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Health Sciences
Rescuing Fruit Flies from Alzheimer’s Disease
Investigators have found that fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) males -- in which the activity of an Alzheimer’s disease protein is reduced by 50 percent -- show impairments in learning and memory as they age.
Penn Geneticist Named 2010 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences
The Pew Charitable Trusts named Zhaolan (Joe) Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, as a 2010 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences.
Jumping Genes Provide Extensive “Raw Material” for Evolution, Penn Study Finds
PHILADELPHIA - Using high-throughput sequencing to map the locations of a common type of jumping gene within a person’s entire genome, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found extensive variation in these locations among the individuals they studied, further underscoring the role of these errant genes in maintaining genetic
Penn-Led Collaboration Mimics Library of Bio-Membranes for Use In Nanomedicine, Drug Delivery
PHILADELPHIA –- An international collaboration led by chemists and engineers from the University of Pennsylvania has prepared a library of synthetic biomaterials that mimic cellular membranes and that show promise in targeted delivery of cancer drugs, gene therapy, proteins, imaging and diagnostic agents and cosmetics safely to the body in the emerging field called nanomedicine.
Mary Naylor of Penn Nursing Named to Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
PHILADELPHIA -- Mary Naylor of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing has been appointed to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Gene Therapy Success Sets Stage for New Treatments for Inherited Blindness, Penn Veterinary Researchers Say
PHILADELPHIA –- Veterinary vision scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have safely and successfully used a viral vector in targeting a class of photoreceptors of the retina called rods, a critical first step in developing gene therapies for inherited blindness caused by rod degeneration.
Gene Therapy Cures Canines of Inherited Form of Day Blindness, Penn Veterinary Researchers Say
PHILADELPHIA –- Veterinary ophthalmology researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have used gene therapy to restore retinal cone function and day vision in two canine models of congenital achromatopsia, also called rod monochromacy or total color blindness.
Penn Dental School Alumnus/World War II Commander Gives $17.3 Million In Largest Ever Gift to Penn Dental
PHILADELPHIA – Dr. Louis Schoenleber, Jr. (C’42, D’43), an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, World War II Navy Commander and oral surgeon, has left the majority of proceeds from his multi-million-dollar estate to Penn Dental Medicine’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
New Tissue-Hugging Implant Maps Heart Electrical Activity in Unprecedented Detail
PHILADELPHIA – A team of cardiologists, materials scientists, and bioengineers have created and tested a new type of implantable device for measuring the heart’s electrical output that they say is a vast improvement over current devices. The new device represents the first use of flexible silicon technology for a medical application.
In the News
Slate.com
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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The Hill
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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The Wall Street Journal
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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Philadelphia Inquirer
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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Philadelphia Inquirer
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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