WHO SHE IS: Coordinator of the PennSmiles program in Penn Dental’s Department of Community Oral Health.
YEARS AT PENN: 9; nearly 4 with the PennSmiles Van.
WHAT SHE DOES: Taylor-Powell oversees the daily operations and management of the dental van, which travels to West Philadelphia schools to fill cavities, take X-rays and outline preventative care for children, some of whom have never been to a dentist before. She assesses which kids need treatment and readies the van for patients.
HOW THE KIDS RESPOND: “The kids are really great. They all have different personalities. They love coming on the van,” she says.
WHY ORAL HYGENE MATTERS: “The majority of kids that we see have some decay,” explains Taylor-Powell. In a school year, Penn Dental students on the van treat more than 1,200 kids—and more than 500 cavities. “We focus a lot on prevention,” Taylor-Powell adds. “Not having oral hygiene—that’s what gets these kids in trouble.”
Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form.
No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.
In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted.
In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love.
Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion
Dorit Aviv, director of Weitzman’s Thermal Architecture Lab, studies how humans, technology, and design intersect, paving the way for the development of novel approaches to cooling people efficiently.
