John (Jed) Weldon

Biography

Dr. Weldon earned his Ph.D. from the Program in Cell, Molecular, Developmental Biology, and Biophysics at Johns Hopkins University in 2006. He completed his postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute, where he was awarded a Pharmacology Research Associate Fellowship and was an inventor on multiple patents. Dr. Weldon joined the Department of Biological Sciences in 2012 as an Assistant Professor. His scholarship focuses on the study of antibody conjugates for the treatment of diseases such as cancer, viral infections, and hemophilia. Dr. Weldon has mentored over 40 undergraduate and graduate students in his research laboratory at Towson University, many of whom are pursuing graduate training in the sciences or are working scientific professionals. He teaches upper-level biology and chemistry courses in the areas of molecular biology and biochemistry.

 Since coming to TU, Dr. Weldon has been actively involved in Biology department activities as well as those associated with the interdisciplinary Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Bioinformatics (MB3) Program. He recently led a successful effort to accredit MB3 with the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). He serves on the certification exam committee for the ASBMB, and as the faculty advisor for the Towson University ASBMB Student Chapter.

Publications

Underlined names indicate TU students; * indicates an undergraduate student; ** indicates a graduate student.

Sanford JD* and Weldon JE. (2018) The biology of native and adapted CRISPR-Cas systems. J Young Investig. 35 (5): 86-96. DOI: 10.22186/jyi.35.5.86-96.

Hobson JJ**, Gallegos AS*, Atha III BW**, Kelly JP*, Lein CD*, VanOrsdel CE, Weldon JE, and Hemm MR. (2018) Investigation of Amino Acid Specificity in the CydX Small Protein Shows Sequence Plasticity at the Functional Level. PLOS ONE. 13(6): e0198699. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198699.

Weldon JE, Skarzynski M, Therres JA*, Ostovitz JR*, Zhou H, Kreitman RJ, and Pastan I. (2015) Designing the furin-cleavable linker in recombinant immunotoxins based on Pseudomonas exotoxin A. Bioconjug Chem. 26(6):1120-8. DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.5b00190.

Weldon JE, Xiang L, Zhang J, Beers R, Walker DA, Onda M, Hassan R, and Pastan I. (2013) A recombinant immunotoxin against the tumor-associated antigen mesothelin reengineered for high activity, low off-target toxicity, and reduced antigenicity. Mol Cancer Ther. 12(1):48-57. DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-12-0336.

Mazor R, Vassall AN, Eberle JA, Beers R, Weldon JE, Venzon DJ, Tsang KY, Benhar I, and Pastan I. (2012) Identification and elimination of an immunodominant T cell epitope in recombinant immunotoxins based on Pseudomonas exotoxin A. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 109(51):E3597-603. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1218138109.

Liu W, Onda M, Kim C, Xiang L, Weldon JE, Lee B, and Pastan I. (2012) A recombinant immunotoxin engineered for increased stability by adding a disulfide bond has decreased immunogenicity. Protein Eng Des Sel. 25(1):1-6.

Weldon JE and Pastan I. (2011) A guide to taming a toxin: recombinant immunotoxins constructed from Pseudomonas exotoxin A for the treatment of cancer. FEBS J. 278(23):4683-700.

Courses Taught

BIOL 409 Molecular Biology

BIOL 602 Molecular Biology

CHEM 351 Biochemistry I

CHEM 356 Biochemistry Lab