PHILADELPHIA — The peer-reviewed journal Human Gene Therapy is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2014 by publishing a series of Perspectives by top researchers in the field of cell and gene therapy. Five scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania are among the 21 investigators who will be honored throughout the next 12 months.
The scientists, who have made seminal contributions for an extended period of time, were chosen for their seminal contributions to the field in a “ground breaking clinical study or a basic/technical advance that has substantially influenced the direction and/or trajectory of translational research,” according to the journal. In some areas, the Pioneer award was shared among more than one scientist because seminal work within a programmatic area could not be fairly singled out.
The Pioneer awardees from Penn are:
Gene therapy for eye disorders (co-awardee)
Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, F.M. Kirby Professor of Ophthalmology; professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Vector integration and tumorigenesis (co-awardee)
Frederic D. Bushman, PhD, professor of Microbiology
CARs for cancer gene therapy/lentiviral gene therapy clinical trials (co-awardee)
Carl H. June, MD, the Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy; professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; director of Translational Research in the Abramson Cancer Center
Basic and clinical gene therapy for hemophilia (co-awardee)
Katherine A. High, MD, the William H. Bennett Professor of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine; director, Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Basic and clinical AAV vector development
James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; director, Gene Therapy Program
For a full list of the awardees, see the journal release.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.