School of Veterinary Medicine

Adult stem cells represent a sort of blank clay from which a myriad of different cell and tissue types are molded and as such are of critical importance to health, ageing and disease.  In tissues that turn over rapidly, such as the intestines, the self-renewing nature of stem cells and their susceptibility to cancer-causing mutations has led researchers to postulate that

Patients who are critically ill, be they dog, cat or human, have a tendency toward blood clotting disorders. When the formation of a clot takes too long, it puts them at risk of uncontrolled bleeding. But the other extreme is also dangerous; if blood clots too readily and a clot travels to the lungs, brain or heart, it can lead to organ failure or even death.

A doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania has identified a new species of fossil dog. The specimen, found in Maryland, would have roamed the coast of eastern North America approximately 12 million years ago, at a time when massive sharks like megalodon swam in the oceans.

The human placenta is an organ unlike any other. During the course of nine months it is formed by the embryo, sustains life and then is shed.

Three graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania have been selected as Medical Research Fellows by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Atopic dermatitis, or AD, a chronic inflammatory skin condition and the most common form of eczema, is estimated to afflict as much as 10 percent of the population in the United States, and it is much more common now than it was 50 years ago. Veterinary clinical estimates also show that approximately 10 percent of dogs have atopic dermatitis.

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology has recognized the University of Pennsylvania’s William Beltran with the ARVO Foundation’s 2016 

Possessing two X chromosomes is a double-edged sword, immunologically speaking. Females are better at fighting off infection than males, but they are also more susceptible to many autoimmune conditions, such as lupus.

Until relatively recently, the dogma in neuroscience was that neurons, including the eye’s photoreceptor cells, rods and cones, do not regenerate. This is the reason that nerve damage is thought to be so grave. More recent studies have poked holes in this belief by showing that, in some vertebrate species, neurons can be stimulated to divide.

What can a scattering of dead pigeons mean for human health? Sometimes, a lot.