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Immunology
Immune response in some children may influence COVID treatments for adults
A joint study from researchers at Penn and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia shows that T cell activation in children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome is more similar to adults with severe COVID-19.
Microbial transplants require key T cells for success
Findings that certain immune cells are needed for fecal microbiota transplant success against C. difficile infections may be a clue to making this promising treatment work more broadly.
Five years later: CAR T therapy shows long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin lymphomas
Findings represent the longest follow-up data to date for a personalized cellular therapy approved by the FDA for the treatment of aggressive lymphomas.
Charting a path forward with unifying definition of cytokine storm
Penn Medicine researchers have developed a unifying definition of “cytokine storm” to provide a framework to assess and treat patients whose immune systems have gone rogue.
Novel Dual CAR T cell immunotherapy promising for targeting the HIV reservoir
A new alteration to the way T cells are engineered has significant implications for using engineered T cells to fight both HIV and cancer.
A potential cause of CAR T side effects, and a path forward
Single cell sequencing aided researchers in identifying a previously undiscovered molecule in the brain.
Avery Posey’s cancer research takes high risks for big rewards
The assistant professor of systems pharmacology and translational therapeutics, who studied with Carl June as a postdoctoral fellow, combines his two research passions—gene therapy and investigating ‘little known’ biology—in the pursuit of new knowledge.
Navigating cytokine storms
Pairing their expertise, Nilam Mangalmurti of the Perelman School of Medicine and Christopher Hunter of the School of Veterinary Medicine have been working to understand the protective and harmful aspects of the immune response, including in COVID-19.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Carl June elected to National Academy of Sciences
The researchers, from the Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Perelman School of Medicine, join a class of honored scholars recognized for their unique and ongoing contributions to original research.
Tailoring treatment for triple-negative breast cancer
Research led by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Rumela Chakrabarti identified a molecular pathway responsible for the disease’s progression and spread.
In the News
The mRNA miracle workers
Nobel laureates Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine appear on “Sunday Morning” to discuss their careers, their mRNA research, and the COVID-19 vaccines.
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Blood tests can help diagnose Alzheimer’s—if they’re accurate enough. Not all are
Virginia Man-Yee Lee of the Perelman School of Medicine says it’s likely in the future that anyone older than 60 will get an Alzheimer’s test.
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AI detects cancers and immunotherapy biomarker
Daiwei Zhang and Mingyao Li of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues have developed an AI tool called iStar that can automatically spot tumors and types of cancer that are difficult for clinicians to see or identify and can predict candidates for immunotherapy.
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Godfather of mRNA vaccines reveals plans to immunize people against cancer years before tumors strike to ‘the disease from ever appearing’
Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine, who won the Nobel Prize for mRNA vaccines along with Katalin Karikó, is researching an mRNA vaccine against cancer.
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Is the flu shot market a slam dunk for mRNA vaccines? Experts aren’t so sure
Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine is working on a flu vaccine to provide protection against 20 subtypes of flu that may pose a pandemic threat in the future.
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Trial results offer hope to Kiwis with ‘incurable’ blood cancer
Carl June of the Perelman School of Medicine praises New Zealand research into a new CAR T-cell cancer treatment for patients with blood cancer.
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