School of Veterinary Medicine

PHILADELPHIA — When a virus such as influenza invades our bodies, interferon proteins are among the first immune molecules produced to fight off the attack. Interferon can also play a role in suppressing tumor growth and the effects of autoimmune diseases, and doctors may use an artificial form of interferon to treat patients with certain cancers or multiple sclerosis.

PHILADELPHIA — Six professors from the University of Pennsylvania, representing four schools, have been elected members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine.

Anyone who has had a pet instinctively knows what several physical and mental health studies have shown: people who have a companion animal have lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression than the general population.

PHILADELPHIA — The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has been added to the list of United Way charities to which individuals in the Philadelphia area may donate as part of a workplace campaign.

PHILADELPHIA — We couldn’t live without our immune systems, always tuned to detect and eradicate invading pathogens and particles. But sometimes the immune response goes overboard, triggering autoimmune diseases like lupus, asthma or inflammatory bowel disease.

PHILADELPHIA — Dogs with hemangiosarcoma that were treated with a compound derived from the Coriolus versicolor mushroom had the longest survival times ever reported for dogs with the disease. These promising findings offer hope that the compound may one day offer cancer patients — human and canine alike — a viable alternative or complementary treatment to traditional chemotherapies.

On Saturday, September 8 the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) will host a free, open-to-the-public lecture called “Losing a Pet and the Grieving Process” at Penn Vet in Philadelphia, PA.

On Friday, August 24 and Saturday, August 25, some of the brightest minds will convene on Penn Vet’s campus to honor Ralph L. Brinster, VMD, PhD, Richard King Mellon Professor of Reproductive Physiology at Penn Vet.

Gently placing the stethoscope against the golden retriever’s furry rib cage, a woman listens intently through the earpiece. “Lungs auscult clear,” she declares — veterinarian-speak for a healthy-sounding respiratory system.

PHILADELPHIA — By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement strategy to track down parasites that is similar to strategies that predators such as monkeys, sharks and blue-fin tu