School of Dental Medicine

President Amy Gutmann today announced the launch of the Penn Center for Innovation, a new initiative that will provide the infrastructure, leadership and resources needed to transfer promising Penn inventions, know-how and related assets into the marketplace for the public good.   

Nearly half of all adults in the United States suffer from the gum disease periodontitis, and 8.5 percent have a severe form that can raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and pregnancy complications.

Stimulation of a certain population of neurons within the brain can alter the learning process, according to a team of neuroscientists and neurosurgeons at the University of Pennsylvania. A report in the Journal of Neuroscience describes for the first time that human learning can be modified by stimulation of dopamine-containing neurons in a deep brain structure known as the substantia nigra.

WHO:             Penn Dental Medicine WHAT:            6th Annual Philadelphia Oral Cancer Walk & 5K

Patients with leukocyte adhesion deficiency, or LAD, suffer from frequent bacterial infections, including the severe gum disease known as periodontitis. These patients often lose their teeth early in life.

Early childhood caries involve a highly aggressive and painful form of tooth decay that frequently occurs in preschool children, especially those who come from backgrounds of poverty. The resulting decay can become so severe that treatment frequently requires surgery.

WHO:            Henry Daniell                      Professor of Biochemistry and Pathology

John Legend, a nine-time Grammy Award-winning soul artist, philanthropist and Penn alumnus will deliver the address at the University of Pennsylvania’s Commencement on Monday, May 19, Leslie Laird Kruhly, Vice President and University Secretary announced.

By Marjorie FerroneWith a craving to “see dentistry beyond the domestic boundaries,” Tina Chou, a second-year student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, seized the opportunity to advance dentistry in The Gambia in a unique internship opportunity this past summer.

The body is structured to ensure that any invading organisms have a tough time reaching the brain, an organ obviously critical to survival. Known as the blood-brain barrier, cells that line the brain and spinal cord are tightly packed, making it difficult for anything besides very small molecules to cross from the bloodstream into the central nervous system.