Penn was built on the concept of innovation. “If it’s new, novel and holds promise to change the world,” says President Amy Gutmann, “you’ll find it at Penn.”
Penn was built on the concept of innovation. Bifocals, lightning rods, swim fins—the University’s founder Ben Franklin invented these everyday items with an innovative spirit that defined his legacy and now defines Penn.
Today, innovation is fostered by a combination of faculty, collaboration, facilities, and resources. The creative energy and momentum is on display at centers for translational work like Pennovation Works and VentureLab. It’s the vision behind Penn Medicine’s new Pavilion, where education, clinical care and research connect in one facility, and the Penn Center for Innovation, which weds innovation, venture creation, and commercialization.
“Everything innovative Penn does we do to advance knowledge for good in the world,” says President Amy Gutmann. “If it's new, if it's novel, then it holds promise to change the world. You'll find it at Penn.”
Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form.
No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.
In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted.
In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love.
Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion
Dorit Aviv, director of Weitzman’s Thermal Architecture Lab, studies how humans, technology, and design intersect, paving the way for the development of novel approaches to cooling people efficiently.
