Katherine Unger Baillie

PHILADELPHIA — We couldn’t live without our immune systems, always tuned to detect and eradicate invading pathogens and particles. But sometimes the immune response goes overboard, triggering autoimmune diseases like lupus, asthma or inflammatory bowel disease.

Some scientists may think of themselves as impassive observers and analysts, but even the most talented and rigorous researchers possess biases that can slip into their professional work.

Whenever Miguel Padilla-Hernández, a fourth-year student in the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, visits his family back in California, conversations are peppered with questions such as, “’Oh, this tooth hurts, why does this tooth hurt?” or “Why is this tooth changing colors?”

Osteoporosis is the most common bone disease in humans, and can put older adults at risk of fracturing a hip, wrist, vertebrae, or other bones—injuries that could require lengthy hospital stays.

PHILADELPHIA — It’s not every day that a new academic discipline is born. But that’s exactly what happened in 2010, when the Project on Bioethics, Sexuality and Gender Identity — or “Queer Bioethics,” for short — came to life at the University of Pennsylvania.

Diabetes mellitus, a chronic disease affecting 20 million people in the United States, also afflicts our canine companions. Many dogs are predisposed to developing this endocrine disorder and require sophisticated treatment to keep it in check.

PHILADELPHIA — How does one’s experience of an event get translated into a memory that can be accessed months, even years later? A team led by University of Pennsylvania scientists has come closer to answering that question, identifying key molecules that help convert short-term memories into long-term ones.

PHILADELPHIA — Dogs with hemangiosarcoma that were treated with a compound derived from the Coriolus versicolor mushroom had the longest survival times ever reported for dogs with the disease. These promising findings offer hope that the compound may one day offer cancer patients — human and canine alike — a viable alternative or complementary treatment to traditional chemotherapies.

With their awe-inspiring feats of architecture—the pyramids—ancient Egyptians left their mark on the world. But a new study confirms that the world also left its mark on the Egyptians.

Last September, Ralph Brinster, a researcher in the School of Veterinary Medicine, became the first veterinarian to receive the National Medal of Science, one of the most prestigious awards bestowed upon scientists in the United States.