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Health Sciences
Two Penn Seniors to Aid Parkinson’s Patients With Innovative Motion-tracking Device
This is the first of two features introducing the University of Pennsylvania’s 2016 President’s Innovation Prize winners. A rough estimate of the amount of steps taken in a day might be enough for the average fitness tracker or smartwatch user, but, for people with movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease, more fine-grained data could be life changing.
Penn Bioengineers Show Why Lab-made Stem Cells Might Fail: Errors in DNA Folding
Induced pluripotent stem cells hold promise for regenerative medicine because they can, in theory, turn into any type of tissue and because they are made from a patient’s own adult cells, guaranteeing compatibility.
Placental RNA May Help Protect Embryo from Viruses, Penn Study Finds
The human placenta is an organ unlike any other. During the course of nine months it is formed by the embryo, sustains life and then is shed.
Three Penn Students Named HHMI Medical Research Fellows
Three graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania have been selected as Medical Research Fellows by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
Penn Study Finds Moderate Sedation More Effective than General Anesthesia for TAVR Patients
A new study finds the use of moderate sedation, in which patients do not need a breathing tube, leads to better clinical outcomes as compared to general anesthesia for patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
Penn Medicine Researcher Receives $3 million NCI Grant to Study Links between Liver Cancer and HIV
Vincent Lo Re, MD, MSCE, an assistant professor of Medicine in the division of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $3 million grant from the National
Penn Researcher Calls for Changes to Increase Access to Life-Saving Colorectal Cancer Screening
Colorectal cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in the United States, expected to claim the lives of an estimated 49,190 people in 2016.
Testing Non-Breast/Ovarian Cancer Genes in High-Risk Women Leaves More Questions than Answers, Penn Study Finds
Running large, multi-gene sequencing panels to assess cancer risk is a growing trend in medicine as the price of the technology declines and more precise approaches to cancer care gain steam. The tests are particularly common among breast and ovarian cancer patients.
Three Penn Students Named HHMI Medical Research Fellows
Three graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania have been selected as Medical Research Fellows by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Penn Medicine: Proof-of-Concept Animal Study Shows that Flexible, Dissolvable Silicon Electronic Device Holds Promise for Brain Monitoring
An implantable brain device that literally melts away at a pre-determined rate minimizes injury to tissue normally associated with standard electrode implantation, according to research led by a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
In the News
What’s going on with tranq?
Jeanmarie Perron of the Perelman School of Medicine says that the appearance and progression of skin ulcers and tissue loss on xylazine users is different than with other intravenous drugs.
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It’s time to end the Medicare-Medicaid merry-go-round
In an opinion essay, Rachel M. Werner of the Leonard Davis Institute, Wharton School, and Perelman School of Medicine says that Medicare and Medicaid fail to integrate coverage and coordinate care across their two plans.
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Inside Penn’s transfer center
Penn Medicine’s transfer command center gets patients from affiliated hospitals and hospitals outside Philadelphia to specialized care that can save lives, with comments from CEO Kevin Mahoney.
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The quest for treatments to keep weight off after Ozempic
Researchers at Penn are conducting a co-authored study of the brains, fat and muscle cells, and eating patterns of people trying to maintain new body sizes.
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Operating rooms are major sources of greenhouse gasses. Penn is eliminating a form of anesthesia that hangs in the air for more than a decade after use
Penn Medicine is phasing out the anesthesia desflurane at four of its six hospitals to eliminate harmful greenhouse gases, with remarks from Greg Evans.
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