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Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases
Two people in front of two computer monitors. The person moving the mouse is sitting. The other person stands watching.

Sébastien Tremblay (front), a postdoctoral fellow in the Platt Labs, works in a specialized field of neuroscience called optogenetics, which shows clinical promise for treating conditions like epilepsy. To foster the open exchange of information, Tremblay spearheaded a crowd-sourced, free database that includes data from 45 labs in nine countries. (Pre-pandemic image: Kevin Monko)

Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases

The specialized field of neuroscience, optogenetics, shows clinical promise for conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson’s. But before human trials can get fully underway, the field must better understand a crucial intermediate step, aided by 45 labs in nine countries sharing information.

Michele W. Berger

Latin American Green New Deal
Two workers labor in an industrial site

Workers labor inside the lithium plant at Llipi, on the Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia. (Image: Tom Perreault, pre-pandemic.)

Latin American Green New Deal

Daniel Aldana Cohen, an assistant professor of sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences, organized and moderated an event on the Latin American Green New Deal, rethinking recession recovery and carbon emissions reduction.

Kristina Linnea García

Securing the future of independent news
Facade of New York Times building with lettering on the face of the building.

Securing the future of independent news

New York Times outgoing CEO Mark Thompson discusses threats to the news business and how it can fight back

Kristen de Groot

England, Wales, Scotland among nations with highest death toll from COVID-19 pandemic
Person wearing a face mask riding a bike with the London cityscape in the background.

England, Wales, Scotland among nations with highest death toll from COVID-19 pandemic

An international team including Penn demographer Michel Guillot found that from mid-February through May, 21 industrialized nations combined saw an 18% increase in deaths, or 206,000 more people dying from all causes than would have been expected had the pandemic not occurred.

Michele W. Berger

Indigenous views of Christopher Columbus
A fallen statue of Columbus lays on the ground in the foreground, and two people hold up an End White Supremacy sign in the background.

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Indigenous views of Christopher Columbus

Members of Penn’s Indigenous community discuss their views of Christopher Columbus and how Indigenous people have suffered from Columbus-style colonialism.
Presidential health and contested elections
White House seen with stormy clouds overhead.

The president's recent coronavirus diagnosis has prompted questions about the 25th Amendment.

  • Q&A

    • Presidential health and contested elections

    Political scientist Rogers Smith gives some background on why the 25th Amendment was established, who can invoke it, and what happens if an election’s results are contested by a sitting president.

    Kristen de Groot

    Fostering kittens, plus more Side Gigs for Good
    A dog sitting on a couch, with a kitten nuzzled in its lap.

    This summer, Morgan Hoke in Penn’s Anthropology department fostered four kittens, including Finch seen here, cuddling with Hoke’s dog Nuna. (Image: Courtesy Morgan Hoke)

    Fostering kittens, plus more Side Gigs for Good

    Around nearly any corner, the Penn community’s selflessness shines through, despite months apart due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Katherine Unger Baillie , Michele W. Berger

    Dueling proteins give shape to plants
    Green and red close up images of plants

    (Image: Wagner laboratory)

    Dueling proteins give shape to plants

    Research led by Doris Wager of the School of Arts & Sciences, together with postdoc Yang Zhu and graduate student Samantha Klasfeld, reveals an antagonistic relationship behind flower development.

    Katherine Unger Baillie , Katherine Unger Baillie

    Mary Frances Berry, a ‘woman of the century’
    portrait of woman with cropped hair and glasses

    Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and a professor of history and Africana studies. (Image: Jim Abbott)

    Mary Frances Berry, a ‘woman of the century’

    In a profile, the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History discusses her history as an adviser on education and civil rights, and today’s protest movements.

    From Penn IUR