About

Overview

The Training Program on Immunobiology of Normal and Neoplastic Lymphocytes is directed by Dr. Warren S. Pear, M.D., Ph.D. in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine. There are 37 faculty members who act as trainers on this grant, accepting both pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees. Trainees have access to all of the resources of the Perelman School of Medicine and The Wistar Institute and are encouraged to collaborate with both organizations. Only American citizens and resident aliens are eligible for training through this program.

Brief History of this Training Grant

In 1974, the senior staff of UPenn’s Immunobiology Research Division was awarded an NCI-funded program project grant in immunology (CA-15822). This considerably strengthened the relationship of this program with the Cancer Center at UPenn, which has been continuously funded with an NCI cancer center core grant (CA-16520) since 1974 as well.

In 1975, the training grant CA-15822 was phased out and Dr. Norman Klinman was successfully awarded this institutional training grant in Immunology (CA-09140) for training young investigators at both the Predoctoral and Postdoctoral levels. Over the past 44 years, there have only been 4 directors of this continuously funded T32, which has provided tremendous stability

Dr. Warren Pear’s leadership of this T32 began in 2005 when he was appointed co-Director under the leadership of Dr. Yvonne Paterson. As Dr. Paterson took on additional leadership responsibilities at Penn (Dean of Research, School of Nursing), Dr. Pear became the Director in 2010 with Dr. Paterson serving as co-Director. The long-term goal under the direction of Drs. Paterson and Pear was to encourage interdisciplinary research at the nexus of immunology and cancer biology. This direction resulted from Dr. Pear’s expertise in tumor biology and Dr. Paterson’s expertise in tumor immunology. With the rapid change in technologies, especially “omics,” together with the emerging success of tumor immunotherapy in the clinic, the need for interdisciplinary training has increased and it remains the focus of the current leadership team. For the 2015 renewal, Dr. Pear remained as Director, and as the result of Dr. Paterson closing her research lab, Dr. Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, a world leader in basic and translational cancer immunotherapy was recruited as co-Director. For the current renewal, Dr. Pear remains as Director; however, due to Dr. Vonderheide’s increased responsibilities as the newly appointed Director of Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, he has ceded the position of co-Director to Gregory Beatty, MD, Ph.D. Not only is Dr. Beatty a world-class translational cancer immunotherapy researcher but he was supported by this CIMB T32 during his Ph.D. training with Dr. Paterson and he was in Dr. Vonderheide’s lab as a postdoc. He is an excellent example of the success and dedication that our trainees have to cancer research after completing our program. Drs. Pear and Beatty are practicing physician-scientists in Pathology and Heme/Onc, respectively, who oversee complementary research programs. Thus, the leadership team for this competitive renewal brings together complementary expertise in basic and translational cancer immunobiology combined with a long history of commitment to the CIMB T32. Thus, even at the leadership level, this grant incorporates the broad multi-disciplinary expertise required to provide outstanding training in cancer immunobiology.

Our program alumni have developed into leading scientists and mentors in academia and industry. The track record of this program in training exceptional scientists is reflected in its alumni, who have become stars in cancer-related immunobiology and include Sue Pierce, Mike Cancro, Lou Staudt, Richard Siegal, David Weiner, Dave Allman, Ike Eisenlohr, Ann Marshak-Rothstein, Steve McMahon, Erica Pearce, and Gregory Beatty. We anticipate the same for recent alumni (e.g. Avery Posey, Joe Fraietta) who were highly sought after for academic and industry positions.