Dr. Scott Tillman Weiss is a distinguished leader in respiratory and genetic epidemiology, currently serving as Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of Personalized Medicine at Partners HealthCare System. He holds additional leadership roles as Co-Leader of the Systems Genetics and Genomics Unit and Associate Director of the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Weiss founded the Pulmonary Division at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston in 1978, establishing his clinical foundation before transitioning to a primary research focus in 1986. His career trajectory demonstrates a strategic evolution from clinical leadership to directing large-scale genomic research initiatives that bridge academic medicine and healthcare system implementation.
Dr. Weiss has pioneered significant advances in understanding the genetic and environmental determinants of respiratory diseases, particularly asthma and COPD, through leadership of major international consortia including CAMP, SHARE, and EVE. His research encompasses multi-disciplinary cooperative studies conducted across diverse global populations in China, Norway, Mexico, England, Costa Rica, and the Netherlands, revealing critical insights into disease etiology. As lead of a 30-investigator, 110-person research group at the Channing Division, he has directed comprehensive examinations of environmental exposures and genetic risk factors that have reshaped clinical understanding of respiratory pathologies. His methodological expertise in genetic epidemiology has positioned him as a sought-after advisor for NIH's NHLBI, where he has served on multiple oversight committees for genetic research initiatives.
Beyond his direct research contributions, Dr. Weiss oversees a substantial operational infrastructure comprising 15 faculty and approximately 100 staff across Core Laboratories, the Partners Biobank, the CLIA-approved Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, and associated IT and education programs. His leadership in implementing state-of-the-art genomic technologies within a major healthcare system has advanced the integration of personalized medicine into clinical practice across the Partners network. Through his dual roles at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dr. Weiss continues to shape the future of precision medicine while mentoring the next generation of researchers in respiratory epidemiology. His ongoing work focuses on translating genomic discoveries into actionable clinical insights that improve patient outcomes through more tailored therapeutic approaches.
