Katherine A. High, M.D., elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Katherine A. High, M.D., a gene therapy expert at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, has been elected to the 2011 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Academy is one of the nation's most prestigious honorary societies and is a leading center for independent policy research.

Dr. High joins a select group of scholars, scientists, writers, artists, civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders that includes Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize awardees, and winners of MacArthur Fellowships, Oscar Awards and Kennedy Center honors.

A hematologist, Dr. High is internationally recognized for her research on gene therapy, particularly in developing and conducting landmark clinical studies. She has been in the forefront of the effort to develop gene therapy for the inherited bleeding disorder hemophilia and continues to pursue this research. She directs the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics at Children's Hospital. In 2009, that center sponsored a clinical trial that produced dramatic improvements in children and young adults with Leber's congenital amaurosis, a congenital form of blindness.

Dr. High is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the William H. Bennett Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She also is a past president of the American Society of Gene Therapy.

Provided by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia