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Lifesaving breakthrough in bacterial behavior
A wafer with the Penn shield etched onto it.

In addition to etching microstructures that let researchers see single bacterial cells navigate confined, fluid-filled environments, the team also turned the Singh's Center's nanofabrication tools toward engraving the Penn Shield at the nanoscale at the bottom of a silicon wafer. 

Image: Scott Spitzer

Lifesaving breakthrough in bacterial behavior

Bacteria can actively swim upstream, leading to severe infections in places like the urinary tract and respiratory system and contamination of medical devices like catheters. Biophysicist Arnold Mathijssen and colleagues have uncovered how and why this happens, revealing that E. coli actually “thrives under pressure.” Their findings point to new strategies for designing safer, more effective biomedical tools and treatments.

3 min. read

20 breakthroughs of 2025
Masoud Akbarzadeh holding up one of the fabricated materials.

The Polyhedral Structures Laboratory is housed at the Pennovation Center and brings together designers, engineers, and computer scientists to reimagine the built world. Using graphic statics, a method where forces are mapped as lines, they design forms that balance compression and tension. These result in structures that use far fewer materials while remaining strong and efficient.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

20 breakthroughs of 2025

From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.
Weighing sustainability of real vs. fake Christmas trees
A person putting ornaments on an artificial Christmas tree.

Image: Dmytro Betsenko via Getty Images

Weighing sustainability of real vs. fake Christmas trees

Engineering professor Lorena Grundy says people looking to make a sustainable decision should consider how many years they would use an artificial tree, how they plan to dispose of a real tree, and how the tree was transported.

2 min. read

The world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots
A microscopic robot on a U.S. penny for scale.

A microrobot on a U.S. penny for scale.

(Image: Michael Simari, University of Michigan)

The world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots

Engineers at Penn Engineering have created robots barely visible to the naked eye that operate without tethers, magnetic fields or joystick-like controls.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Startup recognized for milestones in cancer care
Marco Ruella in the Ruella Lab, collaborating with two lab technicians. Ruella is wearing a white lab coat and holding up a chemical sample. Two of his colleagues are observing the sample.

Marco Ruella, associate professor of medicine at PSOM and hematologist-oncologist at Penn Medicine, collaborates with his colleagues in the Ruella Lab.

nocred

Startup recognized for milestones in cancer care

During the Penn Center for Innovation’s 10th annual Celebration of Innovation, viTToria Biotherapeutics was presented with the Startup of the Year Award for its remarkable progress in the development of promising treatment of T-cell lymphoma.

4 min. read

How might AI shape the future of work?
Headshots of Konrad Kording (left) and Ioana Marinescu (right).

Konrad Kording and Ioana Marinescu. 

Image: Eric Sucar (left) and Carson Easterly (right)

How might AI shape the future of work?

Computer scientist Konrad Kording and economist Ioana Marinescu have developed an interactive model that incorporates assumptions from both their fields to predict how AI will affect wages, jobs, and the overall economy.

4 min. read

Four from Penn receive Kaufman Foundation grants

Four from Penn receive Kaufman Foundation grants

Penn researchers will receive two of four grants awarded this year by the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation in support of interdisciplinary collaboration aimed at developing novel approaches to fundamental scientific questions.

2 min. read

Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines
Hannah Yamagata, Research Assistant Professor Kushol Gupta and postdoctoral fellow Marshall Padilla, holding 3D-printed models of nanoparticles in a lab.

(From left) Doctoral student Hannah Yamagata, research assistant professor Kushol Gupta, and postdoctoral fellow Marshall Padilla holding 3D-printed models of nanoparticles.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines

New research involving Penn Engineering shows detailed variation in lipid nanoparticle size, shape, and internal structure, and finds that such factors correlate with how well they deliver therapeutic cargo to a particular destination.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

National Academy of Medicine issues code of conduct to guide health care’s AI revolution

National Academy of Medicine issues code of conduct to guide health care’s AI revolution

LDI senior fellow and Penn professor with appointments in the Perelman School of Medicine, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Annenberg School for Communication Kevin B. Johnson is one of the authors of the new National Academy of Medicine AI code of conduct guide for Health Care.