Public Health

Four facts about the COVID-19 boosters

The FDA and CDC endorsed boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines just a month after the agencies did the same for a Pfizer/BioNTech booster. Here’s what’s known today about these shots.

Michele W. Berger

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

Five things to know about the upcoming flu season

Thanks to COVID prevention measures, last year’s flu season was among the mildest in years. Penn experts explain why this year may be different and how to prepare.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Africa’s Iron Lady 

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former president of Liberia and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, came to Perry World House as part of the Global Order Colloquium.

Kristen de Groot

A how-to guide for PennOpen Pass

Penn Today provides details on how to use the daily and exposure symptom tracker, what members of the Penn community should do if they receive a Red Pass, and new platforms available for visitors accessing campus spaces.

Erica K. Brockmeier



In the News


Philadelphia Gay News

UPenn hosts free online panel for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion

The Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative, led by José Bauermeister and Jessica Halem of the School of Nursing, will host a free online panel in April on the integration of LGBTQ+ people in the workforce.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Mayor Parker’s plan to ‘remove the presence of drug users’ from Kensington raises new questions

Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing and Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on the lack of specificity in Philadelphia’s plan to remove drug users from Kensington and on the current state of drug treatment in the city.

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FactCheck.org

Posts mislead about COVID-19 vaccine safety with out-of-context clip of FDA official

Jeffrey S. Morris of the Perelman School of Medicine says that many adverse medical events, even those clearly unrelated to vaccines, have been reported an order of magnitude more for COVID vaccines during the pandemic than any time before.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

Philadelphians hope a cleaner city will reduce gun violence. Will Oh or Parker make it a reality?

A $3 million blight reduction project in Philadelphia is informed by Penn research showing that cleaning up trash and revitalizing vacant lots can reduce gun violence rates by as much as 29%.

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Business Insider

Universal basic income is working—even in red states

Researchers at Penn concluded that a basic income program in Stockton, California, could have profound positive impacts on local public health.

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CBS Philadelphia

NJ’s Camden County deploying virtual reality to teach students about naloxone

Penn partnered with New Jersey’s Camden County to create a virtual reality training video for administering the opioid-reversing drug Narcan.

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