The University committee charged with reviewing Penn’s research on human subjects has identified five things Penn can do right now to improve its methods, including requiring researchers to disclose conflicts of interest and hiring outside monitors for research projects whose funding does not provide for them.
In an interim report issued April 25, the Committee on Research Using Humans also recommended a comprehensive review of Penn’s institutional review boards (IRBs), the drafting of formal standard operating procedures for human research projects, and a Web-based survey of research project investigators.
“We felt it was important to get some interim steps out, to get these processes rolling,” said Ralph Amado, vice provost for research and a member of the committee.
More than 3,900 research projects involving humans are currently under way at Penn. Amado stressed that every one of these projects requires approval in advance. “You need to get IRB approval even if you want to ask people what they ate for lunch in a scholarly way,” he said.
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.
