Deborah Burnham has led the Writing a Life group since 2015.
(Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine News)
She helps patients find their words to cast a spell on cancer
Even before she experienced cancer herself, Deborah Burnham had a knack for “magical” prompts to help patients write through their illness at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center.
Penn Today spoke with David Meaney, vice provost for research, about research at Penn—its current focus and plans for its growth and evolution in the continued quest to help make lives better.
Award-winning presidential historian and scholar Michael Beschloss will be receiving an honorary doctor of letters degree at Penn’s 270th Commencement.
(Image: Stephen Voss)
Historian, scholar, and best-selling author Michael Beschloss to speak at Penn’s 270th Commencement
At the Commencement ceremony on Monday, May 18, Beschloss will receive an honorary degree, along with the other 2026 Penn honorary degree recipients.
Connecting patients to public benefits works better with texts than paper flyers
New research from Penn Medicine finds that automated texts in the 14 days following emergency department discharge leads to higher enrollment in programs like SNAP and energy assistance.
In February 2025, Alicia Meyer showed students in Elly Truitt’s Technology & Society course a rare 19th-century book of hours woven from silk on a Jacquard loom, an Egyptian clay tablet from 400 BCE, an astronomical rotula used to predict the movement of heavenly bodies, posters from Central America made on sugarcane paper, and more.
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Who, What, Why: Alicia Meyer on the wonders of the Kislak Center
As curator of research services, Meyer wants students from every discipline to visit the Kislak Center and to find new insights from old materials.
Researchers, including Rahul Singh (left), in the Daniell lab’s greenhouse where the production of clinical grade transgenic lettuce occurs.
(Image: Henry Daniell)
Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form.
“When there are challenges, we have a role to play in solving them. It’s important to be upbeat about the future,” say Mark Trodden, dean of Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences.
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Four ways Penn Arts & Sciences is looking to the future
With “SAS Horizons: Pathways for a Changing World,” the School charts a course to navigate challenging waters.
ADA Living Guideline Program releases first set of recommendations on early oral cancer detection
The living guideline on the early detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma is produced through a collaboration between the American Dental Association and Penn Dental Medicine’s Center for Integrative Global Oral Health.
$10M gift establishes the King Center for Lynch Syndrome at Penn Medicine
The gift from Jeffery and Cynthia King and Jason and Julie Borrelli creates a comprehensive center at Penn Medicine for one of the most common genetic conditions that increases the risk of developing cancer.
