Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
School to present Medal of Distinction to Spark Therapeutics
Overbrook School for the Blind (OSB) will present the first Caulfield Medal of Distinction to Jeffrey D. Marrazzo and Katherine A. High, M.D., co-founders of Spark Therapeutics, during the fifth annual Overbrook Experience Dinner Tuesday, Oct. 9.
Created in honor of the legacy and pioneering spirit of Genevieve Caulfield, an alumna of Overbrook School for the Blind, the Caulfield Medal of Distinction is awarded to individuals or organizations responsible for exceptional deeds that improve society, especially the lives of those living with disabilities.
“From the moment she was old enough to attend school, Genevieve Caulfield absorbed learning wherever it appeared, an ideal that we infuse in our students every day,” says Todd Reeves, executive director and CEO of Overbrook School for the Blind. “The only real comment she ever made on her disability was a paradoxical one, that perhaps God took away her eyesight to divert her from the quiet world of scholarship into the world of action.”
“When we were considering recipients for the Caulfield Medal of Distinction this year, it did not take very long to determine that Spark’s own pioneering spirit and relentless pursuit of innovation are without peer, both right here in Philadelphia and, like Ms. Caulfield, far beyond our city limits, as well,” says Warwick S. Wheeler, president of the Overbrook School for the Blind Board of Trustees.
Spark Therapeutics, based in West Philadelphia, is a fully integrated company committed to discovering, developing and delivering gene therapies. Spark is challenging the inevitability of genetic diseases, including blindness, hemophilia and neurodegenerative diseases. For two years running, Spark has been named to the top 10 of MIT Technology Review’s “50 Smartest Companies.” It’s also been recognized as one of 2018’s most innovative companies in Biotech by Fast Company.
In 2017, under the leadership of Marrazzo and High, the company received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the first gene therapy for an inherited retinal disease. Spark saw the first patients successfully treated with this gene therapy earlier this year.
Marrazzo has led the creation and growth of Spark Therapeutics from its inception as a research center within Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He also serves on Spark’s board of directors. In the four years since founding Spark, Marrazzo has secured more than $1 billion in capital and built an organization of more than 320 colleagues. During a career that has spanned the public and private sectors, Marrazzo has consistently championed the potential benefits of precision medicine and healthcare reform for patients.
High is an accomplished hematologist with a longstanding interest in gene therapy for genetic disease. High’s work has evolved to encompass clinical translation of potential gene therapies for multiple inherited disorders. As president at Spark Therapeutics, she has led the development and regulatory approval of the first gene therapy for a genetic disease in the United States. In addition to her operational role, High serves as a member of the board of directors of Spark.