Weimer Lab

06/09/2025

Today, on International Batten Disease Awareness Day, the Weimer Lab honors the incredible strength of the Batten disease community — patients, families, and advocates who inspire us every single day. We have devoted our lab’s life work to understanding the biology of these devastating disorders, developing meaningful therapies, and building tools to accelerate clinical progress. But it is the unwavering courage and resilience of the Batten families that drives us most — they are the true champions of this fight. Staying close to this community fuels our determination and reminds us why we work relentlessly, with hope in our hearts and science in our hands.

Today, members of the Weimer lab participated in a virtual walk to help raise awareness!

05/21/2025

Excited to be a part of re-kickstarting this exciting program!

05/13/2025

04/25/2025

Recently, Jill gave a talk to the Neuroscience Student Council at the University of North Carolina! She shared “A Journey in Rare Disease Drug Development: Bench to Bedside and Back Again” - highlighting her path in translational research. It’s great to show students different paths they can take with a science degree!

04/16/2025

Yesterday was a milestone day for the Weimer lab! Huge congratulations to Brandon Meyerink who officially defended his thesis! Brandon started with us as a research technician fresh out of college. It’s been amazing to watch him grow into such a thoughtful, dedicated, and collaborative scientist. His thesis work on BPAN has moved the science forward in exciting ways, and his impact on our Batten disease research has been incredible. While we are a little sentimental seeing him close this chapter, we are thrilled he is staying here for a bit as a post doc. Thank you for everything you have given this lab. We are so proud of you, congratulations Dr. Meyerink!! 🎉🎉

04/01/2025

Great spotlight on the recent grant awarded by the Batten Disease Global Research Initiative! Check out the video to dive deeper into the exciting biomarker research it’s supporting!🧬

03/21/2025

We are thrilled to share that Jill has been awarded a grant from the Batten Disease Global Research Initiative! This project will help drive biomarker discovery for Batten disease. Read morere about the grant here: https://battenresearch.org/batten-disease-global-research-initiative-announces-inaugural-grant-recipients/

03/16/2025

Jill was recently the keynote speaker at the GRS pre-conference for the Lysosomal Disease Gordon Conference in Pomona, CA. She presented on Weimer Lab’s efforts in drug discovery for Batten disease. Pictured here are the phenomenal Batten disease scientists who attended the conference.

03/08/2025

International Women’s Day is March 8th, and on this special day, we recognize the incredible women we have the privilege of working alongside every day. I challenge all of you to Accelerate Action for women’s equality this month—whether through mentoring, advocating, or simply making space for more voices in the conversation.

When we lift women up, we don’t just transform individual careers—we change industries, impact lives, and build a stronger future for everyone.

03/04/2025

Jill partnered with Karen Kahn, founder of ForeBatten and mother of two children living with CLN3 Disease, to provide the Rare Disease Day seminar at SK Pharmteco/ Center for Breakthrough Medicines in King of Prussia, PA. Their presentation focused on ‘Race for a Cure: partnering patient advocacy with scientists to accelerate development of genetic medicines’.

03/03/2025

We are excited to share a new publication! This work was led by our graduate student Brandon Meyerink, who helped develop a mouse model for BPAN, a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder. Very exciting to be apart of this work along with the Pilaz Lab here at Sanford Research!

Beta-propeller Protein Associated Neurodegeneration (BPAN) is a devastating neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disease linked to variants in WDR45. Currently, there is no cure or disease altering treatment for this disease. This is, in part, due to a lack of insight into early phenotypes of BP...

02/28/2025

Today is Rare Disease Day! This day is dedicated to raising awareness and advocating for those living with a rare disease. Everyday we work to better understand and advance science. Throughout the day, we will be sharing responses from our team on why Rare Disease day and research is important to them! Next up is Sydney!

It shines a spotlight on a small group of people in need of support.