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. 

From Penn Medicine News

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.

Kristen de Groot

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.

Kristen de Groot

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.

From Penn LDI



In the News


The Washington Post

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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CNN

ALS drug fails large clinical trial and may be withdrawn from market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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The Washington Post

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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Philadelphia Inquirer

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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Miami Herald

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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The New York Times

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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