Please join the Department of Ophthalmology and the Scheie Eye Institute in recognizing our 2025 retirees:
Jean Bennett, MD, PhD
F.M. Kirby Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology
Director of DNA, Tissue and Cell Line Bank for Retinal Degeneration
Director of Molecular Diagnostic Studies Unit for Patients with Retinal Degeneration
Vice Chair for Basic Research
Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, was the F. M. Kirby Professor Emeritus of Ophthalmology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research centrally focused on gene therapy for retinal diseases. Her laboratory developed the first FDA-approved gene therapy for use in humans, in order to treat a rare form of blindness. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022.
Dr. Bennett attended Hopkins School in New Haven, and graduated with honors from Yale University in 1976, with a bachelor of science in biology. Her father, William R. Bennett Jr., was a member of the faculty there. Dr. Bennett continued on to Harvard University to receive her Doctor of Medicine (MD) in 1986.
Dr. Bennett received her PhD in Zoology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1980 under Dr. Daniel Mazia. Her graduate research focused on the early development of sea urchin embryos. She moved on to postdoctoral work at the University of California, San Francisco under the guide of Dr. Roger Pedersen. As a postdoctoral student, she collaborated with Dr. William French Anderson developing molecular techniques for gene editing. In 1982, she left this position to attend medical school at Harvard University.
At Harvard, Dr. Bennett studied Human Genetics with Leon Rosenberg and Wayne Fenton (Yale), and she also investigated Down’s syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease with John Gearhart, Mary Lou Oster-Granite, and Roger Reeves (Johns Hopkins). From this work, Dr. Bennett was awarded a career development grant from the Foundation Fighting Blindness to begin research on gene therapy for retinitis pigmentosa—a group of genetic eye diseases causing vision loss.
To develop an effective gene therapy in the retina, Bennett started by investigating adenoviruses and adeno-associated viruses (AAV) for gene editing in mice and non-human primates at the Institute for Human Gene Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania. The field of gene therapy was stymied after the death of Jesse Gelsinger during 1999 in a clinical trial for gene editing. However, Dr. Bennett pushed forward and demonstrated that AAV-mediated delivery of a functional RPE65 gene significantly improved sight in near-blind dogs.
Based on their pre-clinical data, Dr. Bennett’s team pursued clinical trials in children with a defective form of the RPE65 gene. Their initial trials showed a stark improvement in light sensitivity and visual function in these children. Based on this, the therapy, marketed as LUXTURNA®, was approved by the FDA for use in humans. Dr. Bennett’s laboratory has also investigated gene therapy approaches for other retinal diseases.
Charles W. Nichols, MD
Nina C. Mackall Research Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
Deputy Chief of Ophthalmology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Charles W. Nichols, MD, the Nina C. Mackall Research Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, completed his Bachelor’s degree at Williams College and received his medical degree at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Nichols completed an internship in medicine at Jefferson Medical College Hospital, and completed both his NIH postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology and his ophthalmology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Nichols joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in 1965.
Dr. Nichols’ clinical interests included comprehensive ophthalmology and AIDS-related eye disorders. He became an expert on treating a number of diseases, particularly those associated with compromise of the immune system. For fifteen years, Dr. Nichols developed and led one of the largest centers in the national Studies of the Ocular Complications of AIDS (SOCA) trials. The study investigated cytomegalovirus (CMV), a herpes virus that is particularly damaging to the eye and to vision. This work facilitated the assessment of promising drugs that could control CMV. Additionally, Dr. Nichols spent several years in Penn’s Pharmacology Department investigating cholinesterase in the retina of numerous different species.
Dr. Nichols received countless honors over the years recognizing his extraordinary devotion to both patient care and teaching—among these, the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching and Scheie Eye Institute Golden Apple Teaching Award. Dr. Nichols was a member of the John Morgan Society at Penn Medicine, serving as president in 1975. Additionally, Dr. Nichols was a member of several distinguished civic committees, including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, European Decorative Arts Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Historical Society of Pennsylvania. For 30 years, Dr. Nichols served as an Examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology. Dr. Nichols also received recognition from Patient Facilitated Services for his commitment to exceptional patient care.
In his most recent post as Vice Chair of Development and Philanthropy, Dr. Nichols drew from his many years of experience and dedication to develop plans and create an in-depth history of the Department of Ophthalmology for the Department’s 150th Anniversary Celebration. Dr. Nichols took a lead role in growing philanthropic partnerships and advancing new development opportunities.
Juan E. Grunwald
Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology
Director, Vivian S. Lasko Oculovascular Research Center
Dr. Juan E. Grunwald, Professor Emeritus of Ophthalmology of the University of Pennsylvania, received his M.D. degree from the University of Tel Aviv in 1975. After completing his Ophthalmology residency at the University of Tel Aviv, he joined the Department of Ophthalmology of University of Pennsylvania in 1979. Dr. Grunwald was a clinician-educator who maintains an active clinical practice specialized in the treatment of retinal diseases, performs laser surgery, conducts an extensive research program, and mentors medical students, residents and post-doctoral fellows.
Dr. Grunwald was the Director of the Vivian Simkins Lasko Retinal Vascular Research Laboratory at the Scheie Eye Institute dedicated to research on ocular vascular physiology and pathology. One of the main goals of the research carried out at this laboratory was to elucidate the role of blood flow abnormalities in the development of eye diseases. In addition to the study of the effects of disease states on ocular blood flow, the Laboratory also investigated the effects of medications on retinal blood flow in an attempt to find treatments for these blinding diseases.
Dr. Grunwald also was the Principal Investigator of the Retinopathy in Chronic Insufficiency Cohort (RCRIC) Study investigating the relationship between diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy and chronic renal failure and cardiovascular disease in a population of patients with renal disease. Additionally, Dr. Grunwald was the Principal Investigator of the Photography Reading Center for the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatment Trial (CATT) which is comparing treatments with Lucentis and Avastin.
The laboratory of Dr. Grunwald was funded through the years by many competitive grant applications from the National Institutes of Health, pharmaceutical industries and philanthropic institutions. He has served on National and International Committees and several Scientific Review Boards for institutions such as the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, New York, NY, and the Wellcome Trust Fund, London, United Kingdom. From 1990-1995, he was a regular, full-time member of the National Institutes of Health Visual Sciences Study Section, providing his clinical expertise on retinal diseases and his knowledge in the area of ocular vascular physiology and pathology.
Dr. Grunwald’s achievements in both his clinical and research endeavors are reflected in his strong record of publications, which has included more than 165 publications.