PHILADELPHIA — Edward E. Morrisey, PhD, a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, is the inaugural director of the Penn Center for Pulmonary Biology, a new center bridging basic and translational research programs on airway health at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Morrisey is also the scientific director of the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
“In addition to the strengths of the Pulmonary Medicine Divisions at Penn and CHOP, the Penn Center for Pulmonary Biology will help promote pulmonary research in several notable areas of excellence, including cardiovascular, pediatric, immunology, and cancer research,” Morrisey said. “The ultimate goal is to build a world-class center that will have an important impact on human health.”
“I am confident that under Ed’s leadership, the Penn Center for Pulmonary Biology will become the nation’s leading research program focused in the area of basic and translational lung biology,” said Michael S. Parmacek, MD, chair of the department of Medicine. “Throughout his career, he has incorporated evolving technologies in his research, including iPS cells and genome editing.”
Morrisey’s lab at Penn focuses on the molecular pathways that regulate heart and lung development. His seminal discoveries include the identification of a multipotent cardiopulmonary progenitor cell; transcriptional programs that direct lung epithelial cell differentiation; and molecular pathways that govern lung repair and development.
Morrisey holds a PhD in molecular biology from Northwestern University in Chicago. His work has been published in more than 100 academic journals, including Nature, Science, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, PNAS, Genes and Development, Developmental Cell and Science Translational Medicine.
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.