Philip A. Rea

Professor of Biology/Belldegrun Distinguished Director

110 Stephen A. Levin Building, Suite 101, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

Research and Teaching Interests

Primary Research

His approach to primary research is that of a ‘basic biologist’ – he and his group search for general principles, not just principles applicable to plants. Most of his group’s studies entail parallel molecular and biochemical manipulations of several model systems and have included the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the wormCaenorhabditis elegans. It is through the application of this approach that Rea and his group have made major contributions toward understanding a remarkably broad range of transport and related phenomena with special emphasis on alternate energy sources and cellular detoxification processes. His research record is outstanding, especially when it is appreciated that he and his colleagues pioneered three major areas of investigation. These three areas are vacuolar proton pumps, plant and yeast ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and the enzymological basis of heavy metal detoxification by phytochelatins. The extent to which Rea’s basic research has seamlessly led to more applied fields is striking. His group’s studies of one vacuolar proton pump are proving to be of clinical significance while their studies of ABC transporters and heavy metal detoxification have given rise to several patents and two of the platform technologies for a number of biotechnological initiatives.

Secondary Research

Rea’s secondary research at the interface of life sciences and their implementation focuses on case studies that highlight the difficult transition from discovery in the laboratory to success in the market and/or toward the expansion of humanitarian efforts.  Examples of such case studies are “Statins: From Fungus to Pharma” and “Ivermectin and River Blindness”, two feature articles aimed primarily at the educated lay reader.  The impetus for preparing the statins article was a sense that material of this nature would be of immense interest to educated members of the general public because is it has something for everyone.  It is an example of how our understanding of CVD has undergone radical revision, and in so doing given us a better understanding of how statins do what they do (something that would not have happened if not for the introduction of these drugs); how a serendipitous discovery with striking parallels at all levels to the discovery of the penicillins is quite possibly one of the most significant biomedical accomplishments of the twentieth century; how the convergence and application of basic but disparate cellular biochemical concepts and methodologies spawned one of the best selling drugs; how discovery is as much to do with knowing what you have found as in finding it in the first place; how the original discovery of a drug, or class of drugs, made by one company, required the engagement of another company, either as competitor or collaborator, to bring the drug in question to market; how the juxtaposition of economic with biomedical imperatives can be the deciding factor in determining whether to aggressively push for the implementation of a fundamental discovery; how “plan B” compounds can end up being billion dollar pills (Lipitor in this case); how the implementation of a particular class of drugs not only radically changed our insight into the processes that the drugs act on but also fostered the identification of new targets for the drugs in question.  The need for the second feature article, entitled “Ivermectin and River Blindness” came from the realization that despite the immensity of the river blindness problem very few of us in this part of the world know of the existence of this disease, and even fewer know of the connection between it and something that most of us know something about, the “deworming tablets” we give to pets and livestock to protect them from heartworm and similar parasitic infections. Yet, the fact of the matter is that if your dog has been given preventative medication for heartworm it was almost certainly given the very same drug, ivermectin, that has and continues to be used to treat literally tens of millions of people in the developing world; people who would otherwise have to live lives of interminable suffering and anguish.  The third feature article, entitled “Can skinny fat beat obesity?”, is an up to date account of the roles played by brown and beige fat (‘skinny fat’) in keeping white fat, a surplus of which is associated with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome, at bay.  Whether the readers are themselves overweight or know others who are, this article is of general interest because it encompasses several unprecedented discoveries made only in the last few years (some only in the last few months) which when explained provide readers with a platform for better understanding the role played by classical brown fat in newborns and hibernating mammals, how beige fat was discovered in animals and human adults, what it is and does, the biochemical basis of thermogenesis, and recent advances in the identification of a new class of therapeutic agents that might eventually be used to combat obesity.

Teaching

‘Basic inderstanding’ is Rea’s watchword for teaching both introductory courses, exemplified by BIOL 121 – Introduction to theMolecular Biology of Life and LSMP 121 – Proseminar in Management and the Life Sciences, and advanced courses, as exemplified by BIOL 402 – Biochemistry. He has a reputation as a dynamic and compelling lecturer, involving students in problem solving and the struggle to extract meaningful information from the inevitably incomplete data sets with which researchers must contend. Students experience the frequent yet generative anxiety, and less frequent exhilaration, of drawing tentative, testable conclusions. One student comments of Dr. Rea: “I cannot think of any professor at Penn who more convinced his students that they were not just students, but scientists.” Rea is a frequent participant in biology teaching workshops, including the National Academies Summer Institute on Undergraduate Education in Biology.

At the outset of Rea’s undergraduate career, the thing that most inspired him was the realization that the people who were now teaching him were active scientists who had directly contributed to the subject they were teaching through their research.  This discovery, hand in hand with recognition that even his teachers, though active in the field, could not answer many of the basic questions and were prepared to admit to this, filled him with admiration for their humility and impelled him to learn more so that he might  have the opportunity to tackle some of these questions himself.  Rea would like to think that a few of the students with whom he comes into contact are similarly affected by his efforts and those of his colleagues.