Penn Scientists Receive $24 Million from National Science Foundation to Establish Mechanobiology Center

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the University of Pennsylvania a $24 Million, five-year grant to establish a Science and Technology Center (STC) focused on engineering mechanobiology, or the way cells exert and are influenced by the physical forces in their environment. This award is part of an overall $94 million from NSF to support four new STCs.

Karen Kreeger, Evan Lerner

Penn Research Identifies Brain Network that Controls Spread of Seizures

A flurry of coordinated activity in a brain-spanning network of neurons may sound like the formation of a brilliant new idea, but it is actually the description of a seizure. Understanding why and how this synchronization spreads would be a critical tool in treating severe epilepsy.

Evan Lerner

Penn network science research provides insight into spread of seizures

A flurry of coordinated activity in a brain-spanning network of neurons may sound like the formation of a brilliant new idea, but it is actually the description of a seizure. Understanding why and how this synchronization spreads would be a critical tool in treating severe epilepsy.

Evan Lerner

'Placenta-on-a-chip' opens new avenue for placental research

The placenta is oddly ephemeral for an organ. It appears, grows, and changes throughout the course of pregnancy, and then is gone. After delivery, researchers have a few hours at most to work with donated placentae before the tissue dies, and that is the best among limited options. Experimenting on the organ in vivo is effectively impossible.

Evan Lerner

Penn Researchers Develop Placenta-on-a-chip

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed the first placenta-on-a-chip that can fully model the transport of nutrients across the placental barrier.

Evan Lerner