Each day, in every School at Penn, from labs to libraries, field sites to clinics, researchers are making strides to cure diseases, improve lives, and better understand our world.
Research at Penn: By the Numbers
Promise
Longer, Healthier Lives
1,407 clinical trials (FY24)
>67,000 patients in clinical trials (FY24)
42 FDA approvals (through 2024)
(From Penn Medicine)
Progress
Creative Solutions
125 patents issued (FY24)
354 invention disclosures (FY24)
12 PCI-supported spinouts and Penn affiliated startups (FY24)
(From PCI)
Purpose
Stronger, Safer Communities
619 commercialization agreements (FY24)
$2.8B total annual output within the Commonwealth (FY24)
$47M in Pennsylvania state tax revenue (FY24)
(From PCI and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research)
Passion
Curiosity-Driven Pursuits
9 MacArthur Award faculty recipients
2 Nobel Prize faculty recipients
>150,000 undergraduate research hours
(From Institutional Research & Analysis and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships)
Penn Engineers led by Xue ‘Sherry’ Gao have developed a gene-editing tool built specifically for fungi, unlocking a hidden library of molecules—including some with early anti-cancer promise—from one of biology’s most overlooked kingdoms.
GLP-1 use linked to lower breast cancer incidence in large cohort study
A new Penn Medicine study sets the stage for a multisite clinical trial to determine whether GLP-1 drugs are associated with a lower risk of developing breast cancer.
Immune activation may determine success of dual-target CAR T therapy in glioblastoma
New research from Penn Medicine finds that activation of natural killer cells is linked to longer survival, and suppressive immune cells is tied to poor response.
Examining asthma with human lung-on-a-chip technology
Researchers at Penn Engineering developed an ‘asthma-on-a-chip’ system that mimics the mechanical stresses experienced by human airways during an asthma attack. The innovation enables scientists to probe how unhealthy lung tissue responds to compression in ways previously impossible to observe directly in patients.
Kate O'Neill: Bringing hope to uterine health patients
Physician-scientist Kate O’Neill directs innovative research that helps people suffering from infertility, endometriosis, and other issues build families and have excellent quality-of-life.
Katelyn Candido: Improving surgical procedures and keeping health care human-first
Second-year medical student Katelyn Candido shares insight into her research project on a promising tool for improving surgical precision and efficiency, and why she aims to drive equitable patient care through a career in neurosurgery.
Fighting oral cancer with bioengineered chewing gum
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell shows that antiviral and antibacterial chewing gums reduce the levels of three microbes linked to worse outcomes in oral cancers, paving the way for more effective and affordable therapies.
A Penn Engineering and Penn Medicine team built CAMEL, an artificial intelligence model that forecasts dangerous cardiac rhythms before they strike. Their findings pave the way for a new era of real-time, predictive heart care.
Penn researchers in the Mitchell Lab are modifying lipid nanoparticles, the delivery vehicles for mRNA therapies, to make them more potent, precise, and better tolerated.
Researchers at Penn Engineering have developed tiny, soft robots using opposable materials that are capable of leaping meters into the air with flexibility, responsiveness, and programmability.
Shujie Yang: Harnessing sound to build the next generation of microrobotic medicine
Yang’s lab at Penn Engineering uses precisely-controlled ultrasound waves to develop microscale tools that can manipulate cells, viruses, and soft materials without physical contact.
René Vidal develops AI algorithms that are easier to understand, reliable, and trustworthy, helping make AI safer and more transparent in real-world use.
Nhlanhla Mavuso: Innovating computer chips to run more efficiently
President’s Sustainability Prize winner Nhlanhla Mavuso’s Fluid Silicon platform helps computer chips monitor their own performance in real time, reducing wasted energy and improving efficiency as demand for AI-scale computing grows.
Researchers at Penn’s xLAB are collaborating on a multiyear project to study how large teams of physical AI agents can cooperate, compete, and act safely outside of software and in the real world.
The Fed explained: What it does and why it matters
Former Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and financial historian Peter Conti-Brown, both Wharton professors, unpack the central bank’s origins, its unusual structure, and the quiet ways it shapes the economy.
A safe staffing policy could prevent deaths, produce savings to help fund improved staffing
A new study from Penn’s School of Nursing finds that safer nurse staffing levels in Pennsylvania hospitals could prevent thousands of deaths each year.
In a new paper, researchers at Penn Engineering highlight the need to develop more thorough frameworks for ensuring that AI-enabled robots embody a ‘do no harm’ core principle.
Shaun Ossei-Owusu: The inner workings of the American legal system
Penn Carey Law professor Shaun Ossei-Owusu’s new book, ‘Law on Trial,’ examines how legal institutions and practices shape—and at times reinforce—social inequality.
Margaret Zhu: A robotic solution for safer tree trimming
Margaret Zhu and the Serpent Robotics team have leveraged Penn resources to create a tree-cutting robot, improving safety in a dangerous industry. The President’s Innovation Prize allows Zhu to iterate and pilot the device over the next year.
The concept, popularity, and dismissal of the ‘beach read’
Penn Today talked about beach reads with comparative literature Ph.D. candidate Angelina Eimannsberger, whose dissertation focuses on women readers, social media, the romance genre, and bookstores.
Raindrop-formed ‘sandballs’ that erode hillsides tenfold
Penn geophysicists and colleagues have uncovered Earth-sculpting processes that result from the formation of snowball-like aggregates they call ‘sandballs.‘ Their findings provide fundamental insights into erosion and will broaden scientific understandings of landscape change, soil loss, and agriculture.
How population changes are impacting primary education worldwide
Research from Penn sociologist Emily Hannum and colleagues reveals regional trends in whether school-age populations are increasing, plateauing, or decreasing—and shows how different countries are responding.
In her new book, Annenberg School for Communication professor Sarah J. Jackson traces how historical and contemporary writers, journalists, and filmmakers have strengthened the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Ani Liu: Motherhood, microplastics, and her multimedia works on display
Weitzman professor of fine arts Ani Liu explores the physiological and emotional transformations in motherhood through her multimedia artworks while teaching students how to conduct fine arts research.
ChiaKo Hung: Equipping students and nonprofits for impact
SP2’s ChiaKo Hung researches nonprofit financial management and philanthropy, and equips his students with the practical skills necessary to apply to the social sector.
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Research at Penn: In print
Research at Penn is also a print publication highlighting notable research from across the University. Featuring original and repurposed stories from Penn Today, Research at Penn is brought to you twice a year by the Office of University Communications and available as a PDF (Spring 2026 and Fall 2025).
Benjamin Keys of the Wharton School says that a persistent climate imprint will have a serious, long-term effect on house prices and other asset values.
Temperatures reach dangerous highs as ‘heat domes’ hit U.S. and Europe
Research by Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences and colleagues found that the amplification of waves in the jet stream had led to a dramatic increase in atmospheric events, driving heatwaves, wildfires, and floods.
Food assistance programs should incentivize healthier eating. Here’s why
Christina Roberto and Alyssa Moran of the Perelman School of Medicine write that subsidizing sugary drinks with SNAP rewards an industry that limits choices for lower-income families to ensure that lowest-quality food is the most available and affordable option.
