Announcing Two New Colton Centers of Excellence to PSOM community

02/03/25

cso

Message sent on behalf of John Wherry, PhD.

 

Dear Colleagues, 

 

As you know, the vision of the Colton Center for Autoimmunity at Penn and the broader Colton Consortium is to revolutionize the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of autoimmune disorders, transforming patient lives through collaborative, translational science. One of the ways we do this is by funding and nurturing high-impact Colton Centers of Excellence. These dynamic hubs foster interdisciplinary collaboration and cutting-edge research, accelerating the translation of scientific discoveries into tangible patient benefits.

 

Today, we are proud to announce the initiation of two new Centers of Excellence. After a rigorous review process, please join me in congratulating the following teams:

 

  1. High-Throughput Center for AutoImmune Therapeutic Discovery (HIT-AI):
    Led by Drs. David Fajgenbaum, Sara Cherry, and Jonathan Miner, HIT-AI aims to systematically identify and validate repurposed treatments for over 160 autoimmune diseases by integrating cutting-edge computational, experimental, and clinical approaches. Using knowledge graphs and machine learning, the team will generate predictive scores for all 4,000 FDA-approved drugs, then confirm high-potential matches through high-throughput screening in cellular models. Promising candidates will undergo rigorous testing in animal models, retrospective clinical studies, and where possible, clinical trials. Ultimately, HIT-AI aims to drive the identification of multiple new therapeutic options, faster clinical implementation, and a scalable model for drug repurposing in autoimmunity.
  2. Colton Center for RNA Exploration in Autoimmune Therapeutics (CREATE):
    Led by Drs. Amit Bar-Or, Peter Merkel, Ali Naji, and Drew Weissman, CREATE will harness Penn’s existing infrastructure and expertise to develop next-generation mRNA-LNP-based cell therapies for complex autoimmune diseases. CREATE will design and test non-inflammatory, targeted constructs — manufactured under GMP conditions — to selectively modulate or deplete pathogenic immune cells and facilitate seamless integration of discovery, in vitro and animal studies, and early-phase clinical trials. Importantly, this Center will also provide a complementary focus to the existing Colton Center of Excellence in Cell Therapy for Autoimmunity (CECTA), led by Drs. David Porter and James Riley. Ultimately, CREATE aims to advance several novel RNA-LNP therapies to commercial development, offering transformative and potentially curative options for patients with diseases such as type 1 diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and other severe autoimmune conditions.

 

We look forward to your continued collaboration and support as we forge new paths to transform the landscape of autoimmune disease research and treatment. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about these new Centers, please don’t hesitate to contact Leonardo Guercio, Ph.D., Director of Strategy and Business Development for the Penn Colton Center.

 

Best, 

John

 

E. John Wherry, PhD

Chair, Department of Systems Pharmacology & Translational Therapeutics
Richard and Barbara Schiffrin President's Distinguished Professor  
Director, Institute for Immunology and Immune Health

Director of the Colton Consortium
Co-Program Leader, Immunobiology Program, Abramson Cancer Center
Co-Director, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

 

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E. Michael Ostap, PhD

Professor of Physiology

Interim Senior Vice Dean and Chief Scientific Officer,

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania