The Barbara and Edward Netter Professorship of Cancer Gene Therapy

Barbara Netter

In 2013, Barbara Netter established the Professorship to support a faculty member whose work focuses on cancer gene research and/or clinical therapy at the Abramson Cancer Center.

Barbara Netter and her late husband, Penn alumnus Edward Netter, have supported Penn since the early 1980s. Their contributions created the Netter Center for Community Partnerships, and they have been dedicated advocates for research to advance gene therapy, having founded the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy in 2001 following the loss of their daughter-in-law to breast cancer. The Alliance has provided funding to numerous Penn Medicine scientists, including crucial early support for the team led by Carl June, MD. Dr. June’s team went on to conduct trials demonstrating the first successful and sustained demonstration of the use of gene transfer therapy to stimulate the body’s own immune cells to eradicate cancerous tumors.


 

Bruce L. LevineCurrent Chairholder
Bruce L. Levine, PhD

Bruce L. Levine, PhD received a BA (Biology) from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD (Immunology and Infectious Diseases) from Johns Hopkins University. He directs the development, manufacture, and testing of novel cell and gene therapies in single-center and multicenter clinical trials in patients with various cancers, HIV infections, and genetic diseases. First-in-human clinical trials include the first use of a lentiviral vector, the first infusions of zinc finger nuclease genome-modified cells, and the first use of lentivirally modified cells in cancer. An investigational therapy redirecting T cells to leukemia received the first Breakthrough Designation from the FDA for an academic institution, and is currently in commercial development. Dr. Levine is co-inventor on 17 U.S. patents and co-author of over 120 publications with a Google Scholar citation h-index of 65. Dr. Levine has overseen the production, testing, and release of over 2,600 cellular products administered to over 1,000 patients in clinical trials since 1996.