Author: The Wistar Institute

Campaign Marks the Largest Amount Raised in Wistar’s History

The Wistar Institute celebrated the most successful fundraising campaign in its history with an evening reception at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Donors, board members and Wistar staff gathered in the soaring, Frank Gehry designed Williams Forum to mark the Bold Science // Global Impact Campaign’s $63 million raised.

Ron Caplan, campaign chair, kicked off the evening by acknowledging the importance of the researchers that fuel Wistar discoveries. “So much good happens at Wistar … and it’s because of the scientists at Wistar, who are the most dedicated group of people I have ever met. If you want to give a round of applause to anything, $63 million is one thing, but the scientists at Wistar are really special.”

Launched in 2022, the Campaign was designed to advance Wistar’s strategic plan and focused on three strategic pillars: biomedical research, education and training, and collaborations and partnerships. Funds raised during the Campaign supplement federal funding and will be used to purchase new equipment, expand research space, add new staff, and expand educational programs.

As part of the campaign, Wistar received a $30 million commitment – the largest in the Institute’s history. The gift enables Wistar to fund the design and construction of the Center for Advanced Therapeutics, a cornerstone of the Institute’s strategic plan.

Vice chair of the Wistar Board of Trustees Sue Dillon, Ph.D., expressed gratitude to attendees for their support of the campaign. “Thank you each of you for the very unique ways in which you’ve contributed to the Institute, and thank you all for helping us with this critical campaign and making it succeed.”

Wistar president and CEO Dr. Dario Altieri concluded the event by reminding attendees of the importance of philanthropic donations to the Institute. “What is the spirit of a capital campaign for a basic biomedical research institute? To me, the spirit of the campaign is a spirit of hope, a spirit of trust — a spirit of believing in a future that is not yet here. It is investing in hope for the medicines of the future, not just for ourselves, but for everybody.”

For 25 years Wistar has led the way in training students both locally and internationally for careers in the life science sector. The origins of Wistar’s commitment to training started with Dr. William Wunner, Wistar professor emeritus and a widely respected rabies researcher.

In the 90s Dr. Wunner helped create the oral rabies vaccine delivered in the form of edible bait for wild animals at a time when rabies was a serious public health issue in the U.S. The thinking was simple: animal-to-human transmission is far less likely if fewer animals have rabies. By dropping appetizing vaccines into the wilderness, the technology Wunner helped to develop successfully inoculated thousands of animals against the rabies virus.

Dr. Wunner’s initial foray into education & training began with his passion for creating career pathways for people interested in the life science sector. Looking back on Wistar’s Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center since then, he says that his greatest expectations have been surpassed.

The Biomedical Technician Training Program, or BTT Program, accepted its first cohort of trainees in 2000 under Dr. Wunner’s oversight. Since then, the Program has expanded greatly, teaming up with 5 community colleges and 13 employer partners to support 19 students this summer in their pursuit of careers in the life sciences. Over the last 25 years, over 230 community college students have completed the BTT Program: 66% are women, 47% are from underrepresented races/ethnicities, 48% have obtained related positions and 68% have continued their education within the first year.

Following a Laboratory Orientation where students learn in-demand skills from Wistar’s expert team of science educators, Program participants have the opportunity to apply and practice these skills in professional laboratories. Each trainee is placed in complementary lab experiences in academic, industry or core facilities. Partners include top biomedical research, biotechnology and pharmaceutical labs throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. Through these experiences, students gain the competence and confidence to make them strong candidates for various life science careers.

As the founder and previous director of the Program, Dr. Wunner stressed the importance of trainees accepting challenges, exploring opportunities, developing an awareness of professional resources, establishing good contacts, and making lasting impressions with mentors to turn aspirations into realities.

Dr. Wunner always encouraged the trainees to get to know three to five mentors who could provide knowledge, skills, and feedback through their professional development. According to his philosophy, trainees should see themselves as others see them, and they should challenge themselves to grow as team members and leaders by helping others reach their goals together.

Dr. Wunner worked hard to understand the strengths of each trainee. He always considered how trainees worked and what they could contribute in order to recommend them for positions in laboratories that best matched their professional objectives while supporting the laboratory team. That way, he believed and still believes, each trainee will grow and achieve their own personal goals.

“Dr. Wunner really taught me how to support each student, placing them in the laboratories in which they would be most successful, and this has allowed the continued success of the BTT Program and our expansion to additional students” said Dr. Kristy Shuda McGuire, dean of biomedical studies and director of the Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center.

In 2017 with support from Wistar, Dr. Wunner registered the first Biomedical Research Technician (BRT) Apprenticeship in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Apprenticeship, now named the Fox BRT Apprenticeship, allowed the long-running BTT Program to become a state-registered pre-apprenticeship in 2019.

