News from

School of Arts & Sciences

Visit the School's Site
Reset All Filters
3734 Results
Steven J. Fluharty to step down as dean of Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences
Steve Fluharty seated at a table with hands folded.

Steven J. Fluharty, Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience and dean of the School of Arts & Sciences.

(Image: Lisa J. Godfrey)

Steven J. Fluharty to step down as dean of Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences

The Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Psychology, Pharmacology, and Neuroscience has served as dean since 2013, concluding his term as the longest-serving dean in the history of the School of Arts & Sciences.

Novel coupled nanopore platform offers greater precision for detecting molecules
Artist depiction of DNA moving through a nanopore system.

Marija Drndić of the School of Arts & Sciences and Dimitri Monos of the Perelman School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia led a team of researchers who developed a new nanostructure platform that allows for more precise detection and control of biomolecules, such as DNA and proteins. This exciting new platform signals a new era of synthetic biology, paving the way for enhanced DNA sequencing and protein conformation detection.

(Image: Courtesy of artist) 

Novel coupled nanopore platform offers greater precision for detecting molecules

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Penn have created the first ever reusable coupled nanopore platform for detecting and guiding molecules, findings could pave the way for much improved DNA sequencing and molecule identification.
Understanding diabetes and oral health
Two students in lab coats surround a professor in a suit.

From left: Su Ah Kim, professor of periodontics Dana Graves, and Sanan Gueyikian.

nocred

Understanding diabetes and oral health

Two undergraduates, supported by PURM, worked on research projects this summer with the Graves Lab to contribute to the knowledge of diabetes’ impact on oral wound healing and periodontal disease.
Boosting the frequency of sound waves to make the next generation of wireless devices
Researchers in a clean room pointing at a microscope.

Under the guidance of Yue Jiang(left), a Ph.D. candidate in the Charlie Johnson research group in the School of Arts & Sciences, Vincent Kerler (right) conducted this work through the Penn Undergraduate Researching Mentoring Program, a 10-week opportunity from the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. The program provides rising second- and third-year students with $5,000 awards to work alongside Penn faculty.

nocred

Boosting the frequency of sound waves to make the next generation of wireless devices

Vincent Kerler, a second-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences, spent the summer running simulations as part of Charlie Johnson’s research on topological insulators.
How food moves around cities
Penn students walking through Norris Square Neighborhood Project’s community garden.

(On homepage) Students walk through the Norris Square Neighborhood Project’s community garden.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

How food moves around cities

Domenic Vitiello, an urban and regional planning expert, teaches classes that invite students to locations in and around Philadelphia to better understand how its denizens dine.

5 min. read

As the world warms, how are young people feeling?
A young person pouring water over their head.

Image: Courtesy of Environmental Innovations Initiative

As the world warms, how are young people feeling?

Climate scientist Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences and Annenberg School for Communication leads a research community that aims to understand climate anxiety and improve climate communication.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

The impact of small seminars for new college students
A Penn professor leading a seminar to a class of first-year students.

Melissa Jensen, a lecturer in the Department of English, in her first-year seminar Juvenilia, which ran for the first in the fall semester in 2023.

nocred

The impact of small seminars for new college students

Sixty first-year seminars offer complex subjects in a comfortable group setting, as well as close connections to professors and peers. This year, 10 are also taking part in a pilot program focused on teaching students how to have respectful dialogue around difficult topics.

Michele W. Berger

Understanding the cellular mechanisms driving solid tumors’ robust defense system
A 3D rendering of the tumor microenvironment with cancer cells, T-Cells, nanoparticles, cancer associated fibroblast layer of tumor microenvironment normal cells, molecules, and blood vessels.

In a collaborative interdisciplinary study, Michael Mitchell of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Wei Guo of the School of Arts & Sciences, and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine show that solid tumors can block drug-delivery mechanisms with a “forcefield-like” effect but certain genetic elements that can effectively “shut down” the forcefield. Their findings hint at new targets for delivering cancer treatments that use the body’s immune system to fight tumors.

(Image: iStock / CIPhotos)

Understanding the cellular mechanisms driving solid tumors’ robust defense system

Researchers from Penn have identified a “forcefield-like” defense system in solid tumors and the genetic elements that can switch it off.
The mechanics of collaboration
Portrait of Xinlan Emily Hu

nocred

The mechanics of collaboration

Penn Ph.D. student Xinlan Emily Hu leads a group of budding engineers and social scientists who study communication across teams. The group has developed a new toolkit aimed at helping researchers analyze and measure teamwork.