Deborah Veis (Novack), MD, PhD

Deborah Veis (Novack), MD, PhD

Professor, Medicine
Professor, Pathology & Immunology

Division

  • Anatomic & Molecular Pathology

Additional Titles

  • Professor, Pathology & Immunology

Lab Website

Education

  • MD, PhD: Washington University, St. Louis, MO (1995)
  • Residency, Fellowship: Washington University, St. Louis, MO (2002)

Board Certifications

  • Anatomic Pathology

Recognition

  • 2016: Washington University School of Medicine Alumni Achievement Award
  • 2009: The American Society for Clinical Investigation Elected Member
  • 2007: American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) Career Enhancement Award
  • 2004: Harold Frost Young Investigator Award
  • 2001: American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) Young Investigator Award
  • 1993: Spencer T. and Ann Olin Award for Excellence in Graduate Research, Washington University

Clinical Interests

  • Metabolic Bone Pathology
  • Breast Pathology

Research Interests

My lab studies mechanisms of pathological bone loss.  Most work has focused on the study of osteoclasts, the cells that resorb/remove bone to allow normal bone turnover. These cells are hematopoietic-derived cells of the monocyte lineage that differentiate in the bone microenvironment under the influence of the cytokine RANKL. OCs attach to the bone surface via integrins and form an extracellular compartment, the resorption lacuna, into which they secrete acid and proteases to degrade the organic and mineral components of bone. Activity of these cells is critical for bone homeostasis, but their abnormal activation is responsible for pathological bone loss in many settings, including osteolytic tumor metastases and infection. We use a combination of disease models, genetic mouse models, and in vitro cultures, providing a broad range of potential research projects as well as diverse technical approaches. Our current active projects include investigation of the role of the inflammasome in S. aureus-mediated osteomyelitis, and tumor-bone interactions in HTLV-1/acute T cell leukemia.

My clinical research interests include analyzing bone biopsies for studies of metabolic bone diseases such as osteoporosis and hypophosphatasia, using both qualitative and quantitative histomorphometric approaches. In addition, I work with clinicians to describe new or rare bone diseases and collaborate on basic and translational breast cancer studies.

Editorial Responsibilities

2021-2026Editor in ChiefJournal of Bone and Mineral Research Plus
2015-2021Associate EditorJournal of Bone and Mineral Research
2013-2015Associate EditorConnective Tissue Research
2014Co-Section EditorCurrent Osteoporosis Reports, Osteoimmumology Section Vol. 12, Issue 1
2011-2015Member Editorial BoardJournal of Bone and Mineral Research

DBBS Graduate Program Affiliation

  • Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis
  • Immunology

Selected Publications

Rozenblatt-Rosen O, Regev A, Oberdoerffer P, Nawy T, Hupalowska A, Rood JE, Ashenberg O, Cerami E, Coffey RJ, Demir E, Ding L, Esplin ED, Ford JM, Goecks J, Ghosh S, Gray JW, Guinney J, Hanlon SE, Hughes SK, Hwang ES, Iacobuzio-Donahue CA, Jané-Valbuena J, Johnson BE, Lau KS, Lively T, Mazzilli SA, Pe’er D, Santagata S, Shalek AK, Schapiro D, Snyder MP, Sorger PK, Spira AE, Srivastava S, Tan K, West RB, Williams EH; Human Tumor Atlas Network (including Veis DJ). The Human Tumor Atlas Network: Charting Tumor Transitions across Space and Time at Single-Cell Resolution. Cell. 2020 Apr 16;181(2):236-249. PMCID: PMC7376497
Xiao J, Wang C, Yao J, Alippe Y, Yang T, Kress D, Sun K, Kostecki KL, Monahan JB, Veis DJ, Abu-Amer Y, Link DC, Mbalaviele G. Radiation causes tissue damage by dysregulating inflammasome-gasdermin D signaling in both host and transplanted cells. PLoS Biol. 2020 Aug;18(8):e3000807. PMCID: PMC7446913.
Whyte MP, Campeau PM, McAlister WH, Roodman GD, Kurihara N, Nenninger A, Duan S, Gottesman GS, Bijanki VN, Sedighi H, Veis DJ, Mumm S. Juvenile Paget’s Disease From Heterozygous Mutation of SP7 Encoding Osterix (Specificity Protein 7, Transcription Factor SP7). Bone. 2020; 137:115364. PMCID: PMC8054448.
Fox GC, Su X, Davis JL, Xu Y, Kwakwa KA, Ross MH, Fontana F, Xiang J, Esser AK, Cordell E, Pagliai K, Dang HX, Sivapackiam J, Stewart SA, Maher CA, Bakewell SJ, Sharma V, Achilefu S, Veis DJ, Lanza GM, Weilbaecher KN. Targeted therapy to β3 integrin reduces chemoresistance in breast cancer bone metastases. Mol Cancer Ther. 2021 Jun;20(6):1183-1198. PMCID: PMC8442608
Cook FJ, Seagrove-Guffey M, Mumm S, Veis DJ, McAlister WH, Bijanki VN, Wenkert D, Whyte MP. Non-endemic skeletal fluorosis: Causes and associated secondary hyperparathyroidism (case report and literature review). Bone. 2021; 145:115839. PMCID: PMC8142331
Zarei A, Ballard A, Cox L, Bayguinov P, Harris T, Davis JL, Roper P, Fitzpatrick J, Faccio R, Veis DJ. Osteolineage depletion of mitofusin2 enhances cortical bone formation in female mice. Bone. 2021 Jul;148:115941. PMCID: PMC8162829
Davis JL, Thaler R, Cox L, Ricci B, Zannit HM, Wan F, Faccio R, Dudakovic A, van Wijnen AJ, Veis DJ. Constitutive activation of NF-κB inducing kinase (NIK) in the mesenchymal lineage using Osterix (Sp7)- or Fibroblast-specific protein 1 (S100a4)-Cre drives spontaneous soft tissue sarcoma. PLoS One. 2021 Jul 22;16(7):e0254426. PMCID: PMC8297882.
Roper PM, Eichelberger KR, Cox L, O’Connor L, Shao C, Ford CA, Fritz SA, Cassat JE, Veis DJ. Contemporary clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from pediatric osteomyelitis patients display unique characteristics in a mouse model of hematogenous osteomyelitis. Infection and Immunity. 2021 Sep 16;89(10):e0018021.
Estes BT, Enomoto M, Moutos FT, Carson MA, Toth JM, Eggert P, Stallrich J, Willard VP, Veis DJ, Little D, Guilak F, Lascelles BDX. Biological resurfacing in a canine model of hip osteoarthritis. Sci Adv. 2021 Sep 17;7(38):eabi5918. Epub 2021 Sep 15.
Su X, Xu Y, Fox GC, Xiang J, Kwakwa KA, Davis JL, Belle JI, Lee WC, Wong WH, Fontana F, Hernandez-Aya L, Kobayashi T, Tomasson HM, Su J, Bakewell SJ, Stewart SA, Egbulefu C, Karmakar P, Meyer MA, Veis DJ, DeNardo DG, Lanza GM, Achilefu S, Weilbaecher KN. Breast cancer derived GM-CSF regulates arginase 1 in myeloid cells to promote an immunosuppressive microenvironment. J Clin Invest. 2021 Sep 14:145296. Epub ahead of print.

Assistant
Jennifer Vollmer
314-454-8463
jvollmer@wustl.edu