Research at Weiner Lab

Joshua Weiner, MD

Current Research Focus

Dr. Weiner's laboratory investigates the immunologic mechanisms of rejection and tolerance after solid organ transplantation, with a primary focus on intestinal transplantation, xenotransplantation, mixed chimerism, and transplant immunology. His translational research combines large-animal models and clinical investigation to develop novel strategies that improve graft tolerance, reduce rejection, and expand access to organ transplantation. Current projects include studies of the gut microbiome, tolerance induction through bone marrow transplantation, skeletal muscle chimerism, xenotransplantation, organ cryopreservation, and CAR-T regulatory cell therapies.

Selected Recent Publications (2024–Present)

  • Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Matching... Transplant Direct (2026).
  • Prolonged Skin Graft Survival... Transplant Direct (2025).
  • Predicting Post-intestinal Transplant Patient Survival. Transplantation (2025).
  • MHC Class II Sharing Appears to Promote Intestinal Allograft Tolerance. Transplantation (2025).
  • Mucosal Mixed Lymphocyte Reaction Assay... Transplantation (2025).
  • Durable Mixed Chimerism... American Journal of Transplantation (2025).
  • Development of a Large Animal Orthotopic Intestinal Transplantation Model. Frontiers in Transplantation (2024).

Grants & Funding (2024–Present)

  • NIH/NIAID R01 – Principal Investigator
  • Exploratory Cell Engineering Award – Principal Investigator
  • Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation – Co-Investigator
  • Irving Scholar Award – Principal Investigator
  • Leducq Foundation – Co-Principal Investigator
  • NIH K23 Award – Principal Investigator
  • Columbia Research Stabilization Award – Principal InvestigatorAwards & Honors (2024–Present)
  • Promoted to Florence Irving Associate Professor of Surgery (2026)
  • Vanguard Award (2024)
  • Fellow, American Society of Transplantation (FAST)
  • Fellow, American College of Surgeons (FACS)
  • Investigator, Leducq Foundation Network of Excellence 

Leadership & Other Important Contributions

  • Chair, Pipeline Committee, American Society of Transplant Surgeons
  • Site PI, PANORAMA Clinical Trial
  • International invited speaker and course director
  • Department of Surgery Research Committee member