Jean Bennett

Dr. Bennett, a leading molecular genetics researcher, is the F.M. Kirby Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine and previously served as director of the Center for Advanced Retinal and Ocular Therapeutics (CAROT) at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Dr. Bennett is a Senior Investigator at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She also co-founded life science companies Spark Therapeutics (acquired by Roche), GenSight Biologics, and Limelight Bio. Prior to the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Bennett worked as an academic instructor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In more than 25 years of academic research, Dr. Bennett has published or contributed to more than 120 peer-reviewed publications on gene therapy, including her pioneering work on gene therapy delivery of RPE65, which was foundational to the approval of Luxturna®. Dr. Bennett received her Ph.D. in Zoology and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkley, and obtained an M.D. from Harvard University. She also completed postdoctoral fellowships in Radiobiology and Environmental Health at the University of California, San Francisco, Human Genetics at Yale School of Medicine, and Development Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received her B.S. in Biology from Yale University.