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Medical Ethics
Improving diversity in cancer clinical trials
The Cancer Clinical Trials Community Ambassador Training Program at the Abramson Cancer Center was established in August 2021 to create spokespersons and resources to increase awareness and access to cancer clinical trials in the diverse Philadelphia communities.
Three Penn faculty named Hastings Center Fellows
Holly Fernandez Lynch, Quayshawn Spencer, and Connie Ulrich have been named Hastings Center Fellows for deepening public understanding of complex ethical issues in health, health care, science, and technology.
Learning to listen in troubled times
The SNF Paideia Program and partners featured Ernesto Pujol and Aaron Levy, an artist and an interdisciplinary scholar who have transformed both what it means to listen and what the act of listening can achieve as part of a lecture and workshops.
More than a third of Congressional members held significant health care assets
Due to their role in shaping health care policy, lawmakers should divest from assets while in office, Penn Medicine researchers recommend.
100 years of insulin
On July 27, 1921, Canadian doctors Frederick Banting and Charles Best successfully isolated the hormone insulin, one of the most important breakthroughs in treating diabetes. Experts from around the University share their thoughts on the medical triumph on the 100th anniversary.
Project reveals ongoing unreported violations of rights with medical deportations
Researchers in the Legislative Clinic at Penn Law and Free Migration Project have released a new report on the use of medical deportations in the U.S.
Researchers study thought process behind revealing Alzheimer’s test results
Two qualitative studies try to understand individuals’ decision-making process as they choose whom, why and how to share information regarding their Alzheimer’s disease biomarker and genetic testing results.
The potential role of vaccine certificates in the next phase of the pandemic
Public health law expert Eric Feldman and medical ethicist Emily Largent discuss the legal and ethical implications of companies and organizations requiring proof of vaccination to reengage with different sectors of the economy.
Abramson Cancer Center doubles the percentage of Black participants in clinical trials
Afive-year community outreach and engagement effort more than doubled the percentage of participants, improving access and treatment for a group with historically low representation in cancer research.
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.
In the News
Cats aren’t jerks. They’re just misunderstood
James Serpell of the School of Veterinary Medicine says that the domestic cat suffers from its legacy of being a not-quite-wild animal on the margins of society.
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ALS drug fails large clinical trial and may be withdrawn from market
Holly Fernandez Lynch of the Perelman School of Medicine says that the lack of good treatment options for ALS has led to an insatiable desire to develop something that is going to modify the course of this disease.
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How Lloyd Austin’s prostate cancer surgery led to hospitalization
Ravi Parikh of the Perelman School of Medicine says that a bowel obstruction after a prostate removal procedure can lead to significant complications if left untreated.
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Is an Alzheimer’s blood test right for me?
Postdoc Claire Erickson and Emily Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine and the Leonard Davis Institute discuss which people should take an Alzheimer’s blood test.
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Doubts abound about a new Alzheimer’s blood test
Emily Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine says that laws that normally protect the privacy of health information don’t apply for people who receive Alzheimer’s biomarker results from discriminatory practices.
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Facing financial ruin as costs soar for elder care
A study led by Norma Coe of the Perelman School of Medicine finds that the median lost wages for women providing intensive care for their mothers is $24,500 over two years. Rachel M. Werner of the Leonard Davis Institute, Wharton School, and Perelman School of Medicine says that the U.S. doesn’t value elders the way that other countries and cultures do.
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