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Public schools, COVID-19, and addressing education’s aging infrastructure
two panels depicting conditions in philadelphia public schools. the one on the left is a cartoon of students working in a classroom with issues such as mold, vermin, and asbestos and lead highlighted. on the right is an updated version of the same classroom with these issues removed and text below asks "what is your dream for philadelphia schools?"

Renderings developed by students in Planning Public Schools as Infrastructure, one showing deteriorating conditions in buildings and the other encouraging viewers to envision their future, on display outside of City Hall. (Image credit: Akira Drake Rodriguez)

Public schools, COVID-19, and addressing education’s aging infrastructure

Urban planners and architects are working to address one of the many challenges faced by public schools by designing healthy and engaging outdoor educational spaces.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Three cheers for two Quakers
From left to right, Gracyn Banks holds a field hockey stick on her left shoulder while leaning against a goal at Vagelos Field; Jordan Obi goes up for the shot against King's College at the Palestra.

Three cheers for two Quakers

Gracyn Banks of the field hockey team and Jordan Obi of the women’s basketball team have been honored, in turn, by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association and Ivy League.
When police forces grow, homicides drop and low-level arrests increase
A person wearing a "POLICE" vest and a walkie talkie, standing in front of a blurry police car with its lights flashing.

When police forces grow, homicides drop and low-level arrests increase

Research from Penn criminologist Aaron Chalfin and others found that an additional 10 to 17 officers prevented one homicide annually, but each extra officer added up to 22 arrests for crimes like drug possession.

Michele W. Berger

Navigating holidays in a pandemic, again
A piece of pumpkin pie on a serving spatula, a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Navigating holidays in a pandemic, again

Experts from Penn’s Center for Public Health Initiatives and Positive Psychology Center offer six tips for making the holiday season joyful, fun, and safe.

Michele W. Berger, Erica K. Brockmeier

A FAST approach to helping food insecurity
Onika Washington-Johnson hands a box of food to David Cabello in a parking lot.

Onika Washington-Johnson hands a box of food to David Cabello, founder of Black and Mobile food delivery service, outside of Share Food Program’s facility. (Image: Penn Medicine Service in Action)

A FAST approach to helping food insecurity

FAST (Food Access Support Technology) is a new platform created by Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Equity Advancement (CHEA) that connects health systems, food access community-based organizations and minority-owned small businesses to fight food insecurity.

From Penn Medicine Service in Action

Common gene variants linked to sepsis and COVID-19 severity in African Americans
Microscopic rendering of sepsis cells.

Common gene variants linked to sepsis and COVID-19 severity in African Americans

Two genetic risk variants that are carried by nearly 40% of Black individuals may exacerbate the severity of both sepsis and COVID-19. A Penn Medicine study identifies two potential pathways to reduce the health disparities driven by these gene mutations.

Lauren Ingeno

Before geoengineering, some fundamental chemistry
chemicals representing geoengineering float over a city skyline.

Before geoengineering, some fundamental chemistry

Research led by Joseph S. Francisco of the School of Arts & Sciences examines the chemistry of a proposal to curb climate change’s effects—creating a sunshade in the upper atmosphere made of sulfuric acid—and finds that there’s more work to do to successfully pull off such a feat.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Learning to listen in troubled times
People in masks talk about an exercise in listening

Ernesto Pujol leads a workshop on “Listening in Troubled Times,” part of a lecture on the topic organized by the SNF Paideia Program. (Image: Lisa Marie Patzer)

Learning to listen in troubled times

The SNF Paideia Program and partners featured Ernesto Pujol and Aaron Levy, an artist and an interdisciplinary scholar who have transformed both what it means to listen and what the act of listening can achieve as part of a lecture and workshops.

Kristen de Groot

From corals to humans, a shared trigger for sperm to get in motion
coral diving

With coral reefs under threat from climate change, pollutants, sedimentation, and other factors, Barott and colleagues hope to continue investigating how such challenges may influence coral reproduction and persistence. (Image: Courtesy of Kelsey Speer)

From corals to humans, a shared trigger for sperm to get in motion

Coral sperm require a specific pH to move, according to research from the School of Arts & Sciences, which identifies a signaling pathway that is shared by organisms including humans. The results inform how corals may fare with climate change.

Katherine Unger Baillie