A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise
For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland’s Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim’s massive calving events don’t behave the way scientists once thought, reframing how ice loss contributes to sea-level rise.
Electronic medical records help save lives of HIV patients
Management and socioeconomic development expert Leandro ‘Leo’ Pongeluppe and colleagues found that switching from paper to electronic medical records at HIV clinics in Malawi led to an estimated 28% reduction in deaths after five years, with the greatest impact on children.
Centering joy in AI development and implementation
PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton—of Annenberg and SP2—and collaborators introduce a joy-informed framework designed to initiate conversations among engineers, designers, and researchers.
The world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots
Engineers at Penn Engineering have created robots barely visible to the naked eye that operate without tethers, magnetic fields or joystick-like controls.
Addressing the psychological impacts of inflammatory bowel disease
Psychologist Melissa Hunt and gastroenterologist Chung Sang Tse and colleagues have found that cognitive behavioral therapy reduced disability for patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and that psychologists with no prior gastrointestinal experience could learn to deliver this therapy effectively.
The Mobile CPR Project takes lifesaving training on the road
When cardiac arrest hits outside the hospital, the odds of survival are long. The Mobile CPR Project is driving to increase those odds with free trainings all around Philadelphia and beyond.
Penn historian Jared Farmer recently launched a website about Philadelphia’s fossil fuel economy to help students and residents learn about the local past in larger context.
Students in the Performance, Analysis, History class explore and perform on piano the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, regarded among history’s greatest composers. Taught by Jamuna Samuel and Yu Xi Wang, the class contextualizes and demystifies Bach through a historical and geographical lens.
The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation, Arthur Ross Gallery, and Penn Live Arts present a unique opportunity to experience an installation of acclaimed contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney’s epic painting cycle entitled I Dread to Think. This artwork comprises a 60-foot-long series of large canvases portraying wildly colorful and sometimes apocalyptic scenes from the Internet Age. Free and open to the Penn community.
An overhead view of the Arts Lounge at the Annenberg Center, a new space that opened in fall 2021 as an arts hub for the Penn community. The space features rotating exhibitions along the brutalist Feintuch Lobby wall. (Image: Eric Sucar)
During this drop-in Open Studio at the Common Press, participants will learn to print a broadside—a single-sided print meant for public display— about how the pace of time impacted life in the Revolutionary era. Free and open to the public. Penn ID or photo ID required. Register to attend.
The Fisher Fine Arts Library (above) houses the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, which, last April, received an anonymous $30 million gift to continue its work well into the future.
Penn’s guiding principles are the University’s enduring values and distinctive strengths: anchored, inventive, interwoven, and engaged. The practices support and strengthen Penn’s core educational mission.
At Penn Today, we focus on some of the ways the University is putting this framework into action. From student, faculty, and staff profiles to research updates and event coverage, Penn Today highlights the latest examples of the University’s principled approach to excellence.
Penn Forward’s Access, Affordability, and Value co-chairs on creating opportunity
As co-chairs of Penn Forward’s Access, Affordability, and Value working group, Sara Bachman, dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice, and Patrick Harker, a professor and dean emeritus of the Wharton School, discuss breaking down barriers and opening pathways.
A conversation with Penn Forward’s Global Opportunity and New Markets co-chairs
In a Q&A with Ezekiel Emanuel and Megan Ryerson, co-chairs of the Global Opportunity and New Markets working group for Penn Forward, the duo discuss the charge of their group, where they are in the process, and leaning into global engagement.
Through Penn First Plus, students unlock potential and purpose
Providing first-generation and limited-income students with a comprehensive array of support, Penn First Plus equips undergraduates for success during and after their time at Penn.
The eighth annual Penn Local Business Exchange brought together entrepreneurs, city officials, and University buyers to swap insights and build relationships.
Doctor’s orders: Eat ice cream, and other tips for a long and healthy life
In his new wellness book, “Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life,” PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel of the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School goes beyond the basics of eating, exercise, and sleep to discuss the importance of being happy.
In an opinion essay, Benjamin Keys of the Wharton School and Vincent Reina of the Weitzman School of Design argue that financing, regulations, and politics should be removed as barriers to homeownership.
Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest cancers. A new drug being tested at Penn is giving patients and doctors hope
A new drug for pancreatic cancer is not considered a cure, but results from clinical trials at Penn Medicine and elsewhere point to a major advancement for a devastating cancer usually caught in late stages.
Concrete is a big contributor to climate change. Penn researchers say they can shrink its footprint
Researchers in the Weitzman School of Design are helping make concrete greener by 3D printing streamlined concrete forms and developing alternative concrete mixtures that absorb more carbon from the air. Masoud Akbarzadeh is quoted.
