Principal Investigator
Dr Flotte received his undergraduate degree in the biological sciences from the University of New Orleans in 1982, and his medical degree from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in 1986. After serving his residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, he completed a pediatric pulmonary fellowship and postdoctoral training in molecular virology there in 1992.
In 1995, Dr. Flotte and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins became the first to use adeno-associated virus, or AAV, as a vehicle to deliver corrective genes to targeted sites in the body, including the damaged airways of adults with cystic fibrosis. In 1996, Dr Flotte joined the faculty of the University of Florida and was appointed Associate Director of UF’s Powell Gene Therapy Center.
In 2000, he was named Director of the Powell Center and founding Director of the newly established UF Genetics Institute, a cross-campus multidisciplinary unit encompassing gene therapy, human genetics, agricultural genetics and comparative genomics. In 2002, Flotte stepped down from these roles to accept the position of Chair of the Department of Pediatrics.
An internationally known pioneer in human gene therapy, Flotte is currently investigating the use of gene therapy for genetic diseases, including alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and Tay-Sachs disease. He is the author of more than 250 scholarly papers and his research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Alpha One Foundation. Since 2015, Flotte has also been editor-in-chief of gene therapy’s oldest journal family, Human Gene Therapy.