Nancy A. Speck PhD

Nancy A. Speck, PhD, a widely recognized international leader in the field of blood-cell development, has been named chair of the department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the associate director of Penn’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine, co-leader of the Hematologic Malignancies Program at the Abramson Cancer Center, and is an investigator in the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute.

Over the course of her more than 30-year career, Speck has made many important contributions to better understand developmental hematopoiesis (the formation and development of blood cells) as well as translating these findings to fighting leukemia. (Genes required for blood cell formation and function are often mutated in human leukemia.)

Her contributions to the field include identifying proteins Runx1 and CBFβ, mutations of which are regularly found in leukemia. Speck’s biochemical and molecular characterization of these factors – before and after linking them to leukemia – has enabled rapid progress in understanding their role in normal and malignant blood-cell development.

“Nancy has distinguished herself as a research scientist, teacher, and mentor,” said J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, executive vice president for the Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine. “She has made many significant contributions to our understanding of how blood cells develop and how the process goes wrong in certain types of leukemia. Her long record of leadership and discovery in the classroom and the lab will be immensely valuable to cell and developmental biology research at Penn. She has already laid out a bold and collaborative vision for the department, which is widely regarded as one of the best in the country.”