Alumni Profiles

Robert Barchi (Biochemistry, 1973) was the Provost and Chief Academic Officer of the University of Pennsylvania and is currently the President Emeritus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His appointment as an administrator followed an illustrious career as a physician-scientist focusing on basic issues of neurobiology and clinical neurology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1993), Institute of Medicine (1993), Association of American Physicians, and the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
SomaLogic Profile

Hal Weintraub (CAMB, 1973) was a distinguished faculty member of the Hutchinson Center in the Basic Sciences Division since 1978. In 1990 he was also appointed an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He was a leading molecular biologist whose research advanced the understanding of cell development. His discoveries in genetic research helped establish the experimental framework for determining how undeveloped, embryonic cells become specialized cell types.
Fred Hutch News Article

Jerome Strauss (CAMB, 1975) is currently Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, and Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was founding director of the Center for Research on Reproduction and Women’s Health. He served as Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine between 2005 and 2017. His career as a physician-scientist centered around his research interests in women's health-related issues. Strauss is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (1994), received Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (2005) and awarded the Arnaldo Bruno International Prize in Gynecology from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (2017). Among other notable accomplishments, he is a former director of Penn's MD/PhD program.
Penn Profile
Biology of Reproduction Article
VCU News Article

Richard Goodman (Anatomy, 1976) served as Director of the Vollum Institute at Oregon Health & Science University from 1990-2018. He is internationally acclaimed for his work on transcriptional regulation, including characterization of the cAMP-regulated enhancer and identification of CBP, the first example in metazoans of a transcriptional co-activator. He recently moved to the Yale School of Medicine where he is continuing his work on metabolic biosensors. Goodman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2002), National Academy of Medicine (2005), and received the Distinguished Graduate Award from Penn in 2013.
OHSU Profile

Mark Groudine (Anatomy, 1976) is a professor and attending physician in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He’s held several leadership positions at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center during his career, including director of the Basic Sciences Division (1995 to 2005), deputy director (1997 to 2016) and executive vice president (2005 to 2016). Groudine also served as acting president and director of the Hutch during two interim periods, in 2010 and 2014. He is recognized for his groundbreaking studies of the basic biology of gene transcription and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2001) and the Institute of Medicine (2003), as well as being a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006).
Fred Hutch Profile

Joseph Loscalzo (Biochemistry, 1977) is Chair Emeritus of the Department of Medicine, Physician-in-Chief Emeritus of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Samuel A. Levine Professor of Medicine, and the Hersey Distinguished Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Harvard University. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association (2004); a member of the National Academy of Medicine (2006), Association of American Physicians (1997), and the American Society for Clinical Investigation (1990); and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2013).
Brigham and Women's Hospital Profile
Harvard Catalyst Profile

Vanessa Northington Gamble (History and Sociology of Science, 1983) is University Professor of Medical Humanities at George Washington University, the first woman and African American to receive this honor. She is an internationally recognized expert on the history of American medicine, racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care, cultural competence, and bioethics. She is also the author of several publications on the history of race and racism in American medicine, including the award winning Making a Place for Ourselves: The Black Hospital Movement: 1920- 1945. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine (2005).
George Washington Profile 
Changing the Face of Medicine Bio

Gary Koretzky (Immunology, 1984) is Vice Provost for Academic Integration and Professor of Medicine at Cornell University. For over a decade, he served as the Associate Director for Penn’s MD-PhD program. He is an internationally renowned expert in immunology whose pioneering research contributions have improved the understanding of the development and function of immune system cells. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2012) and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (1996), Association of American Physicians (1999), and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (2008).
Cornell Bio
Cornell Leadership

Gregg Semenza (Genetics, 1984) is the C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Pediatrics and Director, Vascular Program, Institute for Cell Engineering at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is recognized as an authority on hypoxia-induced genes, publishing in the highest profile journals and speaking at and/or organizing international symposia. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2008), the Institute of Medicine (2012), Association of American Physicians (2008), and the American Society for Clinical Investigation (1995). He was a joint winner of the 2016 Lasker Basic Science Award and joint winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Hopkins Profile
Hopkins News

