New statistical method exponentially increases ability to discover genetic insights
Individual genes have the ability to influence more than one trait or characteristic. But this feature is often discovered through a type of analysis called pleiotropy, which requires merging a patient’s data from electronic health records at many different places—a challenge given privacy stipulations. A team at the Perelman School of Medicine created a new method that could make pleiotropy easier to perform and more widely used, called Sum-Share. The statistical model pulls summary-level information from many different sites to generate significant insights.
In a test of the method, published in Nature Communications, Sum-Share’s developers detected more than 1,700 DNA-level variations that could be associated with five different cardiovascular conditions. Using patient-specific information from just one site, which is the current norm, would have found just one variation.
Materials in the Annenberg School for Communication Library Archives include thousands of TV scripts, the first issue of TV Guide, and interviews about the early days of HBO—which help to chronicle TV’s 100-year story.
Centering joy in AI development and implementation
PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton—of Annenberg and SP2—and collaborators introduce a joy-informed framework designed to initiate conversations among engineers, designers, and researchers.
Winter Storm Fern brought icy and snowy conditions to the Northeast and other parts of the country over the weekend. Penn Today asks physicist Robert Carpick about the unique properties of ice, the science of curling, and how close we are to ‘nonslip’ ice.
Organizations like Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships foster collaborations between Penn and public schools in the West Philadelphia community.
Penn receives national distinction for community engagement
The recognition by the American Council on Education and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching acknowledges Penn’s long-standing commitment to community-engaged scholarship and partnerships in West Philadelphia and beyond.
