Perelman School of Medicine

Person sitting at a table with blurry people in front and a screen hanging on the wall behind, which reads, "Experiential effects on brain development."

Five insights into how the brain works

As the Center for Neuroscience & Society celebrates 10 years, founding director Martha Farah reflects on the array of research from its faculty, on subjects from brain games to aggression.

a gloved hand holds a glass film with blood sample underneath beneath a microscope

Looking into the immune system to better fight disease

A rare, short-lived population of immune cells in the bloodstream may serve as ‘periscopes’ to monitor immune status via lymph nodes deep inside the body, researchers say.

The Huh lab’s eye-on-a-chip attached to a motorized, gelatin-based eyelid.

Blinking eye-on-a-chip used for disease modeling and drug testing

Penn Engineering’s Dan Huh and Jeongyun Seo built an eye model that could imitate a healthy eye and an eye with dry eye disease, allowing them to test an experimental drug without risk of human harm.

Three stages of Alzheimers portrayed by three scans of neurons

The brain’s amyloid buildup is not a powerful indicator of Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers find fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET, which measures the brain’s glucose consumption as a marker of neural activity, is a better indicator of cognitive performance when compared to PET scans that detect amyloid proteins.

A cohort study comes of age

For nearly two decades, a major national study of kidney disease led and coordinated at Penn has defined key risk factors in an all-too-common silent epidemic.

A smiling person sits as one person touches his closed hand, another looks at part of a robotic device, and a third looks on at a laptop on a table in a medical room.

Sun, sand, and medical rehab robots

As part of a new interdisciplinary Penn Global Seminar, 16 undergraduates traveled to Jamaica to test and refine robotic rehabilitation devices for patients in need.

person in wheelchair looks out the window, elder in an eldercare facility with a lack of nurses present.

Nursing home nurses lack time and resources for complete care

Evidence from hospitals has shown for years that nurses are more likely to leave necessary patient care undone when employed in settings with insufficient staff and resources. This “missed care” has been linked to poor care quality.

Taking out the protein garbage becomes more difficult as neurons age

As cells age, their ability to remove damaged proteins and structures declines, which could be a risk factor for neurodegenerative brain diseases.

20 brain scans showing regions affected by neurological damage.

Brain matter altered in U.S. personnel who developed neurological symptoms in Cuba

Images reveal key brain differences, particularly in the cerebellum, between impacted patients and healthy individuals, which may underlie clinical findings previously reported by the Penn team.

A rendering of a plasma cell lymphocyte.

A new cancer drug, thanks to a new approach

Researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center helped bring new hope to patients with multiple myeloma with a drug that targets the command center of a cancer cell.

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