A unique but exemplary academic year: 2020-21 in review
A challenging yet successful year—Penn’s exceptional community of dedicated students, faculty, and staff overcame the world’s most significant obstacles to flourish, from outreach locally through volunteerism, to helping the world globally with mRNA technology. The 2021 academic year highlighted the best of Penn.
Penn’s 265th Commencement honored students who are defined by their inspiring growth, unrivaled resilience, gracious appreciation, and undoubted ability to create a better future for us all.
Melissa G. Hunt is the associate director of clinical training in the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences. She is also author of the book “Reclaim Your Life from IBS: A Scientifically Proven Plan for Relief without Restrictive Diets.”
A more effective at-home treatment for IBS
In a randomized control trial, researchers found that after eight weeks, participants with irritable bowel syndrome who used an app focused on cognitive behavioral therapy experienced better health-related quality of life, fewer GI symptoms, and less anxiety.
Penn Integrates Knowledge professor Michael Platt holds appointments in the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences, the Department of Neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine, and the Marketing Department in the Wharton School.
A modified game of ‘chicken’ reveals what happens in the brain during decision-making
Research from the Platt Labs found that in rhesus macaques, two regions of the brain mirror those of similar regions in humans, broadening the understanding of what unfolds, neurologically, when people interact and cooperate.
The lab of neuroscientist Johannes Burge (above) focuses on how the human visual system processes the images that fall on the back of the eye. This line of work, closely related to a 100-year-old illusion called the Pulfrich effect, could have serious public safety and public health implications.
One step closer to a clinical fix for the side effects of monovision
Monovision counters the deterioration of the ability to see up close but also causes dramatic visual distortions. New research confirms that a solution that successfully works with trial lenses—the special lenses used by eye doctors—also succeeds with contact lenses.
Sébastien Tremblay (front), a postdoctoral fellow in the Platt Labs, works in a specialized field of neuroscience called optogenetics, which shows clinical promise for treating conditions like epilepsy. To foster the open exchange of information, Tremblay spearheaded a crowd-sourced, free database that includes data from 45 labs in nine countries. (Pre-pandemic image: Kevin Monko)
Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases
The specialized field of neuroscience, optogenetics, shows clinical promise for conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson’s. But before human trials can get fully underway, the field must better understand a crucial intermediate step, aided by 45 labs in nine countries sharing information.
Exhibition showcases the brilliance of Black women writers
A major exhibition and symposium organized by two Penn graduate students highlighting African American women literature is open in the Penn Libraries’ Kamin Gallery.
SEPTA’s University City transit hub gets a new name
The Regional Rail Station serving University City will become Penn Medicine Station, just in time for the final stage of construction on Penn Medicine’s newest hospital, the Pavilion.
Virginia Man-Yee Lee leads a team of researchers at Penn’s Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, investigating the causes of disorders that occur more frequently with advancing age.
An Alzheimer’s research pioneer, right here at Penn
Virginia Man-Yee Lee, a professor and researcher at the Perelman School of Medicine, is the 2020 recipient of a Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, earning $3 million for her innovative, inspiring work that could one day cure various neurodegenerative diseases.
