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A stiff defense: Rethinking gum disease
A section of healthy human gum tissue captured using an imaging technique called Second Harmonic Generation microscopy. In this sample, collagen fibers (shown in yellow), which give healthy gums their firm, resilient stiffness, are dense and well-organized—acting as a supportive scaffold for the surrounding cells (shown in teal).

A section of healthy human gum tissue captured using an imaging technique called Second Harmonic Generation microscopy. In this sample, collagen fibers (shown in yellow), which give healthy gums their firm, resilient stiffness, are dense and well-organized—acting as a supportive scaffold for the surrounding cells (shown in teal).

(Image: Hardik Makkar)

A stiff defense: Rethinking gum disease

Penn Dental Medicine’s Kyle H. Vining and Hardik Makkar take a biomaterials approach to understanding periodontal disease, using a hydrogel system to investigate how the physical properties of the gum tissue impact inflammation.

3 min. read

2025 PEP, PIP, and PSP winners: Where are they now?
Two Penn students walking down a hallway in a high school with high school students, one is holding a camera.

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2025 PEP, PIP, and PSP winners: Where are they now?

Nearly a year after being awarded the 2025 President’s Engagement Prize, President’s Innovation Prize, and President’s Sustainability Prize, the recipients—now alumni—provide updates on their projects.

3 min. read

2025 President’s Innovation Prize recipient: Sync Labs
The two members of Sync Labs working on a desktop computer.

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2025 President’s Innovation Prize recipient: Sync Labs

2025 President’s Innovation Prize recipients Melanie Herbert and Alexandra Popescu are leveraging AI and privacy-focused computing to address the crisis of an aging population and overburdened health care staff.

2 min. read

When bone behaves like a sponge
Three members of the Tertuliano lab looking at a computer in the lab.

To visualize the nanoscale structures, the Tertuliano lab often uses large-scale models like the one pictured.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

When bone behaves like a sponge

Penn Engineers in the Tertuliano Lab have developed a nanoengineered 3D-printed scaffold for observing how cells feel force.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Penn fourth-year Yash Rajpal named 2026-27 Luce Scholar
Yash Rajpal

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Penn fourth-year Yash Rajpal named 2026-27 Luce Scholar

Yash Rajpal, a University of Pennsylvania fourth-year student in the College of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering & Applied Science, is one of 16 recipients selected by the Henry Luce Foundation to be a 2026-27 Luce Scholar.

1 min. read

2025 President’s Sustainability Prize recipient: Nirby 
Four members of the Nirby team on a farm looking at a laptop.

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2025 President’s Sustainability Prize recipient: Nirby 

Launched by 2025 President’s Sustainability Prize recipient Piotr Lazarek, Nirby uses autonomous drones and satellite data to help farmers reduce their fertilizer use—which reduces farms’ carbon footprints and increases profits.

2 min. read

Robots that can see around corners using radio signals and AI
Zitong Lan, Haowen Lai and Mingmin Zhao with a robot in a lab.

(From left) Penn Engineering’s Zitong Lan, Haowen Lai and Mingmin Zhao.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

Robots that can see around corners using radio signals and AI

Doctoral students at Penn Engineering have built a new system, powered by AI and radio signals, that allows robots to view around corners, with implications for vehicle safety and industrial efficiency.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Engineers sharpen gene-editing tools to target cystic fibrosis
Engineering researchers at a whiteboard in the Gao lab.

Beyond cystic fibrosis, the refined base editor could help researchers tackle a wide range of genetic diseases caused by single-letter DNA changes.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Engineers sharpen gene-editing tools to target cystic fibrosis

Researchers at Penn Engineering have developed a modified base-pair editor that offers improved accuracy and could help treat diseases like cystic fibrosis.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Awards and accolades for Penn faculty and graduate students
Statue of Ben Franklin on a bench in the snow.

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Awards and accolades for Penn faculty and graduate students

A roundup of the latest awards for various faculty members and graduate students at Annenberg, Wharton, Penn Nursing, SP2, and Penn Engineering.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read

AI and the dream: Technology in the service of humanity

AI and the dream: Technology in the service of humanity

An event titled “AI and the Dream: Technology in Service of Humanity,” part of Penn’s annual MLK Symposium, highlighted many of the ethical questions raised by AI systems. “Dr. King warned us that our technological means can outpace our moral ends,” said Valerie Dorsey-Allen, director of the AARC. “As AI rapidly reshapes education, work, health care and civic life, we’re being asked some very real questions: Who is the technology serving? Who is being left out? And who gets to decide?”