New pediatrics chairman Dr. Terence Flotte plans to expand research into childhood diseases

University of Florida pediatric pulmonologist and gene therapy researcher Terence Flotte, M.D., has been named chairman of the UF College of Medicine’s department of pediatrics.

Flotte will step down as director of the UF Genetics Institute and the Powell Gene Therapy Center July 1 to assume the position. He succeeds Douglas Barrett, M.D., who served as pediatrics chairman for 11 years before accepting appointment as UF’s vice president for health affairs.

C. Craig Tisher, M.D., interim dean of the College of Medicine, appointed Flotte to the position.

“I was interested in appointing an individual dedicated to the delivery of outstanding patient care and capable of leading the department in its educational and research missions,” Tisher said. “Dr. Flotte easily fulfilled these requirements. I believe he will be an outstanding chairman.”

The pediatrics department employs more than 130 faculty members in 12 clinical divisions and is responsible for one-third of patient visits to the UF Health Science Center. UF pediatricians staff Shands Children’s Hospital at UF and run subspecialty clinics throughout the state.

An internationally known pioneer in human gene therapy, Flotte was the first in the world to use the apparently harmless adeno-associated virus (AAV) as a vehicle to deliver corrective genes to targeted sites, including the damaged airways of adult human patients with cystic fibrosis. He holds four gene therapy-related patents.

When asked why he accepted the pediatrics chairmanship, Flotte said, “I’m a pediatrician first and foremost. This is great opportunity for me to get back to the broader scope of what academic pediatrics is all about, which includes research, clinical care and teaching.”

Translating research into new clinical therapies for childhood diseases is just one of Flotte’s departmental goals. He foresees increasing collaboration among researchers in pediatrics, genetics and medical microbiology to strengthen investigations of genetically based diseases.

“We’re poised to take advantage of new technologies, including gene transfer research, which could lead to therapies for diabetes, cancer and other diseases,” Flotte said.

Flotte also plans to provide support to pediatric residents pursuing academic careers through postdoctoral fellowships and junior faculty positions.

“Academic pediatrics as a profession is in crisis right now,” he said. “So many individuals who go through medical training in pediatrics enter private practice out of financial necessity. We have the opportunity to make inroads in this area.”

Flotte earned his medical doctorate in 1986 from Louisiana State University School of Medicine, where he was ranked No. 1 in his class. He was trained in pediatrics and pediatric pulmonology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and in basic virology at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Before joining the UF faculty in 1996, he was an assistant professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also was co-director of the vector core facility at the university’s Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Center.