As soon as thought of as a stable contender to be Philadelphia’s first Latino superintendent, Noe Ortega will step down subsequent week as Pennsylvania’s training secretary, Gov. Tom Wolf introduced Friday.
Ortega has led the division since 2020, when Wolf nominated Ortega to steer the company; the state Senate confirmed him in 2021. He beforehand served because the division’s deputy secretary.
“It has been an amazing honor to steer the division of training throughout an unprecedented second within the historical past of the commonwealth and I’m extraordinarily happy with the accomplishments made and the resiliency demonstrated by the [state education department] crew all through my tenure,” Ortega stated in a Friday assertion.
Earlier than becoming a member of the division in 2017, Ortega spent eight years on the College of Michigan, the place he held a number of roles, together with assistant director on the Nationwide Heart for Institutional Variety and managing director for the Nationwide Discussion board on Greater Training for the Public Good. Earlier than that, he spent practically a decade working in monetary help and enrollment administration at private and non-private universities in Texas.
Ortega has backed larger monetary help for public faculties. He testified in January on the state’s fair-funding trial in Harrisburg that Pennsylvania can not attain its targets for post-secondary enrollment and completion with out investing extra in Ok-12 training. He additionally famous that in response to knowledge collected below the federal Each Scholar Succeeds Act, the proportion of “extremely efficient” lecturers declines in class districts as the odds of Black, Latino, and economically deprived college students enhance.
“His profitable efforts to diversify our educator workforce and enhance alternatives for college students to acquire postsecondary training alternatives will undoubtedly proceed to affect our learners for years to come back,” Wolf stated within the Friday assertion.
When Philadelphia began its seek for a brand new superintendent late final 12 months, members of town’s rising Latino group included Ortega’s identify as a possible candidate. Julio Nuñez, an assistant principal at Sheridan Elementary, stated {that a} Latino chief who embraces their id and understands households’ struggles would validate college students. “When college students within the district see this in a frontrunner, they really feel seen,” he stated.
Ortega changed Pedro Rivera, a Philadelphia native, because the state’s training secretary in 2020.
Eric Hagarty will function performing secretary beginning April 29. Hagarty presently serves because the governor’s deputy chief of employees, and has been liable for implementing Wolf’s priorities and insurance policies referring to training.
Bureau Chief Johann Calhoun covers Ok-12 faculties and early childhood training in Philadelphia. He oversees Chalkbeat Philadelphia’s training protection. Contact Johann at jcalhoun@chalkbeat.org
Electors take a group photo after the end of proceedings. Pennsylvania’s electors cast their votes for President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance in the chambers of the state House of Representatives at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa.
December 17, 2024.
Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.comDan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com
Penn Medicine researchers Katalin Karikó Ph.D., and Dr. Drew Weisman Ph.D., won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on mRNA technology that contributed to the COVID-19 vaccine research.
Patents typically last about 20 years. The university holds at least four patents for its mRNA technology across the United States and Europe.
Researcher Karikó, an adjunct professor at Penn Medicine for 36 years, worked as a senior vice president for BioNTech between November 2013 and October 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is considered an external consultant for the company as of Jan. 2, according to its website.
The COVID-19 vaccine, also known as Comirnaty, generated about $5 billion in sales in 2024.
As part of the deal, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is expected to chip in $170 million for the Penn royalties and $364 million towards the NIH royalties owed.
As a company, BioNTech generated about $3.9 billion in revenue during 2023, down from $17.7 billion in 2022. BioNTech estimated 2024 revenue to be between $2.7 billion and $3.3 billion.
The university licensed its mRNA patents to several companies between April 2010 and August 2020, including Epicentre Technologies Corp., mRNA Biotherapeutics Inc. and Cellscript.
In 2017, BioNTech sublicensed the university mRNA technology from Cellscript and expects to keep developing more pharmaceutical medications, such as cancer treatments and flu vaccines, using the university patented technology.
Licensing revenue at the University of Pennsylvania has been a substantial revenue stream for the Philadelphia institution since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
In fiscal 2021, the university collected $300 million in license revenue. In fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the university garnered $1 billion each year. During fiscal year 2024, it reported $466 million in licensing revenue.
In May 2024, Penn Medicine researchers developed an mRNA vaccine for the H5N1 avian flu, leveraging prior COVID-19 vaccine research. The research was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Duke University Human Vaccine Institute was awarded $7 million from the federal health agencies to conduct clinical trials in early 2025.
But for the commercialization of such research, the university relies on pharmaceutical manufacturers to license such patents and take the drug to market.
It was not immediately clear which companies, if any, have licensed the experimental avian flu technology.
Jan. 2 (UPI) — A Pennsylvania man has been indicted on charges of attempting to support the foreign terrorist organization Hezbollah, the Justice Department reported Thursday.
Jack Danaher Molloy, 24, a former resident of Pittsburgh, attempted to provide material support and resources to the terrorist group from August 2024 through December 2024, in Lebanon, Syria, the Western District of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Molloy undertook these actions “knowing that the organization was a designated terrorist organization and that the organization had engaged in and was engaging in terrorist activity and terrorism, ” a release from the Justice Department said in a criminal complaint.
Molloy, a citizen of both the United States and Ireland, previously served on active duty status in the U.S Army, traveled to Lebanon in August 2024 and attempted to join Hezbollah but was told by “multiple individuals that the time was not right, and that he needed to take other steps before he could join the terrorist organization,” the Justice Department release said.
Molloy continued to try to join Hezbollah while living in Upper St. Clair, Pa. and allegedly continued to communicate with members of the organization online and in Lebanon. He also expressed his hatred toward, and promoted violence against, Jewish people,” documents show.
“Molloy’s alleged animus toward Jews was also evidenced by multiple images and videos on his electronic devices and the usernames he chose for his social media and email accounts, including the username “KIKEKILLER313″ on the social media platform X. In one alleged WhatsApp exchange with a family member, Molloy agreed that his ‘master plan was to join Hezbollah and kill Jews,’” Justice Department documents show.
He is also alleged to have visited a website that showed the possible incarceration location of Robert Bowers, the man who carried out the 2018 Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting during which he murdered 11 Jewish worshippers. It is thought that Molloy was a Bowers sympathizer.
The indictment also says Molloy lied to FBI investigators at the Pittsburgh International Airport in October, 2024 about his contact with members of Hezbollah. He said had no current or future plans to become involved with the organization and that he had no business in, nor was he meeting with anyone, in Syria.
“These statements and representations were false because Molloy knew at that time that (1) he did have current and future plans to become involved with Hizballah and (2) Molloy travelled to Syria in furtherance of his attempts to join Hezbollah, and while in Syria, set up a meeting with an individual there,” the Justice Department release said.
Molloy faces up to 28 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted on the material support and false statement charges.
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