Health 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

Karen Kreeger

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.  

Jordan Reese

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.

Karen Kreeger



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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