Dr. James Wilson is a pioneering innovator and world leader in the field of gene therapy with a career spanning over four decades of groundbreaking scientific contributions. He currently serves as the Rose H. Weiss Orphan Disease Center Director's Professor and Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine where he has established the most comprehensive academic gene therapy program globally. Dr. Wilson earned his B.A. in Chemistry from Albion College and completed both his MD and PhD at the University of Michigan followed by residency training in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Recruited to the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 he founded the first and largest academic-based program in gene therapy creating the foundational infrastructure that transformed the field from experimental concept to clinical reality.
Dr. Wilson's transformative research has revolutionized gene therapy through the identification isolation and development of adeno-associated virus vectors which have become the gold standard for in vivo gene delivery across the medical community. His laboratory discovered novel isolates of adeno-associated viruses that demonstrated superior transduction efficiency for targeting critical tissues including the liver cardiac and skeletal muscle and the central nervous system. This fundamental work has catalyzed a paradigm shift in therapeutic approaches for rare genetic disorders with applications extending to lysosomal storage diseases neurodegenerative conditions infantile epilepsies and liver metabolic diseases. With more than 600 publications and over 1200 patents worldwide his contributions have established the technical foundation for numerous FDA-approved gene therapies and countless clinical trials currently advancing treatment possibilities for previously untreatable conditions.
Beyond his research achievements Dr. Wilson has been instrumental in shaping the global gene therapy landscape through entrepreneurial ventures that bridge academic discovery with clinical application including co-founding multiple biotechnology companies such as Gemma Biotherapeutics Passage Bio and Scout Bio. He actively leads national dialogues on the challenges of commercializing potentially lifesaving gene therapies addressing the disruptive nature these treatments have on traditional business models. As a mentor to generations of scientists and clinicians he has trained scores of researchers who now lead programs worldwide while continuing to pioneer innovative approaches that expand gene therapy applications to acquired diseases including influenza and central nervous system metastases. Dr. Wilson's current work focuses on improved vectors for gene therapy and clinical applications of genome editing and mRNA therapy promising to transform the treatment landscape for both rare and common conditions globally.
