I. Joseph Kroll, Ph.D., has won an Outstanding Junior Investigator award - one of about three per year in high energy physics - from the U.S. Department of Energy. The $300,000 award will be spread over several years. Kroll's research is in experimental high energy particle physics - specifically B hadrons - examining data from proton-antiproton collisions produced at Fermilab in Batavia, Ill.
Andrew M. Rappe, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry, was one of 20 young scientists nationwide to be selected this year for a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, which supports young faculty in the sciences. The $60,000 award includes $5,000 to go for undergraduate educational purposes to Rappe's department, chemistry, and no more than $5,000 for institutional administrative purposes. The remaining $50,000 goes to Rappe and his research into tailoring molecule-surface properties.
Best tooth teachers
The School of Dental Medicine cited five faculty for teaching excellence last month:
Bal Goyal, D.M.D., associate professor of restorative dentistry, and Nathan Kobrin, B.D.S., clinical assistant professor of restorative dentistry, both received the Robert E. DeRevere Award for excellence in pre-clinical teaching by a part-time faculty member.
Nasrin Satat-Larijani, D.M.D., assistant porofessor of clinical education in restorative dentistry, won the Joseph L.T. Appleton Award for excellence in clinical teaching.
Scott DeRossi, D.M.D., assistant professor of oral medicine, was given the Earle Bank Hoyt Award for an alumnus who is a full-time jurnior clinical faculty member.
Elliot Hersh, D.M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of oral surgery and pharmacology and director of pharmacology and therapeutics, was given the Basic Science Award for excellence in teaching basic science.
The Polyhedral Structures Laboratory is housed at the Pennovation Center and brings together designers, engineers, and computer scientists to reimagine the built world. Using graphic statics, a method where forces are mapped as lines, they design forms that balance compression and tension. These result in structures that use far fewer materials while remaining strong and efficient.
From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.
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.
Reflecting on Jane Austen, 250 years after her birth
English professors Michael Gamer and Barri Joyce Gold have been teaching courses specifically dedicated to Jane Austen for years. They spoke with Penn Today about their approach to teaching her novels, how they challenge common readings and myths, and what makes Austen’s work so enduring—and adaptable to the screen—more than two centuries later.
Electronic medical records help save lives of HIV patients
Wharton’s Leandro “Leo” Pongeluppe and colleagues found that HIV clinics in Malawi that switched from paper to electronic medical records saw an estimated 28% reduction in deaths in five years.
