has both direct and indirect effects on type 2 diabetes and fasting glucose in Polynesian peoples living in Samoa and Aotearoa New Zealand. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care 10. PMCID: PMC8845200

Recent preprints

1. Moors J, Krishnan M^‡, Sumpter N, Takei R, Bixley M, Cadzow M, Major TJ, Phipps-Green A, Topless R, Merriman M, Rutledge M, Morgan B, Carlson JC, Zhang JZ, Russell EM^‡, Sun G, Cheng H, Weeks DE, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Viali S, Tuitele J, Hawley NL, Deka R, McGarvey ST, Zoysa J de, Murphy R, Dalbeth N, Stamp L, Taumoepeau M, King F, Wilcox P, McCormick S, Minster RL, Merriman TR, Leask M. A population-specific missense variant rs1597000001 in CETP promotes a favorable lipid profile and reduces CETP activity. medRxiv [Preprint]. 2021 Sep 15 https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.11.21263438   
2. Li Z, Li X, Zhou H, Gaynor SM, Selvaraj MS, Arapoglou T, Quick C, Liu Y, Chen H, Sun R, Dey R, Arnett DK, Bielak LF, Bis JC, Blackwell TW, Blangero J, Boerwinkle E, Bowden DW, Brody JA, Cade BE, Conomos MP, Correa A, Cupples LA, Curran JE, Vries PS de, Duggirala R, Freedman BI, Göring HHH, Guo X, Kalyani RR, Kooperberg C, Kral BG, Lange LA, Manichaikul A, Martin LW, Mitchell BD, Montasser ME, Morrison AC, Naseri T, O’Connell JR, Palmer ND, Peyser PA, Psaty BM, Raffield LM, Redline S, Reiner AP, Reupena MS, Rice KM, Rich SS, Smith JA, Taylor KD, Vasan RS, Weeks DE, Wilson JG, Yanek LR, Zhao W, NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Consortium, TOPMed Lipids Working Group, Rotter JI, Willer CJ, Natarajan P, Peloso GM, Lin X. A framework for detecting noncoding rare variant associations of large-scale whole-genome sequencing studies. bioRxiv [Preprint] 2021 Nov 8. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.05.467531
3. Heinsberg LW^‡, Carlson JC, Pomer A, Cade BE, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Weeks DE, McGarvey ST, Redline S, Hawley NL. Correlates of Daytime Sleepiness and Insomnia among Adults in Samoa. medRxiv [Preprint]  2022 May 27. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.25.22275570
4. Carlson JC, Krishnan M^‡, Rosenthal SL, Russell EM, Zhang JZ, Hawley NL, Moors J, Cheng H, Dalbeth N, Zoysa J de, Watson H, Qasim M, Murphy R, Naseri T, Reupena MS, Viali S, Stamp LK, Tuitele J, Kershaw EE, Deka R, McGarvey ST, Merriman TR, Weeks DE, Minster RL. A stop-gain variant in BTNL9 is associated with atherogenic lipid profiles. medRxiv [Preprint] 2022 Jun 23. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.06.22.22276448