Penn Integrates Knowledge Professors

A novel theory on how conspiracy theories take shape

In a new book, Dolores Albarracín, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and colleagues show that two factors—the conservative media and societal fear and anxiety—have driven recent widespread conspiracies, from Pizzagate to those around COVID-19 vaccines.

Michele W. Berger

PIK Professor Kevin Johnson named University Professor

Kevin Johnson, who has appointments in the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication, will become the David L. Cohen University Professor.

Katherine Unger Baillie

University professorships for Konrad Kording, George Demiris

Kording, a data scientist who studies the brain, will become the Nathan Francis Mossell University Professor. Demiris, a gerontologist who studies IT to support older adults, will become the Mary Alice Bennett University Professor.

Michele W. Berger

‘Black Families Matter’

In a lecture organized by the Penn Program on Regulation, PIK Professor Dorothy E. Roberts argued that the U.S. child welfare system is designed to police Black families, not to protect children, and must be abolished and replaced with a new vision of family support and child safety.

Kristen de Groot

Mandates likely work to increase vaccine uptake

Rather than causing a backlash, vaccination requirements will succeed at getting more people inoculated, according to research from PIK Professor Dolores Albarracín and colleagues at Penn.

Michele W. Berger , Michele W. Berger

In rural America, religious attendance reduces compassion regarding opioids

Rural areas—particularly those in Appalachian and Midwestern states—are hard hit by the opioid epidemic. However, many individuals in those same states do not support policies scientifically proven to help, like medically aided treatment and syringe exchanges.

From Annenberg School for Communication

When trust in science fosters pseudoscience

A study co-authored by PIK Professor Dolores Albarracín finds that people who trust science are more likely to believe and disseminate false claims containing scientific references than people who do not trust science.

From the Annenberg Public Policy Center



In the News


Newsweek

There is one major element missing from the debate on kids and social media

In an opinion essay, PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton says that gun violence needs to be part of the conversation about how smartphones and social media impact young people.

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The New Yorker

How to die in good health

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel says that incessantly preparing for old age mistakes a long life for a worthwhile one.

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Associated Press

Many cancer drugs remain unproven five years after accelerated approval, a study finds

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel says that there should be definitive benefits to cancer drugs five years after their initial accelerated approval.

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The New York Times

How much would you pay to make sure you never sawed off a finger?

PIK Professor Herbert Hovenkamp says that the Consumer Protection Safety Commission deals with problems of safety, not competition implications.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Scholars at risk in their own countries find a new home at Penn

Penn Global’s Scholars-at-Risk program is featured. Global’s Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Scott Moore, Penn Carey Law’s Eric Feldman, and Wharton’s Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, along with former and current scholars Angel Alvarado, Pavel Golubev, and Jawad Moradi are interviewed.

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The Wall Street Journal

Monopoly case pits Justice Department against Apple’s antitrust winning streak

PIK Professor Herbert Hovenkamp says that the government has an uphill climb to convince a court that Apple’s policies result in higher prices and hurt consumers, rather than protecting them.

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