All around the campus, your fellow Penn employees are gearing up to share the spirit of the holiday season with those less fortunate. Here are a few of the events and gift drives taking place this month:
The annual Penn VIPS Holiday Toy Drive runs from now through Dec. 16. Wrapped or unwrapped toys may be left at any of 20 drop-off points across the campus, including Civic House, the Franklin Building, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center and the Museum. Gifts will be distributed to needy families and shelters in West Philadelphia. For more information, contact Penn VIPS at 898-2020.
Operation Santa Claus, now in its 11th year, will throw a party for young and old on Monday, Dec. 21, in the Club Room of the Faculty Club. Residents of three West Philadelphia nursing homes and children from St. Vincent's Orphanage will receive gifts and a holiday lunch with surprise entertainment. Gifts and cash donations are needed to make the party a success. Contributions may be delivered to Yvonne Oronzio, 212 Franklin Building, through Dec. 17; for more information or suggested gifts, call her at 898-4210.
Gloria Emerson in the Health System's Division of Medical Genetics is also spearheading a gift drive for elderly residents of local nursing homes as well as working with a program in the Office of the President to send holiday and/or birthday greetings to homebound senior citizens. Inexpensive unwrapped gifts and suggested recipients are both welcome in Emerson's office (1 Maloney Building, HUP) no later than Dec. 17. You may also call her at 662-4740 for more information.
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.
