Skip to Content Skip to Content

Michele Berger

Articles from Michele W. Berger
From Penn Nursing undergrad to Nurse Anesthesia doctorate
A person standing outside, with blurred leaves in the foreground. The person is wearing a surgical cap and the jacket reads, "Kendall Smith, PENN Nurse Anesthesia"

Kendall Smith is a 2021 graduate of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)-Nurse Anesthesia Program at the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2020, he was awarded the Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. After graduation, he will begin work as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.

From Penn Nursing undergrad to Nurse Anesthesia doctorate

After graduation, Kendall Smith will work as a certified registered nurse anesthetist in North Carolina. Long term, he hopes to build a career that divides his time between patient care, research, and educating the next generation of CRNAs.

Michele W. Berger, Ed Federico

Engaging the community, one mask at a time
nursing students handing out masks Penn Nursing seniors Farzana Talukdar (left) and Anna Chin hand out a mask kit to a passerby, part of an initiative to work with and educate the community about the importance of wearing masks. When a Lucy Green Loop bus stopped nearby a moment later, the driver waved to Talukdar, who got on and quickly distributed bags.

Engaging the community, one mask at a time

At 10 sites across campus for 10 weeks, Penn Nursing students made 400 weekly observations about mask usage, part of MASCUP, a nationwide initiative spearheaded by the CDC that includes 53 colleges and universities.

Michele W. Berger

With its flagship light device, Lumify Care improves patient experience from the frontline
Person in a blue button-down shirt, arms crossed, leaning against a tree outside. In the background are blurred out bushes and trees, a path and a streetlight.

The School of Nursing’s Anthony Scarpone-Lambert of Chalfont, Pennsylvania, earned a 2021 President’s Innovation Prize for Lumify Care. The company’s first product, uNight Light, is a battery-powered, hands-free light device that magnetically clips onto scrubs, has three modes, and is easily cleanable with hospital-grade disinfectant wipes. It offers nurses an alternative to turning on overhead lights overnight, helping patients rest and making a hospital stay more conducive to healing.

With its flagship light device, Lumify Care improves patient experience from the frontline

Penn Nursing senior Anthony Scarpone-Lambert earned a 2021 President’s Innovation Prize for his company and its first trio of products: uNight Light, the Sleep-First Education Initiative, and the uNightShift Community.

Michele W. Berger

A new theory for what’s happening in the brain when something looks familiar
A black-and-white illustration with many lines and circles and a person sitting in the middle.

How can the brain distinguish between something new and something familiar? Research from the Visual Memory Lab led by Nicole Rust has a new theory, replacing one long-held by the field. (Image: Julia Kuhl)

A new theory for what’s happening in the brain when something looks familiar

This novel concept from the lab of neuroscientist Nicole Rust brings the field one step closer to understanding how memory functions. Long-term, it could have implications for treating memory-impairing diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Michele W. Berger

Six from Penn elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Headshots of six people, in a grid, two rows of three.

Six faculty from Penn were elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. The honorees include (clockwise from top left) Cristina Bicchieri, Michael Hanchard, Vijay Kumar, Kenneth Zaret, Sarah Tishkoff, and Stanley Plotkin. They join more than 250 honorees for 2021, recognized for their efforts to help solve some of the world’s most urgent challenges.

Six from Penn elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Faculty from the School of Arts & Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Perelman School of Medicine are honored for their efforts to help solve some of the world’s most urgent challenges.

Michele W. Berger

Untapped insights, network dynamics, and a unique approach to NBA scouting
Damon Centola in front of a blackboard.

Damon Centola is a professor in the Annenberg School for Communication and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and director of the Network Dynamics Group.

(Image: Courtesy of Annenberg School for Communication)

Untapped insights, network dynamics, and a unique approach to NBA scouting

A new book from Annenberg’s Damon Centola describes why some ideas succeed while others fail and uses case studies to illustrate the science behind what drives change.

Michele W. Berger , Julie Sloane

A link between gun violence on TV and firearm deaths
A hand holding a television remote, pointed at a blurry TV straight ahead. On the TV are many colored boxes signifying many show options.

A link between gun violence on TV and firearm deaths

Research from Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Daniel Romer and Patrick E. Jamieson found that gun use on television doubled from 2000 to 2018, rising in parallel with the proportion of homicides from firearms in the U.S. during the same period.

Michele W. Berger, Michael Rozansky

To improve climate models, an international team turns to archaeological data
map of the united states

The final classification employs an 8x8 kilometer grid scale, large from an archaeological perspective but which allows for consistency. The four maps here show the effect of grid size on data visibility. (Image: Chad Hill, published in PLOS ONE)

To improve climate models, an international team turns to archaeological data

The project, called LandCover6k, offers a new classification system that the researchers hope will improve predictions about the planet’s future and fill in gaps about its past.

Michele W. Berger

In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020
A hospital room with all lights off but the fluorescent light above bed, which has a green blanket. Behind the bed is a hospital tray that swivels and a blue chair. On the yellow wall behind are about 8 outlets.

In the U.S., COVID-19 wasn’t sole cause of excess deaths in 2020

Comparing death rates in the United States with those of the five biggest European countries, Penn and Max Planck demographers found that significant excess mortality cost more lives annually than the epidemic itself.

Michele W. Berger

How do natural disasters shape the behavior and social networks of rhesus macaques?
A pair of tannish colored monkeys. One is laying on the ground covered with leaves and rocks and sticks. The other is grooming the one laying down.

A team of researchers led by Penn neuroscientist Michael Platt had been studying a colony of rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago, a small Puerto Rican island, for a decade when Hurricane Maria hit. The island had been devastated. A massive effort by the team on the ground allowed the work to get back up and running, putting the researchers in a unique position to study how the monkeys’ behavior may have changed in response to an acute natural disaster. (Image: Lauren Brent)

How do natural disasters shape the behavior and social networks of rhesus macaques?

A team of researchers from Penn, the University of Exeter, and elsewhere found that after Hurricane Maria monkeys on the devastated island of Cayo Santiago formed more friendships and became more tolerant of each other, despite fewer resources.

Michele W. Berger

Load More