Beverly L. Davidson, PhD is the Director, Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, Chief Scientific Strategy Officer, and holds the Katherine A. High Chair in Cell and Gene Therapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.  She received her Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from University of Michigan.

The Davidson lab is focused on genetic diseases that affect the brain, including how mutant gene products contribute to disease, and why certain brain regions are more susceptible. The team employs advanced molecular methods, sequencing and imaging modalities in animal models, and uses a variety of molecular tools to test various hypotheses.  The lab is also engaged in the development of next generation therapeutics for inherited disorders, including the engineering of novel gene therapy vector capsids and cargo to approach tissue and cell type specific treatments.

Recent honors include election into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, the Hereditary Disease Foundation’s Leslie Gehry Brenner Prize for Innovation in Science, recipient of the Transformative Research Award from the Hereditary Disease Foundation (shared with Drs. L. Thompson and J-H Cha), and the recipient of the Dr. John W. Schut Research Achievement Award from the National Ataxia Foundation.  Dr. Davidson is the past president of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.