Genetic testing beneficial in critically ill adults
Penn Medicine researchers have identified genetic conditions in a large percent of adults admitted to the intensive care unit, dispelling the belief that genetic testing only benefits a pediatric population.
Penn Today’s visual review of the 2024-25 academic year highlights the innovation, community outreach, individual milestones, and collective celebration.
Mark Dingfield named executive vice president at Penn
As executive vice president, Dingfield will oversee Penn’s business and administrative operations, including finance, investments, human resources, business services, information technology, facilities and real estate services, audit, public safety, and more.
Designing cleaner, greener concrete that absorbs carbon dioxide
Penn engineers, materials scientists, and designers have developed a 3D-printed concrete solution based on diatomaceous earth that has enhanced carbon capture, is stronger, and uses fewer materials like cement.
A new understanding of brain activity when we ‘read the minds’ of others
Penn psychologists Anna Jenkins and Dilara Berkay show the role of uncertainty in engagement of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex. Their findings pave the way for a broader understanding of autism and social anxiety.
Known for their exceptional musicianship and genre-blending sound, Vertical Current fuses jazz, funk, soul, and gospel into an electrifying musical experience. A driving force in the Philadelphia music scene, the group will perform as part of Garden Jams, Penn Museum’s outdoor summer concert series.
Participants will volunteer with the Philadelphia Orchard Project in the Food Forest at the Horticulture Center for a morning of weeding and tending to the dense food forest. Tools, gloves, and water will be provided, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own if possible. Register to attend.
Prior to the pandemic, Joshua Reaves and Shravanthi Kanekal participated in a Penn Park Orchard workday. Access to nature and the link between food production and climate change are two of the many topics that will be covered during Climate Week. (Image: Patrick Teese/Penn Sustainability)
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.
Keeping it local: Penn’s partnerships with Philadelphia-based vendors boost local economy, neighborhood impact
According to the University’s latest Economic Impact Report, Penn helps power Philadelphia’s economy by procuring goods and services from neighboring businesses. Local CEOs discuss the meaningful impact that Penn has on their bottom line and in the community.
Using behavioral economics-based interventions, a 2025 President’s Engagement Prize-winning project will address health and nutrition inequities in a West Philadelphia elementary school.
Penn lends support to Rebuilding Together Philadelphia effort repairing 11 local homes in two days
Marking a milestone block build, 70 Penn volunteers combined forces with Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, a nonprofit with roots at the University, to revitalize owner-occupied houses in the West Philadelphia community. The momentous two-day event involved a block build and speaking program—with a local homeowner sharing a heartfelt message.
Supporting a community for learning, research, and thriving
Four months after the launch of the Office of Religious and Ethnic Interests (Title VI), the office is combating discrimination in all forms while leading educational efforts about dialogue and adaptive leadership.
Despite what you’ve heard, peeing on a jellyfish sting is never the answer — here’s why
Deepak Khanna of Penn Medicine says that urinating on a wound or sting can worsen the pain and cause a localized infection, which can lead to a systemic reaction.
West Philly campus move-out is a mess. Drexel, Penn and Rego are teaming up to fix it
Penn has joined with Drexel University and waste management startup Rego to donate unwanted items during move-out instead of leaving them on the curb, featuring remarks from sustainability director Nina Morris.
This family lost their home in the Texas floods. Like most victims of storm, they didn’t have flood insurance
As of 2018, only 30% of homes in FEMA-classified “special flood hazard areas” had flood insurance, according to an analysis by the Wharton Climate Center.
