Frederic D. Bushman

Frederic D. Bushman is the William Maul Measey Professor in Microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, where he serves as Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Co-Director of the PennCHOP Microbiome Program. His research focuses on the complex interactions between humans and their microbial communities, with particular emphasis on developing new technologies for research and biotechnology applications.

Dr. Bushman's educational background includes:

• B.A. in Biology and English from Amherst College (1980)
• Ph.D. in Cellular and Developmental Biology from Harvard University (1988)

His primary research interests span the human microbiome, the human virome, SARS-CoV-2, human gene therapy, and HIV. Dr. Bushman's laboratory investigates the gigantic community of microbes that live in association with humans, specific viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and HIV, and methods for understanding and improving human gene therapy approaches, particularly focusing on integration by viral vectors.

Analysis of Dr. Bushman's recent publications reveals a strong focus on the human microbiome and virome, with significant contributions to understanding how microbial communities influence human health and disease. His work spans multiple disciplines including microbiology, virology, genomics, and computational biology, often employing cutting-edge sequencing technologies to explore host-microbe interactions at unprecedented resolution.

Dr. Bushman has received numerous prestigious honors and awards:

• Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2014)
• Pioneer Award from the Journal of Human Gene Therapy (2014)
• Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2009)
• Master of Arts, Honoris Causa from the University of Pennsylvania (2004)
• Stohlman Scholar from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America (2001)
• Multiple fellowships and scholarships from the Leukemia Society of America (1989-2001)

Dr. Bushman serves as a mentor for graduate students through the Genomics and Computational Biology and Cell and Molecular Biology graduate groups. His laboratory supports the Viral/Molecular High Density Sequencing Core, which provides genomic analysis for human gene therapy research with particular focus on the consequences of gene modification for the human genome. He has secured significant grant funding from organizations including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the National Institutes of Health.

The Bushman Lab operates as a dynamic research environment dedicated to understanding human-microbe interactions. The lab maintains strong collaborations with researchers across the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), particularly through the PennCHOP Microbiome Program which Dr. Bushman co-directs. The lab's work combines experimental and computational approaches to address fundamental questions in microbiome and virome research.