In 2021 Dr. Kristy Shuda McGuire, who had worked with Dr. Wunner while recruiting and supporting students from the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) in the Program, took on the work at Wistar for which Dr. Wunner cared so deeply. Under her leadership, the BTT Program and other education and training initiatives at Wistar have expanded greatly. Dean Shuda McGuire saw the potential to build on the BTT Program’s success to make training in the biomedical field accessible to more and diverse participants, including students from Cheyney University, the nation’s first historically Black college or university (HBCU), and other undergraduate institutions, as well as adults looking to upskill or re-skill.

The Wistar students recognized in the Summer 2024 Completion Ceremony included high school, community college, and other undergraduate students from diverse, non-traditional backgrounds — including first-generation college students, new immigrants to the U.S., students with little prior exposure to STEM curricula, and participants in career transition, honing their skills for new positions. Their futures are wide open; past Wistar trainees have gone on to successful careers in science and healthcare thanks to their experience in these programs.

Year after year Wistar’s Summer Completion Ceremony is a moving and transformative celebration for the students and their loved ones. The students leave grateful for the opportunity and prepared for the next step in their journey for careers in the life sciences.

How Wistar’s Imaging Core has embraced the computational era to see more — and better

A contemporary of Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, was a pioneer in the field of microscopy. Some say that Hooke coined the word “cell” based on his study of plants. Like Newton, Hooke’s body of work influenced scientific inquiry, and some aspects of his research and findings remain relevant to this day — particularly the notion that understanding the building blocks of life at their microscopic scale will lead to a better understanding of life at the human scale.

Even in the 21st century, biomedical researchers continue to rely on microscopy to observe and collect data. Wistar’s dedicated Imaging Core Facility is stocked with state-of-the-science equipment that can generate images beyond Robert Hooke’s wildest dreams, like cancer cells so clear that you can see exactly how their mitochondria are broken. The more a scientist can see, the better able they are to confirm & test their hypotheses.

Computer technology is now playing an increasingly valuable role in helping researchers to see what heretofore they could not.

James Hayden, RBP, FBCA, managing director for Wistar’s Imaging Core Facility has experienced the field move from “nothing but analog” to a new era of digitally enhanced microscopy. With the help of skilled instructors, he presided over a special workshop to get people thinking about microscopes in computational, rather than strictly photographic, terms: “They’re here to help teach us how to think computationally. We’re in a new paradigm.”

The workshop covered the how and why of using computers to adjust for something called the “point spread function” of light, which refers to the fundamental uncertainty inherent in where light “is,” spatially; as a light wave travels, it propagates its own interference pattern by bouncing off both its own wave and whatever it touches. That interference pattern creates a defined region in which, if two signals are in the region together, the signals will blur into one fuzzy shape.

In the analog days of microscopy, it used to be that cranking up light intensity or increasing the duration and/or frequency of the sample’s exposure to light might resolve blurriness on the margins. But not only are those methods unreliable at refining resolution — they can also degrade data quality and destroy precious biological samples. Many cells are susceptible to phototoxicity and will die if exposed to light for too long or at too high an intensity.

However, with computers, scientists can now use the point spread function against itself. Microscopes concentrate light to create microscopic images. Yes, the light interferes with itself, but it also interferes with the known quantities of a microscope like lens curvature, apertures, etc. This means that the limited resolution region created by the point spread function of light looks different on every microscope — and that, in turn, means computer algorithms can systematically adjust for those differences.

Imagine you have three small dots, all very close to each other, that fall within the resolution limit of a microscope’s point spread function. If you put those three small dots under a microscope, you won’t see the dots individually because they’ll all be blurred together into one indistinct shape; the image is said to be “convoluted.”

This new technology, through a specially designed algorithm, works backwards to disentangle the image’s signals. By telling the algorithm which microscope you’re using and with what settings, a series of functions subtracts away whatever interference patterns that the computer can calculate with certainty.

Ever since the earliest days of microscopy, scientists have been trying to see more of the microscopic world in order to better know how it works. As Jamie Hayden says, “The data is there, in images. It’s just a question of pulling it out of the background noise.” At the end of the workshop, Jamie compared the process of deconvolution to sifting away the silt when you pan for gold.

“By thinking computationally rather than like photographers, we can get rid of some of that noise and see what’s underneath. We’ll get clear, beautiful images, but we can also get even higher quality data — and that’s really what we’re after.”

The Wistar’s Institute’s Caplan Auditorium was filled to capacity to recognize 58 students who had completed one of Wistar’s four summer Education and Training programs. The event – the culmination of months of class work and laboratory training – recognized both high school students and undergraduates who had committed to building their skills in biomedical research.

Wistar President and CEO Dr. Dario Altieri kicked off the ceremony by emphasizing the value of pursuing a career in life sciences. “We hope that this is not just going to be an award you put on a shelf,” he said. “Science is … about the opportunity to ask questions, and to seek answers. No other job in the world allows you to do that.”

Dr. Kristy Shuda McGuire, dean of biomedical studies for The Wistar Institute’s Hubert J.P. Schoemaker Education and Training Center, then introduced the four summer programs  represented at the event: the Biomedical Technician Training (BTT) Program; the Cheyney University Internship; Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU); and the High School Program in Biomedical Research.

