Perelman School of Medicine

Penn chemists develop 'motion capture' technology for tracking protein shape

In many modern animated movies, the trick to achieving realistic movements for individual characters and objects lies in motion-capture technology. This process often involves someone wearing a tracking suit covered in small, colored balls while a camera captures the position of those colored balls, which is then used to represent how the person is moving.

Ali Sundermier

Study uncovers therapeutic targets for aggressive triple-negative breast cancers

As part of a breast-cancer diagnosis, doctors analyze the tumor to determine which therapies might best attack the malignancy. But for patients whose cancer is triple-negative — that is, lacking receptors for estrogen, progesterone and Her2 — the options for treatment dwindle. Triple-negative cancers, or TNBC, also tend to be more aggressive than other cancer subtypes.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Penn-led Team Uncovers the Physiology Behind the Hour-long Mating Call of Midshipman Fish

According to the Guinness World Records, the longest any person has held a continuous vocal note is just shy of two minutes. That’s quite an achievement.Compared to the Pacific midshipman fish, however, the endurance of the human vocal cord is no match. Midshipman fish can generate a mating call that emits continuously from their bodies for a full hour.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Weekly Fish Consumption Linked to Better Sleep, Higher IQ

Children who eat fish at least once a week sleep better and have IQ scores that are 4 points higher, on average, according to new findings from the University of Pennsylvania published in Scientific Reports.

Michele W. Berger

FDA Approves Gene Therapy for Inherited Blindness Developed by Penn and CHOP

In a historic move, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved a gene therapy initially developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for the treatment of a rare, inherited form of retinal blindness.

Katie Delach



In the News


Fox 29 (Philadelphia)

Cannabis reclassification could be game-changer for U.S. drug policy

Michael Cirigliano of the Perelman School of Medicine says that marijuana deserves to be removed from the same category as LSD, heroin, and fentanyl.

FULL STORY →



The Washington Post

Americans are sleeping more than ever. See how you compare

Mathias Basner of the Perelman School of Medicine says that work and traveling are the major sleep killers, with the majority of traveling being commuting to and from work.

FULL STORY →



Newsweek

Man does DNA test, not prepared for what comes back ‘unusually high’

César de la Fuente of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Perelman School of Medicine says that Neanderthal DNA provides insights into human evolution, population dynamics, and genetic adaptations, including correlations with traits such as immunity and susceptibility to diseases.

FULL STORY →



Philadelphia Inquirer

Cardiac arrest recoveries are great stories, but they’re rare. We can fix that

In an opinion essay, Raina Merchant of the Perelman School of Medicine says that low survival rates for cardiac arrest can be improved by increasing rates of CPR.

FULL STORY →



Women’s Health

How does fat leave the body? Experts explain the weight loss process

Colleen Tewksbury of the School of Nursing and Perelman School of Medicine says that waist circumference is a more accessible and potentially more helpful measure for fat loss than stepping on a scale.

FULL STORY →