Researchers led by César de la Fuente of the Perelman School of Medicine have created new peptides that fight hard-to-treat “superbug” infections by punching holes in bacterial cells and stimulating immune cells to signal for more defenders.
(Image: Courtesy of Jianing Bai)
Delivering a one-two punch to superbugs to fight infections
Penn researchers create mirror-image molecules that both kill pathogens outright and rally the immune system—an advance aimed at the growing crisis of antimicrobial resistance.
Image: Courtesy of NASA’s Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory
Penn team develops lifesaving and more cost-effective weather predictions
Penn professor Paris Perdikaris and collaborators developed Aurora, a machine-learning model that has predictive capabilities for air quality, ocean waves, tropical cyclone tracks, and weather.
Lillian Miller (left) graduated as a chemistry and environmental scieces double major in May. This summer, she returns to begin her graduate training in Irina Marinov’s (right), where researchers use big data and computational techniques to make better climate models.
nocred
Lillian Miller: May grad turned Penn Ph.D.
Lillian Miller, a May graduate from the College, will begin graduate studies in the laboratory of Irina Marinov this summer, where she is leveraging big data to tackle ocean and climate-focused research.
Bhuvnesh Jain of the School of Arts & Sciences has teamed up with PIK University Professor René Vidal of the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Engineering and Applied Science to create the AI x Science Fellowship offering postdoctoral researchers across the University opportunities to collaborate across disciplines.
nocred
AI x Science Postdoctoral Fellowship
Bhuvnesh Jain and René Vidal have teamed up to create the AI x Science Fellowship, which builds on the thriving postdoctoral program of the Data Driven Discovery Initiative to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration among researchers across the University.
The soul of an artist, the mind of a mathematician
An artist, author, engineer, mathematician, and mentor, PIK Professor in the School of Arts & Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science Robert Ghrist embraces innovation to enrich each of these roles.
Four faculty have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their innovative contributions to original scientific research. The newly honored scholars are Mark Devlin (top left) from the School of Arts & Sciences and Katalin Karikó (top right), Virginia M.Y. Lee (bottom left), and E. John Wherry III (bottom right) from the Perelman School of Medicine.
nocred
National Academy of Sciences elects four from Penn
The newly elected members, recognized for their innovative contributions to original research, are Mark Devlin of the School of Arts & Sciences and Katalin Karikó, Virginia Lee, and E. John Wherry III of the Perelman School of Medicine.
Melanie Herbert (center), a fourth-year in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, created Sync Labs—an innovative AI solution that addresses caregiving in senior care. Joined by Nami Lindquist (left) of the Wharton School and Penn Engineering and Alex Popescu of Penn Engineering (right) their technology, which has earned them the 2025 President’s Innovation Prize, allows caregivers to see three times more seniors while providing more personalized care.
nocred
Penn students develop AI-driven solution to transform senior care
Fourth-year students Melanie Herbert, Nami Lindquist, and Alexandra Popescu were awarded the President’s Innovation Prize for Sync Labs, a privacy-centered AI system to address the growing caregiving gap in senior care
Wei Guo of the School of Arts & Sciences and colleagues from the Perelman School of Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, and School of Engineering and Applied Science have teamed up to uncover how solid tumors’ complicated microenvironments can manipulate cancer-fighting CAR T cells through extracellular vesicles, causing the engineered CAR T cells to commit fratricide—essentially turning against each other instead of attacking the cancer.
(Image: iStock / Marcin Klapczynski)
Armoring CAR T cells to take on cancer
Wei Guo of the School of Arts & Sciences and colleagues from the Perelman School of Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, and School of Engineering and Applied Science have uncovered how solid tumors manipulate cancer-fighting CAR T cells through extracellular vesicles, causing the engineered CAR T cells to commit fratricide—essentially turning against each other instead of attacking the cancer.
Housed in Meyerson Hall, the Penn Institute for Urban Research (IUR) is a campus-wide enterprise that draws from the collective wisdom of experts around the Penn and beyond to inform urban development and actions on public policy to support the sustainable growth of metros. Now entering its third decade, President Emerita Judith Rodin and Penn IUR co-directors Eugénie Birch and Susan Wachter reflect on the Institute’s history and impact.
nocred
Penn IUR enters its third decade
The Penn Institute for Urban Research enters its second decade. President emerita Judith Rodin and co-directors Eugénie Birch and Susan Wachter reflect on the Institute’s history and impact.
Researchers from Penn have found new cost-effective ways to make a great cup of pour-over coffee using fewer beans. Their findings could potentially provide insights into similar systems such as waterfalls and surface erosion.
