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  • Bioengineers on the brink of breaching blood-brain barrier

    A team of researchers in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has devised a method to deliver mRNA into the brain using lipid nanoparticles, potentially advancing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and seizures.
    Fluorescence microscopy image showing LNPs delivering mCherry mRNA to brain endothelial cells.
    The blood-brain barrier, a protective cell layer guarding the brain, blocks foreign bodies but also hinders drug delivery, complicating treatment of neurological disorders. Michael Mitchell’s team at the School of Engineering and Applied Science has devised a method to deliver mRNA into the brain using lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), potentially advancing treatments for Alzheimer's disease and seizures. Pictured: Fluorescence microscopy image showing LNPs delivering fluorescent protein (mCherry) mRNA to brain endothelial cells. Cells are shown in green and their nuclei are shown in blue. Cells that are red were transfected by LNPs, where the newly expressed mCherry protein results in red fluorescence.
    (Image: Courtesy of Emily Han)

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    Emissions from a power plant.

    Image: Pencho Chukov via Getty Images

    Exposure to air pollution worsens Alzheimer’s disease

    New research from Penn Medicine finds living in areas with high concentration of air pollution is associated with increased buildup of amyloid and tau proteins in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, accelerating cognitive decline.

    Sep 9, 2025

    Penn physicist Charles Kane to receive the 2026 Lorentz Medal
    Charles Kane

    Charles Kane, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics at Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences.

    (Image: Brooke Sietinsons)

    Penn physicist Charles Kane to receive the 2026 Lorentz Medal

    Awarded every four years by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the medal honors Kane’s pioneering research on topological insulators.

    Sep 4, 2025