Perelman School of Medicine

Nearly five million Americans live with heart failure, with as many as 700,000 new cases diagnosed each year. In addition to lifestyle factors, scientists have shown that heart failure has a strong heritable component, but identifying the responsible genes has been a major challenge.

(PHILADELPHIA) – Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the single largest cause of death in adults in the United States. Until recently, the genetic basis of CAD has been largely unknown, with just a few proven genes (typically genes for cholesterol disorders) accounting for very little of the disease in the population.

(PHILADELPHIA) – The discovery that high levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good cholesterol”) is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease has fostered intensive research to modify HDL levels for therapeutic gain.

PHILADELPHIA – Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) are characterized by protein clumps in brain and spinal-cord cells that include an RNA-binding protein called TDP-43. This protein is the major building block of the lesions formed by these clumps.

PHILADELPHIA – Given the amount of angst over male pattern balding, surprisingly little is known about its cause at the cellular level.

PHILADELPHIA – Penn Medicine has been selected as one of seven adult field trial sites to test proposed diagnostic criteria for the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

PHILADELPHIA - A team from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Utrecht University has deciphered a key step in an evolutionarily old branch of the immune response. This system, called complement, comprises a network of proteins that “complement” the work of antibodies in destroying foreign invaders.

PHILADELPHIA – Overexpression or hyperactivation of ErbB cell-surface receptors drives the growth of many breast cancers. Drugs, like Herceptin, that block the receptors’ signals halt tumor progression in some patients. However, not all patients’ tumors respond, with some becoming resistant over time.

PHILADELPHIA - The Penn Transplant Institute, the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Division of Plastic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) have collaborated to form the Penn Hand Transplant Program.

(SAN ANTONIO) -- Weightlifting may play a key role in a program to prevent the painful limb-swelling condition lymphedema following breast cancer treatment, according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.