Natasha Weiser, MD, PhD
Assistant ProfessorDownloadHi-Res Photo
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Assistant Professor
Biography
Dr. Weiser is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine. She completed her BA at Swarthmore College and her MD, PhD at the University of Michigan. Her thesis research was focused on how small non-coding RNAs regulate chromatin structure in the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. She was a clinical pathology resident at Stanford where she did post-doctoral research with Howard Chang and Paul Mischel. Her lab is interested in understanding how genomic and epigenetic alterations drive cancer and how these alterations could be targeted for cancer therapy.
Last Updated on July 01, 2026.
Appointments
Laboratory Medicine
Assistant ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- Instructor
- Stanford University (2025)
- Resident
- Stanford University (2022)
- MD
- University of Michigan, Medicine (2019)
- PhD
- University of Michigan, Cellular and Molecular Biology (2019)
- BA
- Swarthmore College, Biology (2010)
Board Certifications
Clinical Pathology
- Certification Organization
- AB of Pathology
- Original Certification Date
- 2022
Research
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Overview
Medical Research Interests
Carcinogenesis; Chromatin; Epigenomics; Genomic Instability; Oncogenes
ORCID
0000-0001-9971-2961- View Lab Website
Weiser Lab
Research at a Glance
Publications Timeline
A big-picture view of Natasha Weiser's research output by year.
Research Interests
Research topics Natasha Weiser is interested in exploring.
12Publications
994Citations
Publications
2025
Enhancer activation from transposable elements in extrachromosomal DNA
Kraft K, Murphy S, Jones M, Shi Q, Bhargava-Shah A, Luong C, Hung K, He B, Li R, Park S, Montgomery M, Weiser N, Wang Y, Luebeck J, Bafna V, Boeke J, Mischel P, Boettiger A, Chang H. Enhancer activation from transposable elements in extrachromosomal DNA. Nature Cell Biology 2025, 27: 1914-1924. PMID: 41120733, PMCID: PMC12611757, DOI: 10.1038/s41556-025-01788-6.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsTransposable elementsRepetitive elementsExtrachromosomal DNACancer cell fitnessEnhanced activityCRISPR interferenceCell fitnessInactive sequencesColorectal cancer cellsEcDNACancer phenotypeCancer cellsOncogene amplificationOncogene expressionTumor evolutionDNAIntratumour heterogeneityReporter assayAggressive cancerOncogeneCancerCRISPRLociMYCSequenceRegulation of MORC-1 is key to the CSR-1–mediated germline gene licensing mechanism in C. elegans
Kirshner J, Picard C, Weiser N, Mehta N, Feng S, Murphy V, Vakhnovetsky A, Alessi A, Xiao C, Inoki K, El Mouridi S, Frøkjær-Jensen C, Jacobsen S, Kim J. Regulation of MORC-1 is key to the CSR-1–mediated germline gene licensing mechanism in C. elegans. Science Advances 2025, 11: eado4170. PMID: 40540580, PMCID: PMC12180489, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado4170.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsCSR-1Ectopic overexpressionGene expressionArgonaute CSR-1Germline-expressed genesGHKL-type ATPaseGermline developmentTranscriptional repressionChromatin defectsC. elegansGerm lineMutantsGenesDown-regulationExpressionH3K36me3ArgonauteChromatinMisregulationH3K9me3RepressionGermlineATPaseOverexpressionFertilityA Guide to Extrachromosomal DNA: Cancer’s Dynamic Circular Genome
Weiser N, Watkins T, Chang H, Mischel P. A Guide to Extrachromosomal DNA: Cancer’s Dynamic Circular Genome. Cancer Discovery 2025, 15: 1105-1114. PMID: 40287855, PMCID: PMC12130802, DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.cd-25-0230.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsUnified molecular approach for spatial epigenome, transcriptome, and cell lineages
Huang Y, Belk J, Zhang R, Weiser N, Chiang Z, Jones M, Mischel P, Buenrostro J, Chang H. Unified molecular approach for spatial epigenome, transcriptome, and cell lineages. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2025, 122: e2424070122. PMID: 40249782, PMCID: PMC12037033, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2424070122.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsMitochondrial DNA variantsCell lineagesDNA copy numberAccessible chromatinDNA variantsHuman glioblastoma specimensCellular statesCopy numberSpatial assaysMolecular approachesEpigenomeLineagesMultiomicsGlioblastoma specimensCellsChromatinTranscriptomeGenesSequenceVariantsAssayTumor microenvironmentData modalities
2024
Enhancing transcription–replication conflict targets ecDNA-positive cancers
