Guangping Gao, PhD, is founding chair of the Department of Genetic & Cellular Medicine.
Photo: Faith Ninivaggi
The Horae Gene Therapy Center at UMass Chan Medical School is now the Department of Genetic & Cellular Medicine, with Guangping Gao, PhD, serving as founding chair.
The Horae Gene Therapy Center will remain an entity under the new department and Dr. Gao, the Penelope Booth Rockwell Professor in Biomedical Research and professor of microbiology & physiological systems, will continue to serve as its director.
“This is a very exciting moment for our gene therapy center,” Gao said. “We are no longer just a research center. This new status makes us the first gene and cell therapy academic department in the country.”
The Horae Gene Therapy Center, launched in 2007, is dedicated to developing therapeutic approaches for rare inherited diseases for which there is no cure, such as cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s and ALS, has become a global leader in the field under Gao’s leadership. Research done by faculty of the Horae Gene Therapy Center has provided the foundation for some of the first clinical trials of novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders, including Tay-Sachs, ALS and Canavan disease.
The center has been at the forefront of the development of multiple AAV vectors, small single-stranded DNA viruses that translational scientists have repurposed to deliver gene therapy medicines. The center has attracted tens of millions of dollars in National Institutes of Health funding and established deep relationships with industry partners and nonprofit organizations that have resulted in millions more in research funding.
With academic department status Gao said he and his team will be able to expand their research program, increase opportunities for faculty development, further promote collaboration among the faculty, apply for NIH training grants such as the T32 program to provide fellowships to postdoctoral trainees, and train the next generation of researchers and physician-scientists advancing the field of gene and cellular medicine.
“We are indeed among the leaders in gene and cell therapy in the country and in the world, and this transition to an academic department will only further distinguish the work being done here at UMass Chan,” Gao added.
Additionally, Jennifer Adair, PhD, will join UMass Chan as associate director of the Horae Gene Therapy Center, and vice chair of the Department of Genetic & Cellular Medicine. Dr. Adair, a world-renowned scientific leader in genetically modified cell therapies for genetic, malignant and infectious diseases, comes to UMass Chan from the Fred Hutch Cancer Center and the University of Washington.
As associate director of the Horae Gene Therapy Center, Adair will oversee the establishment of the Ex Vivo Gene Therapy and Editing Core and lead the development of lentiviral and nonviral platforms to complement the center’s established expertise of using in vivo approaches. Adair will start in her new role in the spring of 2025.
