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Health Sciences
Connecting Homeless Populations With Health Care
Homeless people are uniquely vulnerable, at risk of a variety of health problems, including chronic illness, hunger, pain, and infections. While resources exist to provide homeless populations with health insurance and care, those resources don’t always make their way to the people who need them.
Targeting enzyme in ‘normal’ cells may impede pancreatic cancer’s spread, Penn Vet team shows
Cancer of the pancreas is a deadly disease, with a median survival time of less than six months. Only one in 20 people with pancreatic cancer survives five years past the diagnosis. The reason is the cancer’s insidiousness; tumor cells hide deep inside the body, betraying no symptoms until late in the disease, when the cancer has almost invariably spread to other organs.
Penn Medicine: Blood Flow in the Developing Heart Guides Maturation of Heart Valves
Congenital heart valve defects appear in 2 percent of all live births, making them the most common type of birth defect. While some of these defects have been linked to specific genetic mutations, the majority have no clearly definable genetic cause, suggesting that epigenetic factors – changes in gene expression versus an alteration in the genetic code -- play an important role.
Penn Study Links Mutations in Notch Gene to Role in B Cell Cancers
Notch is one of the most frequently mutated genes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common leukemia in adults in the United States. It is also often mutated in other common B cell tumors, such as mantle cell lymphoma. However, the role of Notch in these cancers has been uncertain.
Moonshot Grant Will Help Researchers See Two of Cancer’s Key Food Sources at Once
Imagine trying to take a picture of a runner, but only being able to see her feet. If you could see her whole body, you’d get the full picture of how she uses both legs to put one foot in front of the other to reach top speed.
Penn Study Shows How Female Immune Cells Keep Their Second X Chromosome Shut Off
Autoimmune diseases tend to strike women more than men and having multiple X chromosomes could be the main reason why. While a process called X chromosome inactivation serves to balance out gene dosage between males and females, some genes on the “inactive X” chromosome in immune cells can sometimes escape this process, giving women an extra dose of immunity-related gene expression.
Seven Penn Faculty Members Elected to National Academy of Medicine
Seven University of Pennsylvania faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the nation’s highest honors in biomedicine. They are among 70 new U.S. and 10 international members of the globally renowned organization.
Researchers discover which brain region motivates behavior change
Have you ever been stuck in a rut, going through the same motions day in and day out? How do you motivate to change your behavior?
Penn Study: Norovirus Evades Immune System by Hiding Out in Rare Gut Cells
Noroviruses are the leading cause of non-bacterial gastroenteritis in the world and are estimated to cause 267 million infections and 20,000 deaths each year. This virus causes severe diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain.
In the News
The Washington Post
Americans are sleeping more than ever. See how you compare
Mathias Basner of the Perelman School of Medicine says that work and traveling are the major sleep killers, with the majority of traveling being commuting to and from work.
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Today
Should you try oil pulling to boost your oral health? Dentists explain benefits and side effects
Dean Mark Wolff of the School of Dental Medicine says there aren’t enough robust, large-scale clinical studies or trials demonstrating the supposed benefits of oil pulling.
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Fox 29 (Philadelphia)
Cannabis reclassification could be game-changer for U.S. drug policy
Michael Cirigliano of the Perelman School of Medicine says that marijuana deserves to be removed from the same category as LSD, heroin, and fentanyl.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
These two Philly-area nurses are on a mission to get nursing recognized as a STEM field
Marion Leary of the School of Nursing is co-leading a national coalition seeking to convince federal agencies to recognize the field of nursing as a STEM profession.
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San Francisco Chronicle
Fentanyl overdoses hit a surprising group of San Franciscans: the city’s dogs
Cynthia Otto of the School of Veterinary Medicine says that fentanyl can be absorbed across the mucous membranes in canine noses, causing dogs to face a life-threatening overdose.
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