Health Sciences

Penn Study: Lengthy ER Visits for Psychiatric Patients Often Result in Transfer, Not Treatment

Cutbacks in capacity at state and county mental hospitals have forced more and more psychiatric patients to seek treatment . But a new study led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, found that people who visit emergency rooms for mental health care were transferred to another facility at six times the rate of people who visit ERs for non-psychiatric conditions, and could wait almost two hours longer.

Katie Delach

Penn: Blinding Disease in Canines and Humans Shares Causative Gene, Pathology

Ciliopathies are diseases that affect the cilia, sensory organelles that most mammalian cells possess and which play a critical role in many biological functions. One such disease is Senior Løken Syndrome, a rare condition that can involve both a severe kidney disease and the blinding disease Leber congenital amaurosis, or LCA.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Penn Team Identifies Strategy to Reverse the Disease Dyskeratosis Congenita

Dyskeratosis congenita, or DC, is a rare, inherited disease for which there are limited treatment options and no cure. Typically diagnosed in childhood, the disorder causes stem cells to fail, leading to significant problems including bone marrow failure, lung fibrosis, dyskeratosis of the skin and intestinal atrophy and inflammation.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Public Libraries as Hubs of Health Information

Public libraries serve communities in myriad ways, providing places where people gather to read, learn a new language, access the internet, pick up tax forms, or apply for jobs.

Katherine Unger Baillie



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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Nature

Bird flu virus has been spreading in U.S. cows for months, RNA reveals

Louise Moncla of the Veterinary School of Medicine says that the bird flu virus is clearly being transmitted to cows in some way.

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