The Wistar Institute Appoints Former City Solicitor Sozi Tulante to Its Board of Trustees

PHILADELPHIA — (May 26, 2023) — The Wistar Institute, a global leader in biomedical research in cancer, immunology and infectious disease, is pleased to welcome Sozi Tulante to its Board of Trustees. He is currently General Counsel of Form Energy, a Massachusetts-based energy storage technology and manufacturing company.

A respected legal scholar and strategist, Tulante comes to the role with an extensive background in corporate and intellectual property law, policy matters, regulatory issues, and a record of building and leading diverse and sophisticated teams.

“I’m incredibly honored to join the Wistar board and help further its inspiring mission,” said Tulante. “I see it as a crown jewel of Philadelphia. Almost everyone knows someone who has been afflicted with cancer, but few know about the innovative research needed to develop the promising treatments to fight this deadly disease. That all starts here with Wistar research, and that’s something that people can really understand and support.”

Prior to leading Form Energy’s legal, compliance, and ethics functions, Tulante was a litigation partner at the global law firm Dechert LLP, and a professor and fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. From 2016 to 2018, he served as Philadelphia City Solicitor, where he was in charge of all of the City’s legal affairs, advised the Mayor and other City leaders on high-profile and sensitive issues, and managed the 215 lawyers of the Law Department. He is also a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and previously served as a partner at another law firm.

“Sozi’s extensive legal expertise and understanding of intellectual property, along with his familiarity managing complex, high-performing organizations, will be an incredible asset in helping Wistar achieve its mission of producing groundbreaking advances in world health,” said Dario C. Altieri, M.D., Wistar president and CEO, Director of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center, and Robert and Penny Fox Distinguished Professor. “His ability to distill the complexities of an organization and support Wistar’s strategic vision make him an ideal partner.”

Tulante earned his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and his B.A., cum laude, from Harvard College. He is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo before coming to the United States as a refugee and now lives minutes away from Wistar’s headquarters in West Philadelphia with his family.

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About the Wistar Institute

The Wistar Institute, the first independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute in the United States, marshals the talents of an international team of outstanding scientists through a culture of biomedical collaboration and innovation. Wistar scientists are focused on solving some of the world’s most challenging and important problems in the field of cancer, infectious disease, and immunology. Wistar has been producing groundbreaking advances in world health for more than a century. Consistent with its legacy of leadership in biomedical research and a track record of life-saving contributions in immunology and cell biology, Wistar scientists’ early-stage discoveries shorten the path from bench to bedside. wistar.org.

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