Innovation

Celebrating Penn’s innovators

A professor, researcher, and inventor, Daniel Powell, an international expert in cancer immunobiology and translational immunotherapy, is one of Penn’s most engaged new innovators.

Lauren Hertzler

Building futures through LEGOs

In the FIRST LEGO League tournament, middle school teams mentored by Penn Engineering students worked to design and build robots related to the theme of water.

Ali Sundermier

Physicist strums string theory at Philly high school

In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the universe is composed of one-dimensional cosmic strings vibrating at different frequencies. To high school students at Philadelphia Performing Arts: A String Theory Charter School in Center City, “string theory” is an allusion to the valuable effect of creativity, music, and the arts on developing minds.

Ali Sundermier

Study uncovers therapeutic targets for aggressive triple-negative breast cancers

As part of a breast-cancer diagnosis, doctors analyze the tumor to determine which therapies might best attack the malignancy. But for patients whose cancer is triple-negative — that is, lacking receptors for estrogen, progesterone and Her2 — the options for treatment dwindle. Triple-negative cancers, or TNBC, also tend to be more aggressive than other cancer subtypes.

Katherine Unger Baillie

By altering bone marrow, ‘training’ can prepare innate immune system for future challenges

George Hajishengallis of the School of Dental Medicine and an international team of colleagues have found that “training” the immune system causes changes in the precursors of immune cells in the bone marrow. These changes could facilitate a more robust response to future infections or even enable the immune system to regenerate faster after chemotherapy.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The challenge: Create a tool predicting where crime will happen

The idea that machine learning can aid in the enforcement of the law inspired a competition held by the National Institute of Justice. Using five years of data from the city of Portland, Ore., a team led by criminologist Charles Loeffler tied for first in the Large Business Division.

Michele W. Berger

These small robots are inspired by origami

Through origami-inspired engineering, one researcher hopes to not only create rapidly fabricable robots, but also build intuitive design software that enables others who may not be trained in engineering to create their own personalized robots.

Ali Sundermier



In the News


RNZ/Radio New Zealand

Embracing AI in our lives

In his new book, “Co-intelligence: Living and Working with AI,” Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School says that people should learn to work with AI as a tool to be more creative, more capable, and even more human.

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Los Angeles Times

Meta now has an AI chatbot. Experts say get ready for more AI-powered social media

Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School says that social media apps are investing in AI to become “stickier” for consumers, keeping users on their platforms for as long as possible.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

These two Philly-area nurses are on a mission to get nursing recognized as a STEM field

Marion Leary of the School of Nursing is co-leading a national coalition seeking to convince federal agencies to recognize the field of nursing as a STEM profession.

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The Wall Street Journal

Meet the AI expert advising the White House, JPMorgan, Google and the rest of corporate America

Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School is profiled for his knowledge and expertise in generative artificial intelligence.

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Associated Press

TikTok has promised to sue over the potential U.S. ban. What’s the legal outlook?

Justin (Gus) Hurwitz of Penn Carey Law says that the Supreme Court, given its current composition, would likely uphold a TikTok ban.

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Technical.ly Philly

Philly high schoolers develop easy app to help predict the true cost of college

Finiverse, a project run out of the Wharton School’s Stevens Center, helps high school students assess what a college education might mean for their financial situation.

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