4.20
Health Sciences
Gene therapy shows promise in initial trial for patients with childhood blindness
Penn Medicine researchers delivered working copies of the gene GUCY2D to the eyes of patients with severe vision impairments.
Cancer cell therapy pioneer Carl June receives the Sanford Lorraine Cross Award
Cancer cell therapy pioneer Carl June receives the Sanford Lorraine Cross Award
The Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy in the department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine and director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center received the award for his work in developing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy.
With impressive accuracy, dogs can sniff out coronavirus
With impressive accuracy, dogs can sniff out coronavirus
In a proof-of-concept study led by the School of Veterinary Medicine, dogs identified positive samples with 96% accuracy.
Immune-stimulating drug before surgery shows promise in early-stage pancreatic cancer
Immune-stimulating drug before surgery shows promise in early-stage pancreatic cancer
Giving early-stage pancreatic cancer patients a CD40 immune-stimulating drug helped jumpstart a T cell attack to the notoriously stubborn tumor microenvironment before surgery and other treatments.
Living in a majority-Black neighborhood linked to severe maternal morbidity
Living in a majority-Black neighborhood linked to severe maternal morbidity
Penn Medicine researchers studied the association between neighborhood-level risk factors and poor maternal health outcomes in Philadelphia between 2010 and 2017.
Racial bias in mortality prediction scores
Racial bias in mortality prediction scores
In mass casualty situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, mortality prediction models alone could divert scarce critical care resources away from Black patients.
Helping salons safely reopen in West Philadelphia
Helping salons safely reopen in West Philadelphia
A Penn Medicine program called SHARP, or Safe Haircuts As We Reopen Philadelphia, helped refine plans for hair salons and barbershops to safely reopen.
In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020
In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020
Comparing death rates in the United States with those of the five biggest European countries, Penn and Max Planck demographers found that significant excess mortality cost more lives annually than the epidemic itself.
An approach to COVID-19 vaccination equity for Black neighborhoods
An approach to COVID-19 vaccination equity for Black neighborhoods
A new paper centers racial equity and address the structural barriers that have prevented Black and other underrepresented minority communities from being vaccinated against COVID-19 at equitable rates.
In Peru, a race to vaccinate dogs as two epidemics collide
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.
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
I’m a doctor who examines asylum seekers. I want Biden to fix the asylum system
Jules Lipoff of the Perelman School of Medicine argued for reforming and expanding the U.S. asylum system. “We must renew the United States as a bold world leader in standing for the dignity of human rights,” he wrote.
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CNBC
Dr. Zeke Emanuel on why the U.S. should consider a vaccine mandate
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel talks about why a vaccine mandate for some types of workers may be a necessary last resort in establishing herd immunity. “I don’t think the risks of the vaccine compare to the risks for the country of the coronavirus is really at issue,” he said.
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The Atlantic
COVID-19 vaccines are entering uncharted immune territory
Meena Bewtra of the Perelman School of Medicine said, regarding still unknown facets of how the coronavirus interacts with the immune system, “We still don’t understand why only certain people get so sick and die” from COVID-19.
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The Washington Post
Vaccine etiquette: A guide to politely navigating this new phase of the pandemic
Carolyn Cannuscio of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about how people justify engaging in unsafe behaviors during the pandemic. “People are looking for the magical loopholes that they can step through so that they can return to their free and rich and rewarding social world,” she said. “And we’re not there.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Against the clock
Tarik Khan, a Ph.D. student in the School of Nursing, has been spending his evenings delivering leftover COVID-19 vaccine doses to homebound people in Philadelphia.
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