Guest Commentator: Sameer Kalghatgi, PhD, Assistant Director, Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Coriell Institute for Medical Research @Coriell_Science
What factors make the Greater Philadelphia region an ideal hub for gene therapy work?
Gene therapy research requires highly specialized talent and critical scientific, R&D and clinical infrastructure – the Greater Philadelphia area – with the enviable mix of top-tier colleges, including University of Pennsylvania which created the first FDA-approved gene therapy treatment, established biobanks and biomedical companies, rare disease foundations, big pharma, prestigious research institutes, non-profit organizations, and high profile hospitals and clinics. The City of Brotherly Love is nearly without peer when it comes to talent and access to cutting-edge infrastructure.
The local institutes of higher education do a fantastic job promoting STEM knowledge, making it highly attractive for students to choose and study in the greater Philadelphia area and for someone choosing to pursue a career in gene therapy, this area offers several avenues following graduation.
The many prestigious universities offer a variety of graduate education options, and employment can be found at research organizations and hospitals focused on translational research or at nonprofit organizations like ours, the Coriell Institute for Medical Research, which supports the industry by providing critical resources like cell lines and DNA and through lab services, including generating isogenic iPSC lines using gene-editing, that are critical for conducting cutting-edge research.
This mix of biomedical professionals with academic, research, clinical and entrepreneurial backgrounds, strong research and clinical infrastructure along with several career pathways available to individuals in this area has cultivated an ideal setting for groundbreaking work happening in the field of gene therapy in the greater Philadelphia region.
