Newswise — PHILADELPHIA - E. John Wherry, PhD, has been appointed the new chair of the department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, effective July 1. Wherry is the Richard and Barbara Schiffrin President’s Distinguished Professor in the department of Microbiology and an international leader in the study of T cell exhaustion, which prevents optimal control of infections and can hamper anti-tumor immune responses.
He is currently director of the Institute for Immunology, co-leader of the Abramson Cancer Center’s Immunobiology Program, and co-director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Penn. In each of these leadership roles, he has fostered cross-disciplinary collaborations to accelerate discoveries and apply findings within the basic sciences to clinically translatable approaches.
Wherry’s research focuses on T cell exhaustion in chronic infections and cancer and on the mechanisms by which immunoregulatory “checkpoint” pathways, such as PD-1, control T cell exhaustion. His work has advanced our understanding of how gene expression changes affect this exhaustion, which has led to strategies to improve the effectiveness of T cell targeting immunotherapies.
He has received numerous distinctions for his consistent and significant contributions to infectious disease and cancer immunology research. He has been recognized as one of the most highly cited investigators in his field by Thomson/ISI and was named one of America’s Young Innovators bySmithsonian magazine (2007). He received the Frederick W. Alt Award for New Discoveries in Immunology from the Cancer Research Institute (2016) and the Phillip A. Sharp Innovation in Collaboration Award from Stand Up To Cancer (2018). Wherry serves on numerous scientific advisory and editorial boards, including The Journal of Experimental Medicine, PLoS Pathogens, Cancer Immunology Research, The Journal of Immunology andThe Journal of Leukocyte Biology.
Wherry earned his doctorate in Immunology from Thomas Jefferson University in 2000 and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Emory University (2003). He was appointed an assistant professor in the Immunology Program at The Wistar Institute (2005) and joined the Penn department of Microbiology in 2010.
The department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics ranks first in the nation among pharmacology departments for NIH funding. The department is closely involved with the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT), home to the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) and in the leadership of the Penn Genomics Institute. Wherry’s appointment will create further bridges to many departments and centers by focusing on inflammation, leading to new high impact research in pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $7.8 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top medical schools in the United States for more than 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report’s survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation’s top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $405 million awarded in the 2017 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center — which are recognized as one of the nation’s top “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report — Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Medicine Princeton Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital – the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, a leading provider of highly skilled and compassionate behavioral healthcare.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2017, Penn Medicine provided $500 million to benefit our community.
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