Penn Medicine’s Eugenia South, seen here with John MacDonald of the Department of Criminology, studies the effect of chronic stress and neighborhood environment on health outcomes. South’s latest pilot, Nurtured in Nature, follows work from the pair showing that cleaning up vacant lots leads to a signifiant decrease in gun violence and less stress for local residents. (Pre-pandemic photo)
Using science to make cities safer and healthier
In a Q&A, criminologist John MacDonald discusses his new book, grounded in years of research on the positive effects of remediation like fixing up abandoned lots and houses.
University of Pennsylvania receives $25 million gift to create data science building
The largest gift in Penn Engineering’s history—a $25 million commitment from alumnus Harlan M. Stone to support the construction of a new Data Science Building—will serve as a hub for cross-disciplinary collaborations that harness expertise, research, and data across Penn’s 12 schools and numerous academic centers.
Paideia’s spring course offerings highlight wellness, service, and citizenship
The first four courses offered to Penn undergraduates as part of the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program will focus on passion, civility, effective communication, and a deep dive into American Chinatowns.
Homeward Initiative takes on the challenge of supporting homeless LGBTQ youth
With his President’s Engagement Prize, May graduate Brendan Taliaferro is creating a nonprofit to provide housing and assistance for homeless LGBTQ youth in Philadelphia.
Eliza Nobles, a Morris Arboretum intern, and Jessie Buckner, an ecologist with Applied Ecological Services, set up the first plots at Penn Park on a sunny morning in October. Their study will examine how using leaf mulch or allowing fallen leaves to remain on a site impacts soil health and ecology.
A second life for leaves
Taking a scientific approach to managing campus land, Facilities and Real Estate Services is partnering with soil scientists and ecologists to study how mulching plots with leaves fares for soil health and biodiversity.
Assistant Professor Ramah McKay and Senior Lecturer Andi Johnson discuss next steps at a workshop debrief with graduate students Claire Sabel, Taylor Dysart, and N. J. Dharan.
Decolonizing the syllabus
Faculty and graduate students in the History and Sociology of Science Department are reconsidering the way they teach, moving towards a more collaborative, innovative approach that incorporates a wide base of global sources.
The main level reopens after a historic renovation featuring the relocated sphinx and completely reimagined Africa and Mexico/Central America galleries.
The new NIH-funded work from researchers Dylan Tisdall of Penn Medicine and Allyson Mackey of the School of Arts and Sciences will work to develop an MRI method geared specifically to three- to five-year-olds and calculate how exposure to opioids can impede neurocognitive development of children in that age range.
How does opioid exposure affect brain development in young children?
That’s the question Allyson Mackey and Dylan Tisdall hope to answer, through a new grant from an NIH initiative focused on addiction research.
