Morton Cowan

Morton Cowan is a Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of the Allergy, Immunology, and Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) Division at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He has led the Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium (PIDTC), an NIH-funded international network of 43 centers, since 2009. His work focuses on pediatric immunology, particularly severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) in Athabascan-speaking Native American populations (SCIDA), gene therapy for Artemis-deficient SCID, and non-chemotherapy-based marrow niche optimization.

• Education: B.S. in Electrical Engineering (MIT, 1966), M.D. (University of Pennsylvania, 1970), Pediatrics Residency (UCSF, 1975-77), Immunology Fellowship (UCSF, 1977-79)

His research spans SCID variants, gene therapy, haploidentical transplantation, and newborn screening for immunodeficiencies. Recent publications highlight outcomes in hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) and SCID, including long-term complication analyses and variant classification standards.

Scientific awards include

• Tau Beta Pi (1966)
• Charles Hovies Scholarship (1968-70)
• Pediatric Clinical Research Center Investigator Award (1979-82)

Dr. Cowan has spearheaded multiple NIH- and CIRM-funded grants, including the PIDTC consortium (U54AI082973, 2009-2024) and clinical trials for gene therapy in Artemis-SCID (CLIN2-10830, 2018-2023). His work has established UCSF as a global leader in SCID treatment and research.