An artist’s rendering of Auroraceratops shows its bipedal posture as well as the beak and frill that characterize it as a member of the horned dinosaurs. Paleontologists from Penn led a team in characterizing this species, discovered in China. (Illustration: Robert Walters)
Small horned dinosaur from China, a Triceratops relative, walked on two feet
Auroraceratops, a bipedal dinosaur that lived roughly 115 million years ago, has been newly described by an international team of researchers led by Peter Dodson of the School of Arts and Sciences and School of Veterinary Medicine.
The beauty and nuances of Iceland, through a multidisciplinary lens
Tracing a circular path around Iceland, the students in Alain Plante’s Penn Global Seminar saw firsthand the nation’s unique geology, culture, politics, energy, people, and wildlife.
The investigation explored the "reward neurons" in the brain. (Image: Amber Alhadeff)
Unraveling the brain’s reward circuits
Food, alcohol, and certain drugs all act to reduce the activity of hunger neurons and to release reward signals in the brain, but alcohol and drugs rely on a different pathway than does food.
Julia Szymczak (Photo: Ashley E. Smith/Wide Eyed Studios)
Social solutions to antibiotic resistance
Research by sociologist Julia Szymczak of the Perelman School of Medicine is aimed at understanding, and eventually changing, behaviors that lead to the overprescribing of antibiotics.
In Pennsylvania and hundreds of other locations around the country, manmade chemicals known as PFAS have been found in drinking water. Howard Neukrug discusses the potential harm, how local and federal agencies are responding, and the many related questions that remain unanswered.
Findings from Penn Vet suggest a potential new target for treating Parkinson's, an enzyme that wreaks its damage on dopamine-producing neurons.
A new drug target for chemically induced Parkinson’s disease
An enzyme that modifies chemicals formed in the body by alcohol, tobacco, and certain foods may be a new target for treating Parkinson’s disease. The altered compounds may play a role in triggering the onset or advancing the progression of the neurodegenerative condition.
Jenni Punt (center), a professor of immunology at Penn Vet, is leading the One Health@Penn research community.
(Image: Eric Sucar)
Meaningful science, with students at the helm
With CANINE, a collaboration between the School of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences’ Biology Department, undergraduates are breaking new ground in immunology.
A section of intestine from an infected mouse shows Cryptosporidium tyzzeri parasites in red. The Penn Vet-led team is the first to sequence, study, and manipulate a naturally occurring mouse Cryptosporidium. (Image: Muthugapatti Kandasamy, Adam Sateriale, and Boris Striepen)
Novel model for studying intestinal parasite could advance vaccine development
The intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium causes frequent outbreaks in the U.S., and has been historically difficult to study. A novel model of infection from Penn Vet serves as a new tool to pursue a vaccine.
Karin Sorenmo (left) and colleagues created a practical tool for assessing prognoses for dogs with mammary tumors. The research emerged from Penn Vet’s Shelter Canine Mammary Tumor Program, which assists in treating and then finding homes for dogs like Brownie, pictured with former oncology intern, Kiley Daube.
Better prognosticating for dogs with mammary tumors
For dogs with mammary tumors, a course of treatment can depend on a variety of factors, some of which may seem to contradict one another. A new system developed by Penn Vet’s Karin Sorenmo and colleagues can make determining a prognosis and making treatment decisions an easier task.
David Vann of the School of Arts and Sciences heads up the research efforts around Shoemaker Green’s stormwater management system. Using sensors placed around the site, he hopes to be able to closely monitor how much water drains out of the system, and how quickly.
Keeping rain out of the drain
From cisterns beneath Shoemaker Green to the green roof on New College House, special features of campus buildings and landscapes are helping manage stormwater to keep rain from the sewer lines, and scholars are using the infrastructure as a research opportunity.
