Gerd A. Blobel, MD, PhD

male silhouette icon
Gerd A. Blobel, MD, PhD, is an investigator and holder of the Frank E. Weise III Endowed Chair in Pediatric Hematology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Appointments and Referrals: 1-800-TRY-CHOP (1-800-879-2467)

Background

Gerd A. Blobel MD, PhD, holds the Frank E. Weise III Endowed Chair of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Blobel earned his MD degree from the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and a PhD degree from Rockefeller University in New York. His lab focuses on the genetic and epigenetic control of hematopoiesis and its disorders. Specifically, he studies how tissue-specific transcription factors govern the specification and maintenance of hematopoietic cell lineages. He also examines how transcription programs are epigenetically transmitted through mitosis to maintain lineage identity, and how genetic regulatory elements are organized spatially within the nucleus. He has given numerous lectures at international conferences on hematopoiesis, transcription, and epigenetics. Dr. Blobel has been continually funded by the NIH since arriving at Penn and holds a MERIT award. He was elected to the ASCI (2004) and AAP (2008). Dr. Blobel is the co-director of the Epigenetics Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Education and Training

Medical School

MD -  Ruprecht-Karls University, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Fellowship

Harvard Medical School (Hematology), Cambridge, MA 

Graduate Degree

PhD in Molecular Oncology - Rockefeller University, New York, NY

Titles and Academic Titles

Investigator

Frank E. Weise III Endowed Chair in Pediatric Hematology

Professor of Pediatrics

Departments and Services

Research Interests

Higher order chromatin structure
Gene expression
Epigenetics
Globin genes
Sickle cell disease
Therapeutics

Publications

Awards and Honors

2015, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Mentor Award

2014, Stanley N. Cohen Biomedical Research Award

2013, Foerderer Innovation Grant Award

2010, MERIT award 2R37DK058044

2008, The Frank E. Weise III Endowed Chair in Hematology

2008, Foerderer Innovation Grant Award

2008, Pilot project grant, Abramson Cancer Center

2007, Pilot grant, Center for Molecular Studies in Digestive and Liver Diseases

2007, Pilot project grant, Abramson Cancer Center

2001, Pilot grant from the Institute of Human Gene Therapy

1998, American Society of Hematology (ASH) Scholar Award

1998, Cooley’s Anemia Foundation Junior Faculty Award

1997, Baldasare Award

1997, Florence R.C. Murray Award

1997, Florence R.C. Murray Award

1992, Training grant, German Research Foundation (DFG)

1986, M.D. degree conferred, summa cum laude

and Culture of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Editorial and Academic Positions

Editorial Positions

Reviewer

Blood

Cancer Research

Cell

Development

Developmental Cell

Epigenetics & Chromatin

Experimental Hematology

Genes and Development

Genome Research

International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology

Journal of Biological Chemistry

Journal of Cell Biology

Journal of Clinical Investigation

Journal of Leukocyte Biology

Molecular Cell

Molecular and Cellular Biology

Nature Cell Biology

Nature Genetics

Nature Methods

Nature Structural and Molecular Biology

Nucleic Acids Research

Oncogene

PLoS Genetics

PLoS One

PNAS

Science

Science Translational Medicine

Academic, Institutional and Scientific Committees

2014, NIH Think Tank 4D Nucleome

2013-2017, American Society of Hematology (ASH) Scientific Committee on Red Cell Biology 

Graduate Group in Cell and Molecular Biology (GGR)

Graduate Group in Cancer Biology

Graduate Group in Pharmacological Sciences

Graduate Group in Immunology

Combined Degree Admissions/Advisory Committee

CAMB Admissions Committee

Cancer Biology Admissions Committee

Executive Board Member, Epigenetics Program

Leadership and Memberships

Memberships in Professional Organizations

American Society of Hematology

American Society for Microbiology

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI)

Member, Association of American Physicians (AAP)