Perelman Professorship in Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics

In 2011, Ray and Ruth Perelman made a historic gift to permanently endow Penn’s medical school, which was renamed the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. From the endowment funds, Perelman Professorships were created to recognize faculty members who are making a transformative impact on academic medicine. Perelman Professorships are awarded to both current Penn professors and new faculty recruited from around the world.  

The Perelmans’ endowment of the medical school followed the couple’s earlier naming gift for the Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, Penn Medicine’s state-of-the-art outpatient center. Through their philanthropy, the Perelmans became crucial partners in making Penn Medicine one of the most influential and innovative academic medical centers in the U.S. 

Raymond G. Perelman (1917–2019) was the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of RGP Holdings, a private holding company comprising an array of manufacturing, mining, and financial interests. He and Ruth Caplan Perelman (1921– 2011) were married for 70 years. The Perelmans were counted among Philadelphia’s most prominent and generous philanthropists. They made pathbreaking gifts to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and its adjacent Perelman Building, the Kimmel Center and Perelman Theater, the Perelman Jewish Day School, and many other Jewish cultural and welfare organizations. Both the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Drexel University have honored Ray’s extraordinary support by naming areas of their campuses in his honor.    

At Penn, Mr. Perelman became a powerful advocate for all of Penn Medicine’s missions. In his later years, he could often be seen on campus or at medical school events such as graduation and the celebration of the Perelman School of Medicine’s 250th year. He particularly enjoyed meeting Penn’s incoming medical students. 

A Wharton alumnus and recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Penn, he served as a Penn Medicine Trustee from 2002 to 2012. In 2011, he was awarded Penn’s Medal for Distinguished Achievement, one of the University’s highest honors, to recognize “his untiring efforts and immeasurable contributions to the health and well-being, education and cultural opportunities in Philadelphia and beyond.” 

Current Chairholder

Enrique Schisterman, PhD

Enrique Schisterman, PhD is the Perelman Professor in Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Schisterman is an international leader in reproductive epidemiology and data science methods. His complementary training in epidemiology and statistics has enabled him to improve study designs, fuel new epidemiological methods, and solve analytical challenges to better understand the etiology of reproductive health. Specifically, Dr. Schisterman’s research focuses on the methodological components of exposure assessment—particularly the use of biomarkers—and on the etiologic study of reproduction, including randomized trials of low-cost interventions to improve reproductive function. These studies fill an urgent public need, given that high-priced private treatment is generally the only available option to treat infertility. Similarly, scientific discovery and constantly evolving public needs motivate his leadership as Chair of the Department of Biostatics Epidemiology & Informatics (DBEI) at the Perelman School of Medicine.  

Prior to his arrival at Penn in early 2021, Dr. Schisterman served as Senior Investigator and Epidemiology Branch Chief in the Division of Intramural Population Health Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the NIH. His works include the BioCycle Study, a prospective observational study to assess the relationships between endogenous hormones and biomarkers — including those for oxidative stress — across the menstrual cycle. His research expanded to designing and implementing critical randomized clinical trials on low-cost interventions to improve fertility and pregnancy outcomes and has reaped several important discoveries. His work on the Effects of Aspirin on Gestation and Reproduction (EAGeR) Trial suggests that low-dose aspirin increases live births overall for some women with chronic inflammation. The Folic Acid and Zinc Supplementation Clinical Trial (FAZST) debunked the utility of folic acid and zinc supplements for fertility in men, highlighting the need for more attention to the understudied role of male factors in couples' fertility. In addition to his work on the pooling of biomarkers, his work on collinearity and over-adjustment in causal inference frameworks has advanced our understanding of basic concepts in the field. 

Dr. Schisterman has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers in leading methodological and etiological research journals. He is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Epidemiology. His many awards include the Outstanding Contributions to Epidemiology in Methods Development Award from the American College of Epidemiology, the Excellence in Education Award from the Society of Epidemiologic Research, and the SPER Mentoring Award from the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research. Dr. Schisterman is an elected member of the American Epidemiological Society and is the past President of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research.