5/10
Public Health
In Peru, a race to vaccinate dogs as two epidemics collide
A team of workers in Peru, led by Penn Medicine’s Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, led a two-month rabies vaccination campaign.
The power of architecture to address public health and environmental crises
Two new studies, one on UV sterilization in occupied rooms and another on radiative cooling, show how architecture can help create interior spaces that are both COVID-safe and energy-efficient.
Can a Penn epidemiologist prevent a bedbug-driven outbreak?
Epidemiologist Michael Z. Levy curbed a Chagas disease epidemic in Arequipa, Peru. Can he prevent an outbreak in Philadelphia?
WIC Child Nutrition Program saw enrollment grow after switch from paper vouchers
A Penn Medicine study finds electronic benefit cards are more user-friendly and encourage less stigma than paper vouchers.
Sixty percent of opioids unused after common procedures
A new Penn Medicine study of how text messaging could inform opioid prescribing practices shows that 60% of opioids are left over after orthopaedic and urologic procedures.
MaskUPenn: A year of mask-wearing in pictures
Following CDC guidelines and campus mandates, the Penn community put their best face coverings forward for a masked photo series.
How news messages affect views on vaccination
News coverage of expert scientific evidence about vaccine safety is effective at increasing public acceptance of vaccines, but the positive effect is diminished when the expert message is juxtaposed with a personal narrative about real side effects.
Return to work and the path to recovery after serious injury in Black men
In a new study from the School of Nursing, researchers investigated the ways that returning to work after an injury predict mental health outcomes in Black men living and recovering in Philadelphia.
Reflecting on a year shaped by COVID-19
Penn Today brings together noteworthy stories and images from the past year and highlights ways for individual members of the Penn community to share their personal experiences.
The monumental effort to scale up campus COVID-19 testing
Key facts and figures point to the scale of the Penn Cares testing program and how Project Quaker helped bring students back to campus this spring.
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 →