Dry eye is a common condition, affecting nearly half of U.S. adults at some point during their lives, but it is often overlooked as a serious ailment, and the classic symptom of dry eyes isn’t always present.
Penn Medicine researchers discovered that obese mice were able to shed 40% of their body weight by secreting fat through their skin. (Image: Penn Medicine News)
Cytokine treatment promotes weight loss by ‘sweating’ fat
A seemingly unremarkable observation—greasy hair—showed Penn researchers how the immune system could be targeted to reverse obesity.
Lung epithelial cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 (left, yellow) were successfully treated with the STING agonist diABZI (right) by Penn Medicine researchers. (Image: Penn Medicine News)
Researchers discover drug that blocks multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants
The drug diABZI—which activates the body’s innate immune response—was highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19 in mice that were infected with SARS-CoV-2 and likely other coronaviruses.
Preventing evictions remains critical to controlling COVID-19
Renter protection policies that have curbed mass evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have played a key role in preventing the spread of the virus in U.S. cities.
Living in a majority-Black neighborhood linked to severe maternal morbidity
Penn Medicine researchers studied the association between neighborhood-level risk factors and poor maternal health outcomes in Philadelphia between 2010 and 2017.
Vaccinators in Arequipa reported feeling safer within the booths compare to using only PPE. During a pandemic, reduced workforce meant hiring nonmedical personnel to perform vaccinations, so PPE protocols were harder to follow. (Image: Penn Medicine News)
In Peru, a race to vaccinate dogs as two epidemics collide
A team of workers in Peru, led by Penn Medicine’s Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, led a two-month rabies vaccination campaign.
A single injection reverses blindness in patient with rare genetic disorder
A Penn Medicine patient with a genetic form of childhood blindness gained vision, which lasted more than a year, after receiving a single injection of an experimental RNA therapy into the eye.
Vanessa Dicks, a Penn Medicine laboratory assistant who was hired through WPSI, prepares a sample to be tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
A partnership to help fight COVID and develop a STEM career pipeline
Working with the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, University City District’s workforce development program, Penn Medicine is creating pathways to science careers for local jobseekers.