Gerard Vockley (Genetics, 1984) is Chief of the Division of Medical Genetics, Director of the Center for Rare Disease Therapy, and is the Cleveland Family Endowed Professor of pediatric research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He has received numerous awards for his studies of gene defects leading to pathologic conditions in children, and is a past president of the Society for Inherited Metabolic Diseases (SIMD). He was elected to become a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) in 1999.
University of Pittsburgh Profile
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Profile

Mike Frohman (Immunology, 1985) is Distinguished Professor and Chair of Pharmacological Sciences, and the MSTP Director at SUNY Stony Brook. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). He has been elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP) for his work on lipid signaling and is also a member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).
Stony Brook Profile

John Reed (Immunology, 1986) is Executive Vice President, Global Head of Research & Development for Sanofi as of July 2018, holder of over 90 patents and a founder or co-founder of several biotech companies. He was previously Head of Pharma Research & Early Development at Roche for five years. He has published well over 850 research papers, many describing seminal findings related to the biology of cell death as it relates to both normal biology and pathogenic states and is the inventor of Oblimersen sodium (Genasense), a DNA-based drug for cancer.
Sanofi Profile

Mitch Schnall (Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, 1986) is Chair and Eugene P. Pendergrass Professor of Radiology at Penn. He is an international leader in translational biomedical imaging research. His work has led to fundamental changes in the imaging approaches to breast and prostate cancer. In addition, he has had a significant influence on emerging technologies such as optical imaging. He has been elected as a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the Institute of Medicine (2012).
Penn Profile
Penn Center for Precision Medicine

Mitch Weiss (CAMB, 1989) is the Arthur Nienhuis Endowed Chair in Hematology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. For over a decade, he served as the Associate Director and Steering Committee member for Penn MSTP program. His research focuses on investigating how transcription factors control blood cell development. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2003) and the Association of American Physicians (2012).
St. Jude Profile

Diane Krause (CAMB, 1990) is Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Pathology and Cell Biology at Yale University; Vice Chair for Research Affairs, Laboratory Medicine; Associate Director of the Yale Stem Cell Center; and Director of the Clinical Cell Processing Laboratory. The overall goals of her research are to characterize bone marrow (BM) derived stem/progenitor cells, and to define the mechanisms that regulate the self-renewal and differentiation of these cells with the hopes that the findings can be translated to improved therapeutics. She was selected for a prestigious year-long leadership training program (2012-2013) for women in medicine called Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) at Drexel University.
Yale Profile
Krause Lab

Flaura K. Winston (Bioengineering, 1990) is a Distinguished Chair and Professor of Pediatrics, Founder and Director of the National Science Foundation Center for Child Injury Prevention Science, and Director of the Innovation Ecosystem at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her research identified the danger of airbags for children in car crashes, which informed federal and state policy on passenger seat airbags and child booster seats. The impact of her work was recognized with the 2003 Judson Daland Prize from the American Philosophical Society, 2022 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award, and election to the National Academy of Medicine.    
Penn Profile
American Philosophical Society Article
News Article

Jeannie Lee (CAMB, 1993) is Professor of Genetics (and Pathology) at Harvard Medical School, the Blavatnik Institute, and is Vice Chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Massachusetts General Hospital.. Her research focuses on mechanisms for inactivation and function of the X chromosome. She is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Harrington Rare Disease Scholar of the Harrington Discovery Institute, a recipient of the Lurie Prize from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, an awardee of the Centennial Prize from the Genetics Society of America, the 2010 Molecular Biology Prize and the 2020 Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Harvard Profile
Lee Lab

Ben Ho Park (Immunology, 1995) is Cornelius Abernathy Craig Chair in Medicine, Professor of Medicine and Director of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC). His research research is dedicated to finding a cure for all types of breast cancer by investigating mutated and altered genes responsible for the development and progression of breast cancer, as well as genes that lead to drug resistance.
Vanderbilt Profile
VICC Profile
VUMC Reporter

