Embattled researcher James M. Wilson will begin his three-part preceptorial tonight, but the location of the lecture has been kept a secret -- even from the 15 students enrolled.
Wilson, who headed the controversial 1999 clinical gene therapy study that led to the death of 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger, will speak to Penn students three times this semester on the topic in which the Food and Drug Administration has questioned his ability to conduct research.
The preceptorial will be held in an undisclosed location, with students meeting at Williams Hall and travelling together to the class.
Preceptorial board member Aaron Short, a College junior, said this set-up is partially due to logistics, but also to avoid publicity surrounding Wilson, the director of Penn's Institute for Human Gene Therapy.
"I don't really know why they haven't given us a location yet, but some of this is for privacy for Dr. Wilson's sake," Short said. "The location isn't being disclosed, we're trying not to make a big deal of this."
The FDA has investigated Wilson on charges that he "failed to adequately protect the safety and welfare of subjects" and that he "submitted misleading and inaccurate statements" to both Penn's internal review board and federal regulators overseeing the trial. The agency also alleges that Gelsinger was enrolled in the study despite medical test results indicating his ineligibility.
In response to Gelsinger's death, the FDA halted all human gene therapy experimentation at the University in January 2000. The following May, the University announced that the IHGT would no longer conduct clinical trials as recommended by an external review committee that had completed its work earlier that month.
Then, last November, a civil lawsuit filed by the Gelsinger family against Wilson, Penn and several other scientists and institutions was settled for an undisclosed sum.
The preceptorial committee, after consulting with Wilson, has gone to some lengths to prevent The Daily Pennsylvanian from obtaining information on the class. The DP will not be permitted to attend the preceptorial, and Short requested that students not speak to DP reporters.
"Due to the sensitivity surrounding this preceptorial, we ask that you refrain from going on the record with The Daily Pennsylvanian because it could jeopardize the preceptorial's existence," Short wrote in an e-mail sent two weeks ago to students in the class.
Preceptorial Committee Co-Chairman Dyer Halpern said Wilson, once considered the foremost scientist in the gene therapy field prior to Gelsinger's death, requested these restrictions.
"He requested that we don't invite DP reporters," Halpern said. "He said he'd prefer that students not speak to reporters, but again, we can't stop them."
Rebecca Harmon, spokeswoman for the University Health System, said granting the press access would compromise the academic nature of the course.
In regard to the gene therapy trial "It would be inappropriate for a student to attempt to represent Dr. Wilson by sharing related portions of the class discussion with the media, especially if the information shared is inaccurate and/or out of context," Harmon said. "The net outcome would be to stifle further open discussion by class participants."
Harmon added that Wilson "understands and respects the right of all students to engage in freedom of expression."
Paul Gelsinger, Jesse's father, said in an interview that he did not believe students in the class would get any pertinent information from Wilson about Jesse's death.
Wilson is "obviously very intelligent," said Gelsinger, an outspoken critic of Wilson who has become a national advocate for the rights of patients in clinical trials. "My perspective of Jim Wilson is that he's listening to his own voice and is not willing to listen to dissenting opinions on his work.... I don't know if [students] will get a direct answer so I don't know if they'll gain anything."
One student registered for the preceptorial, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, disagreed with Wilson's and the preceptorial committee's efforts to keep the students from speaking to the press.
"It's not really right that they say no one can speak about it because it's something the University is ashamed of," the student said.
Additionally, the student thought Wilson should make some sort of public comment.
"I'm not really surprised, but I think if he wants to gain any respect he should own up to what he did," the student said. "He just seems like he's trying to hide something and it doesn't make him look any better."
Halpern said he was sure someone in the class would raise questions about the Gelsinger case, which he views as a good start.
"I think the fact that he's willing to talk to 15 people... should be seen as a step in the right direction, not something he's criticized for," Halpern said. "He doesn't want to be tried in the media, he just wants to provide a real educational experience." Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Joshua Runyan contributed to this story.