All four programs provide a diverse cross-section of students at the high school and undergraduate levels with hands-on laboratory training and the opportunity to contribute to Wistar biomedical research, with the goal of preparing students for continuing education and careers in the life sciences.

Representatives from each class gave brief remarks before faculty and staff presented certificates to each student. Jalen Garcia Martinez, a REU student from James Madison University, explained that the experience was about more than just learning research skills. “It was the beginning of lasting friendships and a supportive network that would carry us through the summer and beyond,” he said.

Dr. Bill Wunner, Wistar professor emeritus who founded the Biomedical Technician Training Program 25 years ago, was the keynote speaker at the event. Dr. Shuda McGuire acknowledged the Program’s anniversary by presenting Dr. Wunner with an award recognizing him for his contributions. “I am happy to present this award … in sincere appreciation for founding the Biomedical Technician Training Program, and its continued success 25 years later,” she said.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to come and be able to share with you my thoughts,” said Dr. Wunner. “Your experiences, how you have taken to the research environment, how you have recognized the value of working with people, the team effort, and learning skills – I’m just filled with a wonderful delight that this has happened after all these years.”

Dr. Wunner then provided the students with some advice gleaned from his long career as a researcher and teacher. “Continue to explore opportunities,” he advised the students. “Science is not done single handedly…it’s teamwork….so seize the opportunities and chase the goal of continuously learning.”

After receiving certificates of completion, students, family and friends were treated to a reception in the Tobin Family Atrium.

29 years ago, Dr. Luis Montaner started an HIV cure research program at The Wistar Institute. Today, he is the newly minted founding director of Wistar’s HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center. His innovative work spans the globe, across research groups in Philadelphia and throughout the U.S., to South Africa, Vietnam, and beyond. His collaborators include top advocacy groups & activists, community members, pharmaceutical & biotech industry leaders; academic scientists; and government officials all united toward the goal of a cure to HIV.

Tell us about your research and the need for a center for HIV cure research.

Our HIV cure research focuses on the fundamental biomedical science & mechanics of HIV and understanding the context of this disease in relation to our greater society. I want to know: How can we manipulate the immune system to rid the body of HIV? But also, how do we develop scientific answers that can also help address the health care barriers & stigma of living with this incurable disease? Curing HIV will result in a great many benefits to the individual but also to the greater society.

The new HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center is a natural extension of the momentum building now to find a cure for HIV. Wistar’s $24 million investment in the Center comes at a time of increased global enthusiasm to develop an HIV cure — so, this Center is the right investment at the right time.

Where is HIV research today?

Right now, we can manage the virus with antiretroviral drugs, also referred to as “ART,” or antiretroviral therapy. But to achieve an HIV cure, we want to eradicate and remove HIV from the body. When we talk about an HIV cure, we talk about living without antiretrovirals. These drugs have saved lives, but they are taken throughout one’s lifetime and treatments come with the risk of complications upon long-term use.

Why a cure?

We want to develop an HIV cure strategy that works and then make sure it is accessible around the world, because the value of an HIV cure extends beyond HIV itself. HIV is a challenge because of its capacity to mutate — the immune system starts to catch on to the threat, but then the virus changes itself to evade our natural defenses, ensuring its persistence. In addition, once a patient starts ART, the virus can persist without replication by hiding in immune cells over time — ready to come out again and flare up if ART stops.

Accessibility to drugs and therapies is also a big problem. A lifelong drug regimen costs money, living with HIV can also raise stigma and discrimination, and we’ve seen that access to therapy can be worse in developing countries — where most HIV cases in the world happen. Health disparities and access to care & therapies are critical components we would still need to address in our health systems in the United States and globally once we find a strategy to cure HIV.

It is also important to stress that HIV research benefits our understanding of other diseases and vice versa. Hepatitis C treatment and eradication, as well as the RNA COVID vaccine, were greatly aided by the work done in HIV research on protease inhibitors and HIV vaccines, respectively. CAR T-cell therapy for cancers, which is available to patients today, was also greatly accelerated by the preclinical work on using CAR T-cells against HIV. And in turn, Wistar’s research on Epstein-Barr virus and other diseases has helped us to advance our HIV cure research. Anything that we can discover that would cure HIV will carry important lessons for all viral research.

How does the new HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center distinguish itself in this area?

The HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center supercharges our research efforts to get an HIV cure to persons living with HIV as we advocate strongly for awareness and change. Our network has a record of success sharing information with groups that otherwise may not have access. We provide seminars to persons living with HIV within our community, and we have community advisory boards that bring feedback from the community into research and clinical processes. We want to end stigma and discrimination with an HIV cure so that persons living with HIV can be permanently free of the virus.

To find a cure you need science — but you also need commitment and investment. The new Center now gathers all three under one roof with a common mission: realizing an HIV cure within our lifetime.