University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

What University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine does

The Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) at the University of Pennsylvania is the oldest medical school in the United States, founded in 1765, and operates as a private, non-profit academic medical center within the University of Pennsylvania. It runs an integrated portfolio spanning medical education (MD, PhD, MD-PhD, 14 master's and 12 certificate programs), postdoctoral and graduate medical education, continuing medical and interprofessional education, and clinical care delivered through six affiliated hospitals (Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Hospital, and Penn Medicine Princeton Health). Research output is supported by FY2022 sponsored program awards of $982 million across Penn faculty and a portfolio of 40+ specialized centers including the Abramson Cancer Center, the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies (led by Carl June, MD), the Institute for RNA Innovation (led by Drew Weissman, MD, PhD), the Penn Cardiovascular Institute, the Penn Memory Center, and the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics.

Technology and research infrastructure span AI deep-learning platforms, mRNA vaccine technology, CAR T cell therapy development, gene therapy capabilities, and advanced medical imaging. Recent AI-native initiatives include the APEX 1.1 platform for antimicrobial peptide discovery, a human-in-the-loop AI framework for CAR T cell target discovery, MRI-based computational analysis in pediatric brain development research, and co-founding of the CRI Discovery Engine with Stanford, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and 10x Genomics for AI-driven cancer immunotherapy research. Revenue mechanics combine sponsored research grants (largely NIH and private foundations), tuition and fees across degree and certificate programs, visiting student elective fees (e.g., $200 per elective), and continuing medical education program fees. PSOM participates in the broader CME market valued at $10.04 billion in 2026 and projected to reach $17.70 billion by 2032.

Customer segments span medical and graduate students, residents and fellows, practicing healthcare professionals seeking CME, patients receiving care across Penn Medicine's affiliated hospitals, and global health partners in over a dozen countries (Botswana, Vietnam, Ghana, Peru, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Kenya, India, Haiti, Jamaica, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Yemen, South Africa). Discovery and clinical milestones include the Philadelphia chromosome (1960), the FOP gene discovery (2006), AAV.RPE65 gene therapy for Leber congenital amaurosis (2001), CAR T cell therapy with reported 10-year remissions in B-cell lymphoma, and 128 faculty patents awarded in the most recent reporting year. Institutional leadership is led by Dean Jonathan A. Epstein, MD, with a senior team covering research, finance, clinical operations, professional services, and global health.

Name

University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

Legal name

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania

Website

https://med.upenn.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1765

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

The Perelman School of Medicine is the oldest U.S. medical school (founded 1765), training MD, PhD, and master's students while delivering clinical care across six affiliated Penn Medicine hospitals and conducting $982M in FY2022 sponsored research across 40+ specialized centers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Medical Education and Biomedical Research

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals (622310)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical Schools (MD/DO Granting) (EDAHAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Biomedical Sciences & Medical Research Institutes (University-Based) (EDAHAGAI), Academic Medical Centers & Teaching Hospitals (University-Affiliated) (EDAHAGAA)

Keywords

• Medical education programs
• Biomedical research services
• Graduate medical education
• Continuing medical education
• Clinical research programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Sponsored Research Funding: Federal and private research grants from NIH, foundations, and industry partners. FY2022 total sponsored program awards was $982 million.
2. Medical Education Programs: Tuition and fees from MD, PhD, MD-PhD, Master's, and certificate programs. Includes visiting student programs.
3. Continuing Medical Education: CME programs for practicing healthcare professionals, generating revenue through course fees
4. Graduate Medical Education: GME programs for medical residents and fellows
5. CME Market Participation: As a major academic medical center, PSOM participates in the broader CME market valued at $10.04 billion in 2026, expected to reach $17.70 billion by 2032

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM), founded in 1765 as the oldest medical school in the United States, delivers medical education across MD, PhD, MD-PhD, Master's, Certificate, Continuing Medical Education, Biomedical Postdoctoral, and Graduate Medical Education programs, while conducting sponsored biomedical and clinical research (FY2022 awards of $982 million) and supporting clinical training through the Penn Medicine Health System of six affiliated hospitals.

