Diversity in Life Sciences

Avery D. Posey, Jr., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, a member of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapies and Research Health Specialist at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center. Dr. Posey was the first African American male to receive a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Chicago. During his doctoral thesis, Dr. Posey studied dysfunctional cellular processes and molecular interactions underlying the development of muscular dystrophy and cardiomyopathy. He is also a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where he was a Meyerhoff Scholar and received two Bachelor of Science degrees in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.

Dr. Posey’s laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania develops genetically engineered T-cell therapies for the treatment of cancer, autoimmunity, and atherosclerosis. His inventions have been covered in 11 patents and patent applications. In 2021, Dr. Posey became the inaugural recipient of the American Association for Cancer Research-Lustgarten Foundation Career Development Award for Pancreatic Cancer Research in honor of the late Congressman John Robert Lewis. His research is also supported by grants from the V Foundation, the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior research was supported by CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Gabrielle’s Angels Foundation, and the University of Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Pilot Grant Program. Dr. Posey has been honored to present the Third Annual Thomas Tomasi Lecture at Roswell Comprehensive Cancer Center, created to honor early career investigators who have made notable contributions in the field of cancer research, and keynote presentations at the Society for Glycobiology Annual Meeting as well as presentations at the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer and the American Society for Gene & Cell Therapy. Dr. Posey has published in the journals Cell, Cancer Cell, Blood, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Cancer, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Immunity, and Cancer Immunology Research, among other reputable scientific and medical journals.

He is particularly interested in the support, training, and encouragement of the next generation of scientists, especially those from underrepresented ethnicities and/or disadvantaged backgrounds, and directs the SUIP-CCI and PICI RISE research training programs in cancer immunology and immunotherapy for underrepresented minorities at the University of Pennsylvania.