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Perelman School of Medicine
Penn Medicine: Red Blood Cells Take on Many-Sided Shape During Clotting
Red blood cells are the body’s true shape shifters, perhaps the most malleable of all cell types, transforming – among many other forms -- into compressed discs capable of going through capillaries with diameters smaller than the blood cell itself. While studying how blood clots contract John W.
Disparities Run Deep: Parkinson's Patients Utilization of Deep Brain Stimulation Treatment Reduced within Demographic Groups
Among Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, female, black, and Asian patients are substantially less likely to receive proven deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery to improve tremors and motor symptoms, according to a new report by a Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania researcher who identified considerable disparities among Medicare recipients receiving DBS for Parkinson
Survival Rates Similar for Gunshot, Stabbing Victims Whether Brought to the Hospital by Police or EMS, Penn Medicine Study Finds
A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found no significant difference in adjusted overall survival rates between gunshot and stabbing (so-called penetrating trauma injuries) victims in Philadelphia whether they were transported to the emergency department by the police department or the eme
Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center Celebrates 40 Years, Bestows Inaugural Abramson Award
This December marks the 40th anniversary of the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) of the University of Pennsylvania being designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute.
Leading Health Care Executives Optimistic About Health Care Reform, Penn Survey Shows
Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the nation’s leading health care executives say they believe the health care system will be somewhat or significantly better by 2020 than it is today as a result of national health care reform. Additionally, 93 percent believe that the quality of care provided by their own hospital or health system will improve during that time period.
Penn Medicine: Despite Rising Health Care Costs, Few Residency Programs Train Doctors to Practice Cost-Conscious Care
Despite a national consensus among policy makers and educators to train residents to be more conscious of the cost of care, less than 15 percent of internal medicine residency programs have a formal curriculum addressing it, a new research letter published today in JAMA Internal Medicine by a Penn Medicine physician found.
Penn Team Reduces Toxicity Associated With Lou Gehrig’s Disease in Animal Models
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a devastating illness that gradually robs sufferers of muscle strength and eventually causes a lethal, full-body paralysis. The only drug available to treat the disease extends life spans by a meager three months on average.
Penn Medicine Named as Inaugural Member of NIH Network to Revolutionize Stroke Clinical Research
The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will join a new national network of 25 regional stroke centers selected to advance stroke research on prevention, treatment and recovery.
One Protein, Two Personalities: Penn Team Identifies New Mechanism of Cancer Spread
Cancer involves a breakdown of normal cell behavior. Cell reproduction and movement go haywire, causing tumors to grow and spread through the body.
Penn Medicine: Dietary Amino Acids Relieve Sleep Problems after Traumatic Brain Injury in Animals
A new study suggests a potential dietary treatment - a cocktail of key amino acids that improved sleep disturbances caused by brain injuries in mice - for millions of people affected by traumatic brain injury (TBI)—a condition that is currently untreatable.
In the News
Newsweek
Man does DNA test, not prepared for what comes back ‘unusually high’
César de la Fuente of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Perelman School of Medicine says that Neanderthal DNA provides insights into human evolution, population dynamics, and genetic adaptations, including correlations with traits such as immunity and susceptibility to diseases.
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KFF Health News
Rural jails turn to community health workers to help the newly released succeed
According to Aditi Vasan of the Leonard Davis Institute and Perelman School of Medicine, evidence is mounting in favor of the model of training community health workers to help their neighbors connect to government and health care services.
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Everyday Health
What is food noise and how do you get rid of it?
According to Thomas Wadden of the Perelman School of Medicine, people taking GLP-1 drugs are finding that daily experiences that used to trigger a compulsion to eat or think about food no longer have that effect.
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The New Yorker
How to die in good health
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel says that incessantly preparing for old age mistakes a long life for a worthwhile one.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Mayor Parker’s plan to ‘remove the presence of drug users’ from Kensington raises new questions
Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing and Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on the lack of specificity in Philadelphia’s plan to remove drug users from Kensington and on the current state of drug treatment in the city.
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