William J Weiss, MS
Instructor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and
Director of PreClinical Services
Education & Experience:
I earned a BS in Microbiology from Rutgers University and a MS in Microbiology from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Prior to my current position, I was Director of Drug Evaluation at Cumbre Pharmaceuticals Inc. My responsibilities included animal efficacy models, pharmacology and all pre-clinical microbiology research and development efforts focused on the discovery and development of new antimicrobial agents for difficult to treat infections. Previously, I was a Group Leader in Infectious Disease Discovery Research at Wyeth Research, Lederle Laboratories and Schering-Plough and held various positions of responsibility in antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal discovery research.
Teaching Areas & Interests:
I have been involved in drug discovery for more than 38 years. In that time, I have supervised groups that consisted of up to 12 or more individual scientists of various degrees of experience and interests. In that respect, I have taken on a role as mentor to younger scientists, educating them in the field of drug discovery in bacterial, fungal and viral therapeutic areas. Using this practical experience, I currently teach several classes in the Pharmacotherapy of Infectious Diseases course.
Professional Activities & Awards:
Society of Quality Assurance (SQA), European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ESCMID), Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) company delegate: 2005 – 2008, Ad hoc reviewer for Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ASM publication): 2004 – present, American Society for Microbiology (ASM) – member since 1980, International Society of Anti-infective Pharmacology (ISAP), Pearl River Animal Care and Use Committee (PRACUC) – Full Voting Member: 2002 – 2004. I have worked on numerous antibacterial programs including the development of the marketed antibiotic products, Suprax, Zosyn, Tygacil, AvyCaz, Vabormere, Xerava and Zemdri.
Scholarly Interests:
My research interests mainly center around the development and use of animal models in infectious disease for the evaluation of new and novel therapies in antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral research. As Director of the PreClinical Services group at HSC Fort Worth, I work closely with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide, consulting with them on their discovery programs, designing research protocols and conducting these studies at HSC on their behalf. Of particular interest, is the use of the pharmacokinetic / pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) relationship of these novel test articles and the use of these parameters to optimize dose and dose regimens to set the stage for their clinical development and eventual regulatory approval.
Recent Publications:
Grossman, T., C. Fyfe, W. O’Brien, M. Hackel, M. Minyard, K. Waites, J. Dubois, T. Murphy, A. Slee, W. Weiss, J. Sutcliffe. 2017. The Fluorocycline TP-271 is Potent Against Complicated Community-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia (CABP) Pathogens, mSphere January/February 2017. (Vol.2, Issue 1).
C. Burdet S. Sayah-Jeanne T. Thuy Nguyen, C. Miossec, N. Saint-Lu, M. Pulse, W. Weiss, A. Andremont, F. Mentré, J. de Gunzburg. 2017. Protection of hamsters from mortality by reducing fecal moxifloxacin concentration with DAV131A in a model of moxifloxacin-induced Clostridium difficile colitis. Antimicrob Agent Chemother. Vol. 61 Issue 10.
Weiss, W., Pulse, M., Nguyen, P., Peterson, K.,Silva, J., Simecka, J., Valtierra, D., Sabet, M., Griffith, D. 2018. Activity of Meropenem-Vaborbactam against Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in a Murine Model of Pyelonephritis. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Vol. 62 Issue 1.
Burdet, C., Sayah, S., Nguyen, T., Hugon, P., Sablier-Gallis, F., Saint-Lu, N., Corbel, T., Ferreira, S., Pulse, M., Weiss, W., Andremont, A., Mentre, F., Gunzburg, J. 2018. Antibiotic-induced dysbiosis predicts mortality in an animal model of Clostridium difficile infection. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. Vol. 62 Issue 10.
Kers, J., A. DeFusco, J. Park, J. Xu, M. Pulse, W. Weiss, M. Handfield. 2018. OG716: Designing a fit-for-purpose lantibiotic for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infections. PLoS ONE June 12, 2018. P1-22.
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