Perelman School of Medicine

Penn Medicine Experts Unveil Two New Ways to Identify Joint Replacement Patients at Risk for Post-Operative Complications

Orthopedic surgeons from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have developed two new prediction tools aimed at identifying total hip and knee replacement patients who are at-risk of developing serious complications after surgery. The first tool identifies patients who have risk factors that should disqualify them from undergoing same-day (outpatient) or short-stay (overnight) total hip and knee replacement procedures, opting instead for traditional recovery pathways in the hospital.

Katie Delach

Penn Medicine Study: In Debated Surgical Procedure, Technique Trumps Technology

A team of orthopedic surgeons from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that modern technology for healing distal femur fractures is as safe and effective as its more established alternative, without a potential shortfall of the older approach.

Katie Delach

New Penn Program Studies the Body’s Cells, One By One

By Sarah Welsh Cancer starts with a single cell going haywire. What is it about that one cell that makes it different from the rest, setting it on a path of destruction? A new program at the University of Pennsylvania may help find an answer to that and many other questions.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Penn Medicine Experts Offer Suggestions for Nudging Children toward Healthier Food Choices

Strategies aimed at reducing childhood obesity should acknowledge individuals’ rational taste preferences and apply insights from behavioral economics to design choice architecture that increases their likelihood of success, say two physician-scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics in an editorial published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Anna Duerr

Penn Medicine: Genomewide Screen of Learning in Zebrafish Identifies Enzyme Important in Neural Circuit

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvaniadescribe the first set of genes important in learning in a zebrafish model in the journal Neuron this week. “Using an in-depth analysis of one of these genes, we have already revealed an important relevant signaling pathway,” says senior author Michael Granato, PhD, a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology. “The proteins in this pathway could provide new insights into the development of novel pharmacological targets.”

Karen Kreeger

Penn Medicine Researchers Pinpoint Potential New Drug Target for Protection against Certain Neurodegenerative Diseases

Penn Medicine researchers have discovered that hypermethylation - the epigenetic ability to turn down or turn off a bad gene implicated in 10 to 30 percent of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) - serves as a protective barrier inhibiting the development of these diseases.  Their work, published this month in Neurology, may suggest a neuroprotective target for drug discovery efforts.

Lee-Ann Donegan

Penn Medicine Study Finds Being Near Greened Vacant Lots Lowers Heart Rates

Greening vacant lots may be associated with biologic reductions in stress, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Residents who walked near newly greened vacant lots had significantly lower heart rates compared to walking near a blighted, or neglected, vacant lot.

Greg Richter

Penn Researchers Describe New Approach to Promote Regeneration of Heart Tissue

The heart tissue of mammals has limited capacity to regenerate after an injury such as a heart attack, in part due to the inability to reactivate a cardiac muscle cell and proliferation program. Recent studies have indicated a low level of cardiac muscle cell (cardiomyocytes) proliferation in adult mammals, but it is insufficient to repair damaged hearts.

Karen Kreeger



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Is there a chemical link to memory loss? Penn researchers get $11M to study dementia causes

The National Institutes of Health have awarded $11 million to Aimin Chen of the Perelman School of Medicine to study the link between chemical exposures and dementia.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

COVID patient who survived coma reunites with Penn care team

A COVID patient who survived his coma recently reunited with the Penn Medicine care team that helped save his life, including Jennifer Olenik of the Perelman School of Medicine.

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CNN

Vaping immediately affects vascular health and oxygen levels, study shows, even without nicotine

Research published by Marianne Nabbout while a resident at the Perelman School of Medicine finds that vaping has an immediate effect on blood vessels even if an e-cigarette doesn’t contain nicotine.

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Fox 29 (Philadelphia)

Former patient gives thanks to PA hospital staff after surviving coma, COVID-19 battle

A former COVID patient who spent six months in a coma returned to thank the Penn Medicine team that contributed to his survival, including Megan Carr-Lettieri.

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Forbes

Insomnia may be more common than you think. Here’s what to know

According to Penn Medicine, about 1 in 4 Americans experiences difficulty with sleep each year.

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