PHILADELPHIA— Seven physician-scientists from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, joining one of the nation’s oldest and most respected medical honor societies composed of more than 3,000 physician-scientists representing all medical specialties.
Newly elected Penn and CHOP members include:
Mucio Kit Delgado, MD, MS
Mucio Kit Delgado, MD, MS, faculty director of the Nudge Unit, and an associate professor of emergency medicine and epidemiology. Delgado is an associate director at the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics, and co-chair of Penn Medicine’s opioid task force. His research blends behavioral and data science with insights gleaned from practicing emergency medicine in an urban trauma center to help promote smarter health choices and policy. Recent work by his teams includes increasing treatment for patients with opioid addiction, understanding racial disparities with firearm injuries and suggesting solutions for gun safety, and decreasing distracted driving. His work has been recognized with the Academy Health Publication-of-the-Year Award, the Society for Medical Decision Making Lee Lusted Prize for Outstanding Research, the Penn Medicine Marjorie A. Bowman New Investigator Research Award, and being named a Philadelphia Citizen Generation Change Fellow.
Rajat Deo, MD, MTR
Rajat Deo, MD, MTR, an associate professor of Cardiology. He is a cardiac electrophysiologist and has devoted his research efforts to assessing and categorizing an individual’s risk of developing serious heart-related conditions, like sudden cardiac death and fatal cardiovascular disease. Deo has expertise in analyzing genetic data and proteins in the blood to determine how they contribute to cardiovascular diseases. Deo is also using advanced data analytics techniques and artificial intelligence to analyze changes in heart rhythms from ECGs and cardiac monitors over time. His goal is to spot early warning signs of dangerous heart rhythm problems before they occur. He is a standing member of the NIH’s cardiovascular diseases study section and has a keen interest in mentoring trainees in clinical and translational research.
Yi Fan, MD, PhD
Yi Fan, MD, PhD, a professor of Radiation Oncology. His research focuses on understanding how the body regulates blood vessel growth and immune responses, particularly in tumors and damaged tissues. By figuring out how these processes are controlled, his team hopes to find new ways to treat diseases by “reprogramming” the environment within tissues. This approach could help stop cancer from spreading or repair damaged heart tissue. Using advanced tools like 3D imaging, gene editing, and genetic and metabolic analysis, the researchers aim to develop safer, more effective treatments for patients facing serious health challenges. His work has been recognized with several awards, including the Research Excellence Award from the American Heart Association, the Sharpe Award for Glioblastoma Research from the National Brain Tumor Society, the Springer Award for Junior Investigators from the North American Vascular Biology Organization, and the Judah Folkman Award from the American Association for Cancer Research.
Terence Peter Gade, MD, PhD
Terence Peter Gade, MD, PhD is the Matthew J. Wilson Professor of Research Radiology, and an associate professor of Cancer Biology and Deputy Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Radiology. He is the co-Director of the Penn Image-Guided Interventions Lab, where his team focuses on using cutting-edge imaging techniques to better understand how cancer develops and responds to treatment, with the ultimate goal of improving diagnosis and creating advanced, targeted therapies. His primary area of study is liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma), where his research has already led to clinical trials aimed at addressing major challenges in patient care including the identification and targeting of treatment refractory, dormant cancer cells. His research has been recognized by numerous awards including the Society of Interventional Radiology’s Gary J. Becker Young Investigator Award and he was the first radiologist to receive the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award.
Ethan M. Goldberg, MD, PhD
Ethan M. Goldberg, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Neurology, and director of the Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative at CHOP. He specializes in the care of children with complex neurodevelopmental disorders including epilepsy, developmental delay, and autism spectrum disorder. His lab is interested in how genetic variation leads to neurodevelopmental disorders, with a specific focus on GABAergic inhibitory interneurons—specialized brain cells—and how their dysfunction may lead to neurological diseases. His lab has been involved in the discovery and characterization of genetic epilepsies and the development of novel therapies in preclinical models. His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists, the American Society for Clinical Investigation Young Physician-Scientist Award, the Dana Foundation David Mahoney Neuroimaging Award, the March of Dimes Basil O’Connor Research Award, the Grass Foundation Award in Neuroscience from the American Neurological Association, and the Fritz Dreifuss Award from the American Epilepsy Society.
Jorge Henao-Mejia, MD, PhD, a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. His lab focuses on investigating the molecular mechanisms that regulate the duration and intensity of immune responses, which can lead to chronic inflammation. His team has discovered that inflammatory cells can be tightly regulated by specific but little understood groups of noncoding RNAs. Using cutting-edge gene-editing techniques, such as CRISPR, they study how these regulatory RNAs in immune cells respond to external cues—such as diet or allergens—to either prevent or promote the progression of pathologies like asthma, cancer, and obesity. Henao-Mejia’s work has earned numerous prestigious awards, including the PEW Biomedical Scholar Award, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Inflammation Award, and Penn’s Michael S. Brown New Investigator Award. He has also been elected to Latin American Academy of Sciences.
Nilam S. Mangalmurti, MD
Nilam S. Mangalmurti, MD, an associate professor in Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care. Her research investigates the role of red blood cells (RBC) in the immune system, and how they malfunction in conditions affecting the critically ill, such as sepsis and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Her pioneering work has significantly impacted the field, by emphasizing RBCs role in the immune system. Her lab discovered that red blood cells have a receptor, TLR9, that senses DNA outside of cells and can trap it, potentially preventing harmful inflammation in the lungs, but driving inflammatory responses when homeostasis is disrupted, like by illness or injury. This transformative research redefined RBCs as active immune cells capable of regulating nucleic acids and significantly advancing our understanding of RBC biology. Her findings have spurred further research into the immune functions of RBCs and the potential to use them for early detection of cancer.
The new members will be officially inducted into the Society at the ASCI Dinner and New Member Induction Ceremony, April 25, 2025, as part of the AAP/ASCI/APSA Joint Meeting, April 25–27, in Chicago.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $580 million awarded in the 2023 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts,” Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries that have shaped modern medicine, including CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
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