5/10
Public Health
A how-to guide for PennOpen Pass
Penn Today provides details on how to use the daily and exposure symptom tracker, what members of the Penn community should do if they receive a Red Pass, and new platforms available for visitors accessing campus spaces.
In hard-hit neighborhoods, Philly CEAL outreach aims to address COVID disparities
Through community engagement and improved information dissemination, researchers at Penn Nursing, Penn Medicine, and Annenberg, in conjunction with the City of Philadelphia, are working to increase vaccination and testing rates and decrease new COVID-19 infections.
Misinformation on Twitter adversely affects adults’ health decisions
A new study from the Annenberg School for Communication is the first to explore the effect of misinformation on Twitter about e-cigarette harms.
What do variants and vaccines mean for COVID-19’s ‘new normal’?
The first of this fall’s Perry World House ‘The World Today’ series featured a conversation on the future of the pandemic with experts in vaccines, viruses, and public health.
Coding the emotions that anti-tobacco ads evoke
Sophomore Oulaya Louaddi and junior Gabriela Montes de Oca interned this summer with Annenberg’s Andy Tan, helping the research team design and test culturally appropriate anti-smoking campaigns for young women who identify as sexual minorities.
Ensuring a safe learning, research, and working environment on campus
Penn Today provides information on current public health guidelines and measures in place around ventilation, filtration, and housekeeping to promote a safe and healthy fall semester.
In-person requirements decreased WIC participation during the pandemic
Prior to the pandemic, only about half of all eligible families received WIC benefits. In a recent study in JAMA, Penn Medicine researchers examined one way in which these burdens may have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How to connect communities to colorectal cancer screening
Penn Medicine has been on a multiyear journey to both raise the rates of screening for colorectal cancer and increase uptake of follow up care, with the goal of driving down colorectal cancer death rates and addressing inequities
HIPAA at 25 remains a work in progress
Anita Allen argues that while HIPAA has delivered meaningful benefits to consumers, it still needs updating to address new and emerging privacy challenges.
Long-term COVID and the ADA
Jasmine Harris, a disability law expert, shares her thoughts on President Biden’s announcement that long-term COVID sufferers could be protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act
In the News
UPenn hosts free online panel for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion
The Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative, led by José Bauermeister and Jessica Halem of the School of Nursing, will host a free online panel in April on the integration of LGBTQ+ people in the workforce.
FULL STORY →
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.
FULL STORY →
Posts mislead about COVID-19 vaccine safety with out-of-context clip of FDA official
Jeffrey S. Morris of the Perelman School of Medicine says that many adverse medical events, even those clearly unrelated to vaccines, have been reported an order of magnitude more for COVID vaccines during the pandemic than any time before.
FULL STORY →
Philadelphians hope a cleaner city will reduce gun violence. Will Oh or Parker make it a reality?
A $3 million blight reduction project in Philadelphia is informed by Penn research showing that cleaning up trash and revitalizing vacant lots can reduce gun violence rates by as much as 29%.
FULL STORY →
Universal basic income is working—even in red states
Researchers at Penn concluded that a basic income program in Stockton, California, could have profound positive impacts on local public health.
FULL STORY →
NJ’s Camden County deploying virtual reality to teach students about naloxone
Penn partnered with New Jersey’s Camden County to create a virtual reality training video for administering the opioid-reversing drug Narcan.
FULL STORY →