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Vaccine conversations go door-to-door
Yuhnis Syndor stands on the steps holding a clipboard and wearing a mask, speaking to Cristal LaTorre on their front porch with two children.

Canvasser Yuhnis Syndor, 57, speaks to Cristal LaTorre, 35, about the vaccine in West Philadelphia, PA, on May 20, 2021. (Image: Penn Medicine Service in Action)

Vaccine conversations go door-to-door

Canvasser with the West Philadelphia Vaccine Street Team Pilot Program go door to door to dispel misinformation and show their neighbors that vaccination is safe, by example.

From Penn Medicine Service in Action

Pandemic preparedness, three years early
Students work at a table covered with paper, water bottles and markers.

Participants in the first PennDemic, which took place in 2018, lay out a timeline of the “outbreak.” Two additional simulations have since taken place, with one more scheduled for this coming fall.

Pandemic preparedness, three years early

In a Q&A, team members behind the outbreak simulation PennDemic discuss how the exercise, now in its fourth iteration, equipped an interdisciplinary group of grad students for COVID-19 and beyond.

Michele W. Berger

The pandemic, health inequities, and an ‘opportunity for change’
covid global map

As a global pandemic, COVID-19 spread across the world. But it didn’t hit everyone equally. “Being healthy is essential to human flourishing,” says Jennifer Prah Ruger, who advocates for shared norms in health governance to address global inequalities. (Image: Martin Sanchez, also featured on homepage)

The pandemic, health inequities, and an ‘opportunity for change’

Experts across the University weigh in on which lessons the pandemic drove home and what immediate measures are needed to prevent future loss.
Advocating reimbursement parity for nurse practitioners
Four nurses in gowns and masks standing smiling in a row.

Advocating reimbursement parity for nurse practitioners

The current Medicare reimbursement policy for nurse practitioners allows them to directly bill Medicare for services that they perform, but they are reimbursed at only 85% of the physician rate. A new Penn Nursing article argues that payment parity is essential.

From Penn Nursing News

Dolores Albarracín appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor
Dolores Albarracín

Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor Dolores Albarracín is the Alexandra Heyman Nash University Professor, director of the Social Action Lab at the Annenberg School for Communication, and the director of the Science of Science Communication Division at the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

(Image: Courtesy of the School of Arts & Sciences)

Dolores Albarracín appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor

Albarracín will be the Alexandra Heyman Nash University Professor, with joint appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication and the Department of Family and Community Health in the School of Nursing. 
2021 cohort of Postdoctoral Fellows for Academic Diversity named
a photograph of Penn's college hall framed by green leaves during the summer

The Office of the Vice Provost for Research announces the 2021 cohort of Penn’s Postdoctoral Fellows for Academic Diversity, the largest in the program’s history thus far. This fellowship program is designed to help postdocs advance their careers while enriching the community of scholars here at Penn. 

2021 cohort of Postdoctoral Fellows for Academic Diversity named

The competitive program, managed by Office of the Vice Provost for Research, is designed to support early career researchers and scholars while enriching the Penn community.

Erica K. Brockmeier

A mental health checkup for children and adolescents, a year into COVID
A young person wearing a mask and polka dot t-shirt leaning against a faux wooden wall.

A mental health checkup for children and adolescents, a year into COVID

As a whole, this group experienced a significant short-term psychological toll. Though the long-term consequences aren’t yet known, particularly given how the year disproportionately exacerbated adverse childhood experiences, Penn experts remain cautiously optimistic.

Michele W. Berger

Minimum nurse-to-patient ratios policy saves lives and lowers costs
Three masked nurses in scrubs and one masked doctor standing in a line smiling and clapping.

Minimum nurse-to-patient ratios policy saves lives and lowers costs

A new study shows that a policy establishing minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in hospitals saves lives, prevents readmissions, shortens hospital stays, and reduces costs.

From Penn Nursing News

Commencement 2021: By the numbers
aerial view of people standing on field to spell out 2021

Commencement 2021: By the numbers

On Monday, May 17, Penn honors the Class of 2021 with a hybrid 265th Commencement celebration. Penn Today takes a look at some of the facts and figures associated with the graduating class.
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