Product overview

The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania is the nation's first medical school (founded 1765) offering a comprehensive portfolio of educational programs and research centers. The core educational offerings include the MD Program, PhD Programs through Biomedical Graduate Studies, Combined Degree Programs (MD/PhD, MD/Master's), Master's & Certificate Programs (MaC with 14 degrees and 12 certificates), Continuing Medical Education, Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs, and Graduate Medical Education. The institution operates numerous specialized research centers including the Abramson Cancer Center, Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, Penn Cardiovascular Institute, Institute for RNA Innovation (led by Drew Weissman), Penn Center for AIDS Research, Penn Memory Center, Institute on Aging, Penn Transplant Institute, Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, Penn Epigenetics Institute, Penn CHOP Lung Biology Institute, and Center for Global Health. Key recent initiatives include AI-powered platforms for CAR T cell therapy target discovery and antibiotic candidate identification using deep learning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MD Program Four-year medical degree program training students to provide high-quality patient-centered care and to lead and advance medicine; serves prospective and current medical students.
• PhD Programs (Biomedical Graduate Studies) Doctoral research programs through Biomedical Graduate Studies covering Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Cell & Molecular Biology, Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Genomics & Computational Biology, Immunology, Neuroscience, and Pharmacology; serves students pursuing research careers.
• Combined Degree and Physician Scholar Programs Combined MD/PhD (MSTP) and MD/Master's dual-degree programs including MD/MBE, MD/ML, MD/MBA, MD/MPH, MD/MSHP, and MD/MSTR; serves students seeking integrated clinical and research training.
• Master's & Certificate Programs (MaC) Fourteen professional master's degrees and twelve certificate programs preparing students for careers in health care practice, research, and patient care; serves health professionals and career changers.
• Continuing Medical and Interprofessional Education CME programs delivered via upenn.cloud-cme.com for practicing medical professionals to maintain licensure and stay current with medical advances; serves licensed physicians and healthcare professionals.
• Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs Postdoctoral training programs for PhD graduates across the Schools of Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Nursing, and Dental Medicine; serves PhD graduates pursuing advanced research training.
• Graduate Medical Education Residency and fellowship programs for medical school graduates across specialties and subspecialties; serves medical school graduates pursuing clinical specialty training.

Quantifiable outcome

• 59 of 75 tested peptide candidates inhibited bacterial pathogens, with 2 peptides showing effects comparable to polymyxin B in skin infection models
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and major.

• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2026Major research collaboration on pediatric health studies including smartphone impact research. CHOP is a primary research partner providing clinical expertise and patient populations for collaborative studies on child health, development, and disease.
• University of California, BerkeleycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2026Academic research collaboration on smartphone health impacts study involving behavioral science, public health, and developmental research expertise.
• Cancer Research Institute (CRI)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2026Launched CRI Discovery Engine, a shared data infrastructure initiative for standardizing and pooling cancer immunotherapy research to enable AI-driven breakthroughs. PSOM is one of four founding academic partners.
• Stanford University School of MedicineflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2026Founding partner in CRI Discovery Engine, contributing to precompetitive collaboration for AI-driven cancer research data infrastructure.
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2026Founding partner in CRI Discovery Engine for standardized cancer immunotherapy data sharing and AI research.
• 10x GenomicscoreTechnology or Integration · 26 February 2026Technology partner providing single-cell and spatial genomics capabilities for the CRI Discovery Engine data infrastructure initiative.
• Botswana-UPenn PartnershipflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership since 2003 focused on tuberculosis research, HIV/AIDS care, adolescent health, and medical education capacity building in Botswana. Includes research infrastructure, clinical training, and faculty development programs.
• Vingroup-Penn AlliancemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerComprehensive partnership with VinUniversity in Vietnam covering capacity-building, international medical education, academic partnerships, faculty development, global nursing, graduate medical education, and simulation training.
• University of BotswanaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership through Botswana-UPenn Partnership for medical education, residency training, pathology education, and research collaboration.
• Tel Aviv UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration on prehistoric interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, analyzing X chromosomes and ancient genomes.
• University of Pennsylvania Health System Affiliated HospitalsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntegrated academic health system including Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Hospital, and Penn Medicine Princeton Health.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Harvard Medical School: Harvard Medical School is the closest direct peer: an elite private medical school with affiliated teaching hospitals (Mass General Brigham), comparable NIH funding scale, and leadership in cell therapy, gene therapy, and biomedical AI. Comparable in mission, scope, and tier.
• Stanford University School of Medicine: Stanford is a direct peer and partner in the CRI Discovery Engine for AI-driven cancer immunotherapy. Comparable in size, biomedical research intensity, biotech ecosystem integration, and AI/biomedicine positioning.
• Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis: WashU Medicine is consistently a top-5 NIH-funded medical school with strong biomedical research output. Comparable in research scale, faculty size, and graduate/medical training programs despite a smaller health system footprint.
• Duke University School of Medicine: Duke School of Medicine is a leading private medical school with an integrated academic health system and significant sponsored research funding. Comparable in education, research, and clinical care mix.
• Yale School of Medicine: Yale School of Medicine is an elite private medical school with comparable research scale, graduate programs, and affiliation with a major academic medical center (Yale New Haven Health).
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine is a top-tier private medical school with one of the largest NIH-funded research portfolios in the country and a multi-hospital health system. Comparable in research scale, residency footprint, and discovery output.
• Weill Cornell Medicine: Weill Cornell Medicine is a top-tier private medical school affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian and a major biomedical research enterprise. Comparable in faculty scale, NIH funding tier, and clinical research footprint.
• Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons: Columbia's medical school is an elite Ivy League peer with a major affiliated academic medical center (NewYork-Presbyterian), comparable faculty scale, and similar research and education footprint on the US East Coast.

Emerging players

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: MSK is a founding partner with Penn in the CRI Discovery Engine for AI-driven cancer immunotherapy data. Specialized cancer research and treatment center rather than a full medical school, but a highly relevant peer in the immunotherapy and translational research domain.

Others

• UCSF School of Medicine:

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/PennMedCSO
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCFNF3fWp-VNqOKwYkUxCnSA
• Facebookfacebook.com/PerelmanSchoolofMedicine
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/showcase/penn-center-for-global-health

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Subsidiaries46 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine