Welcome to the Fall 2025 issue of FOCUS magazine. Scroll through the pages and what will jump out is how momentous, transformative and impactful this year has been for Wistar and our science. We have been very apt at cutting ribbons, celebrating our past but, more importantly, welcoming a new future of science and discovery.

For the first time in our 130-plus year history, Wistar expanded beyond its historic walls on Spruce Street, Philadelphia, and launched a new HIV Cure and Viral Diseases Center at a second, state-of-the-art research site at 3675 Market Street, Philadelphia. We cut the ribbon to inaugurate the new Center in June of 2025, and we look forward to the innovation, ingenuity and research advances that this initiative will bring under the leadership of world-class Center Director, Luis Montaner.

We cut a second ribbon in September of 2025 to launch a new Wistar Center for Advanced Therapeutics. We did not have to go too far for this celebration: the new Center is housed in a beautifully renovated space on our main campus, where we converted offices into a premiere, state-of-the-art research facility. Led by another world-class scientist, Paul Lieberman, the new Center for Advanced Therapeutics will uncover new drivers of cancer and chronic diseases, map their vulnerabilities, advance new therapeutic strategies and create innovative, public-private partnerships.

So, in the space of only six months, Wistar has doubled the number of its research Centers, building on the success of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan, National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center and the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center.

But against this backdrop of unprecedented growth and the promise of a healthier tomorrow through rigorous research, we are not oblivious to the deep, far-reaching challenges that science (and scientists) face today. We recognize that public trust in what we do, and who we are, is at an all-time low. We see a polarized society that seems to devalue some of the greatest achievements in science and medicine, where biomedical research evokes diffidence, suspicion of unbound profit, unmitigated conflict of interest and even dishonesty.

It is against this backdrop that nothing could be more necessary than our mission today. Our new (and “old”) Wistar research Centers are not on anyone’s payroll; they are not rigid or bureaucratic entities. They are not isolated ivory towers. Instead, they are poles of collaboration and synergy, conduits for the unfettered exchange of ideas, and vehicles for the education and mentoring of the next generation of scientists. They embody our institutional soul of freedom, freedom to discover, freedom to challenge dogmas, and freedom to pursue one’s ideas without boundaries or constraints. They are there to find solutions for humanity’s biggest problems.

We look forward to seeing our new Wistar Centers blossom, attract new talents, deliver innovation and transform our region through scientific advances, collaboration and training. And along the way, we look forward to seeing our Wistar Centers infuse optimism, rebuild public trust, and contribute to a healthier tomorrow for everyone.