Robert B. Wilson, MD, PhD
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in Pediatrics
Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
Contact InformationDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Room 6024, Colket Translational Research Building
3501 Civic Center Blvd.
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 267-425-2201
Email: WILSONR@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Itmat Expertise
Dr. Wilson's primary interest is in the neurodegenerative disorder Friedreich ataxia, for which he completed a high-throughput drug screen of >340,000 compounds in the fall of 2008. He is now working with medicinal chemists on the hit compounds. He is also involved in screening random shRNA expressing libraries for small RNAs to be used as therapeutics and biologic tools. The random shRNA expressing libraries and their use is described in PLoS ONE manuscripts that can be accessed openly at the following URLs: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0003171
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0087390
Education
Sc.B. (Biochemistry), Brown University, 1982
A.B. (Music), Brown University, 1982
M.D. University of Pennsylvania, 1989
Ph.D. (Genetics), University of Pennsylvania, 1989
Specialty Certification
Diplomate in Clinical Pathology, American Board of Pathology, 1992
Diplomate in Molecular Genetic Pathology, American Board of Pathology, 2001
Biomedical Informatics Certificate, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA, 2017
Postgraduate Training
Residency in Clinical Pathology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1989-1992
Post-doctoral Research, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1991-1993
Fellowship in Transfusion Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1992-1993
Courses in Statistics, Computer Science, Machine Learning, Advanced Bayesian Analytics, University of Pennsylvania, 2010-2014
Certificate Program in Bioinformatics, Penn Institute for Bioinformatics, University of Pennsylvania, 2017-2018
Awards and Honors
Phi Beta Kappa, Brown University, 1980
Sigma Xi, Brown University, 1982
Honors in Music, Brown University, 1982
Brand Musical Premium, Brown University, 1982
Magna Cum Laude, Brown University, 1982
Honors in Biochemistry, Brown University, 1982
Roy G. Williams Research Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 1989
Young Investigator Award, Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and Scientists, 1992
The Outstanding Group Discussion Leader Teaching Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Class of 2003, 2001
2002 Kevin E. Salhany Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2002
John Morgan Society, University of Pennsylvania, 2002
Peter C. Nowell Teaching Award, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2003
Leonard Berwick Memorial Teaching Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 2004
Basic Science Teaching Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Class of 2008, 2005
Best Small Group Leader Teaching Award, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Class of 2012, 2009
NIH Director's Transformative Research Award, 2009
Distinguished Investigator Award, Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance, 2010
2011 Kevin E. Salhany Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2011
Harrington Discovery Institute Scholar-Innovator Award, 2013
Top Doctor, Philadelphia, Castle Connolly, 2016
Ronald J. Bartek Working Together Award, Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance, 2018
Top Doctor, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Magazine, 2018
Memberships and Professional Organizations
Association for Molecular Pathology, 1997 - Present
Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance, 1998 - 2005
National Ataxia Foundation, 2002 - Present
Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance, 2005 - Present
Selected Publications
A Multi-Analyte Machine Learning Model to Detect Wrong Blood in Complete Blood Count Tube Errors in a Pediatric Setting
Graham, B., Master, S. R., Obstfeld, A., Wilson, R. B., Clinical Chemistry, 2024
A Zebrafish Model of Friedreich Ataxia
Lee, T., Spagnoli, S. T., Lin, D., Gocal, J., Seiler, C., Wilson, R. B., Manuscript in preparation, 2024
Design and validation of cell-based potency assays for frataxin supplementation treatments
Mukherjee, S.,Pereboeva, L., Fil, D., Saikia, A., Lee, J., Li, J., Cotticelli, M. G., Wilson, R. B., Napierala M., Napierala, J. S., Molecular Therapy Methods & Clinical Development In the press(): , 2024
A novel metric for predicting severity of disease features in Friedreich ataxia
Rodden, L. N., Rummey, C., Kessler, S., Wilson, R. B., Lynch, D. R., Movement Disorders 38(): 970-977, 2023
Acute frataxin knockdown in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes activates a type I interferon response
Cotticelli, M. G., Xia, S., Truit, R., Doliba, N. M., Rozo, A. V., Tobias, J. W., Lee, T., Chen, J., Napierala, J. S., Napierala, M., Yang, W., Wilson, R. B., Disease Models & Mechanisms 16(5): dmm049497, 2023, PMID:36107856
Skin fibroblast metabolomic profiling reveals that lipid dysfunction predicts the severity of Friedreich's ataxia
Wang, D., Ho, E. S., Cotticelli, M. G., Xu, P., Napierala, J. S., Hauser, L. A., Napierala, M., Wilson, R. B., Lynch, D. R., Mesaros, C., Journal of Lipid Research 63(): 100255, 2022
Deuterated Linoleic Acid Attenuates the RBC Storage Lesion in A Mouse Model of Poor RBC Storage
Kim, C. Y., Johnson, H., Peltier, S., Spitalnik, S. L., Hod, E. A., Francis, R. O., Hudson, K. E., Stone, E. F., Gordy, D. E., Fu, X. Zimring, J. C., Amireault, P., Buehler, P. W., Wilson, R. B., D'Alessandro, A., Shchepinov, M., Thomas, T. A., Frontiers in Physiology 13(): 868578, 2022
Identification of a Novel Oleic Acid Analog with Protective Effects in Multiple Cellular Models of Friedreich Ataxia
Cotticelli, M. G., Forestieri, R., Xia, S., Joyasawal, S., Lee, T., Xu, K., Smith, A., Huryn, D., Wilson, R. B., ACS Chemical Neuroscience 11(): 2535−2542, 2020
Bayesian Approach to Interpreting Somatic Cancer Sequencing Data: A Case in Point
Yoon, J.-Y., Rosenbaum, J. N., Vergara, N., Cohen, R. B., Wilson, Robert B., Journal of Clinical Pathology, 2020
Ferroptosis as a novel therapeutic target for Friedreich’s ataxia
Cotticelli, M. G., Xia, S., Lin, D., Lee, T., Lin, D., Terrab, L., Wipf, P., Huryn, D., Wilson, R. B., Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 369(): 47-54, 2019