Tang J, Weiser N, Wang G, Chowdhry S, Curtis E, Zhao Y, Wong I, Marinov G, Li R, Hanoian P, Tse E, Mojica S, Hansen R, Plum J, Steffy A, Milutinovic S, Meyer S, Luebeck J, Wang Y, Zhang S, Altemose N, Curtis C, Greenleaf W, Bafna V, Benkovic S, Pinkerton A, Kasibhatla S, Hassig C, Mischel P, Chang H. Enhancing transcription–replication conflict targets ecDNA-positive cancers. Nature 2024, 635: 210-218. PMID: 39506153, PMCID: PMC11540844, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07802-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsTranscription-replication conflictsSingle-stranded DNATranscription-replicationReplication stressS-phase checkpoint kinaseTranscription-dependent mannerSustained tumor regressionDNA damage repairTumor cell deathDNA double strand breaksGastric cancer modelStepwise analysisGenome evolutionDouble strand breaksChromosomal lociExtrachromosomal DNAOncogenic cargoRNA transcriptsNucleotide incorporationTumor regressionCheckpoint kinaseSynthetic lethalityEcDNACancer modelsChk1 inhibitionOrigins and impact of extrachromosomal DNA
Bailey C, Pich O, Thol K, Watkins T, Luebeck J, Rowan A, Stavrou G, Weiser N, Dameracharla B, Bentham R, Lu W, Kittel J, Yang S, Howitt B, Sharma N, Litovchenko M, Salgado R, Hung K, Cornish A, Moore D, Houlston R, Bafna V, Chang H, Nik-Zainal S, Kanu N, McGranahan N, Flanagan A, Mischel P, Jamal-Hanjani M, Swanton C. Origins and impact of extrachromosomal DNA. Nature 2024, 635: 193-200. PMID: 39506150, PMCID: PMC11540846, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08107-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsTumor T-cell infiltrationHomologous recombination repair deficiencyAssociated with tumor stageT cell infiltrationLymphocyte-mediated immunityShorter overall survivalAssociated with metastasisTissue of originOverall survivalTumor stageCytotoxic treatmentTargeted therapyTreatment resistanceTumor typesImmune effector processTumor samplesPoor outcomeTobacco exposureImmunomodulatory genesTumorInflammatory genesClinical problemImmune systemRepair deficiencyExtrachromosomal DNA
2022
Targeted profiling of human extrachromosomal DNA by CRISPR-CATCH
Hung K, Luebeck J, Dehkordi S, Colón C, Li R, Wong I, Coruh C, Dharanipragada P, Lomeli S, Weiser N, Moriceau G, Zhang X, Bailey C, Houlahan K, Yang W, González R, Swanton C, Curtis C, Jamal-Hanjani M, Henssen A, Law J, Greenleaf W, Lo R, Mischel P, Bafna V, Chang H. Targeted profiling of human extrachromosomal DNA by CRISPR-CATCH. Nature Genetics 2022, 54: 1746-1754. PMID: 36253572, PMCID: PMC9649439, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-022-01190-0.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsTarget enrichmentExtrachromosomal DNAPhasing of genetic variantsPulsed field gel electrophoresisBase-pair resolutionHuman cancer cellsChromosomal DNANanopore sequencingChromosomal segmentsMethylation profilesGenetic variantsCRISPR-Cas9 treatmentGel electrophoresisEcDNAEGFR promoterHuman metastatic melanomaCancer cellsDNAOncogene amplificationSequenceTherapeutic resistanceExcision modelMetastatic melanomaEGFRvIII mutationGlioblastoma modelOncogene Convergence in Extrachromosomal DNA Hubs
Weiser N, Hung K, Chang H. Oncogene Convergence in Extrachromosomal DNA Hubs. Cancer Discovery 2022, 12: of1-of4. PMID: 35398879, PMCID: PMC9302380, DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.cd-22-0076.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and Concepts
2021
ecDNA hubs drive cooperative intermolecular oncogene expression
Hung K, Yost K, Xie L, Shi Q, Helmsauer K, Luebeck J, Schöpflin R, Lange J, Chamorro González R, Weiser N, Chen C, Valieva M, Wong I, Wu S, Dehkordi S, Duffy C, Kraft K, Tang J, Belk J, Rose J, Corces M, Granja J, Li R, Rajkumar U, Friedlein J, Bagchi A, Satpathy A, Tjian R, Mundlos S, Bafna V, Henssen A, Mischel P, Liu Z, Chang H. ecDNA hubs drive cooperative intermolecular oncogene expression. Nature 2021, 600: 731-736. PMID: 34819668, PMCID: PMC9126690, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04116-8.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsEcDNA hubsPVT1 promoterEnhancer-gene interactionsCis-regulatory elementsDiverse cancer cell typesCancer cell typesExpression of MYCCRISPR interferenceColorectal cancer cell linesExpression of oncogenesTranscriptional regulationExtrachromosomal DNAActive genesCancer cell linesOncogene locusBET inhibitor JQ1Gene activationEcDNAGene inductionGenesOncogenic functionExtraterminal domainGene amplificationOncogene overexpressionSystematic silencing
2019
Genotype–phenotype analysis of 523 patients by genetics evaluation and clinical exome sequencing
Ziats M, Ahmad A, Bernat J, Fisher R, Glassford M, Hannibal M, Jacher J, Weiser N, Keegan C, Lee K, Marzulla T, O’Connor B, Quinonez S, Seemann L, Turner L, Bielas S, Harris N, Ogle J, Innis J, Martin D. Genotype–phenotype analysis of 523 patients by genetics evaluation and clinical exome sequencing. Pediatric Research 2019, 87: 735-739. PMID: 31618753, PMCID: PMC7082194, DOI: 10.1038/s41390-019-0611-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsClinical exome sequencingExome sequencingClinical genetics teamGenotype-phenotype analysisPediatric genetics clinicMultiple organ system involvementGenetics teamPathogenic mutationsMultiple congenital anomaliesOrgan system involvementAbsence of abnormalitiesGenetics clinicClinical pediatric practiceCongenital anomaliesGenetics referralSystem abnormalitiesSystem involvementGenetic evaluationGeneticsDevelopmental delayPatientsSequenceMichigan MedicinePhenotypeVariants
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