Kevin Volpp (Health Care Management, 1998) is Founders President’s Distinguished Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy and Professor of Medicine (Medical School) and Health Care Management (Wharton Business School) at the University of Pennsylvania. He also is the Director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE), Leonard Davis Institute. His work focuses on developing and testing innovative ways of applying insights from behavioral economics in improving patient health behavior and affecting provider performance. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2008), Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (2012) and the Association of American Physicians (2012).
Wharton Profile
CHIBE Profile

Iris Zamir Jaffe (CAMB, 1999) is the Elisa Kent Mendelsohn Professor of Molecular Cardiology, Executive Director of the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute (MCRI), and Director of the Vascular Biology Research Center within the MCRI at Tufts University. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms for the protective effects of MR-antagonist drugs using in vitro, cell culture, and state-of-the art transgenic mouse models of vascular disease. Among various honorary awards, she is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2013).
Tufts Profile
Tufts School of Biomedical Sciences Profile

Ralph DeBerardinis (CAMB, 2000) is Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics and is Chief of the Division of Pediatric Genetics and Metabolism at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. He studies how metabolism is regulated in cancer and other diseases. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (2013) and became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator in 2018 and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020.
UT Southwestern Profile
DeBerardinis Lab

Luis Garza (CAMB, 2001) is Professor & Daniel Nathans Scholar and Vice-Chair of Research at the Department of Dermatology at Johns Hopkins University. He is studying skin stem cells and prostaglandins in regeneration and wound healing.
Hopkins Profile
Garza Lab
 

Dan Skovronsky (Neuroscience, 2001) is founder of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals. He led Avid's Florbetapir F18 compound from discovery through clinical development and commercial launch as the first FDA approved PET tracer for amyloid plaques. In 2010 Avid was acquired by Eli Lilly and Company. He is the Chief Scientific Officer of Eli Lilly and Company. He serves as SVP of science and technology and President of Lilly Research Laboratories. He also has responsibility for global business development.
Lilly Profile

Joanna Phillips (Neuroscience, 2002) is Professor of Neurological Surgery and Pathology and Director of the Brain Tumor Research Center Tissue Bank at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research is focused on understanding how invading brain tumor cells interact with the components of the tumor microenvironment, and how these key interactions influence glioma initiation, progression, and invasion.
UCSF Profile
Phillips Lab

Carla Keirns (History and Sociology of Science, 2003) is Associate Professor of History and Philosophy of Medicine and Associate Professor of Palliative Medicine at the University of Kansas. Her research is at the intersection of public health and public policy, using a variety of methods and perspectives to answer questions about the social context of chronic disease, health disparities, and end-of-life care. She has authored articles and book chapters in clinical ethics, health services research, and history of medicine, with a focus on health disparities, end of life care, chronic disease, epidemiologic transitions and public health ethics.
University of Kansas Profile
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Profile 

Susan Moody (CAMB, 2005) is Executive Director, Clinical Program Leader at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Inc. Her research focuses on drug resistance and potential new breast cancer treatments.
Zoom Info Profile

Michael Higley (Neuroscience, 2007) is Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Director of Graduate Admissions for the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, and Associate Director of the MD/PhD Program at Yale University. His research looks at how the integrative properties of single neurons and local circuits support the processing, storage, and retrieval of information in healthy individuals and during the cognitive decline associated with neuropsychiatric disease.
Yale Profile
Higley Lab

Christopher Vakoc (CAMB, 2007) is Professor, Cancer Center Program Co-Leader, and Alan and Edith Seligson Professor of Cancer Research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). He investigates how chromatin regulatory proteins participate in the pathogenesis of cancer. In 2019, Chris was awarded The Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research in recognition of his significant and ongoing contributions to the understanding of cancer.
CSHL Profile
Vakoc Lab