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20 breakthroughs of 2025
Masoud Akbarzadeh holding up one of the fabricated materials.

The Polyhedral Structures Laboratory is housed at the Pennovation Center and brings together designers, engineers, and computer scientists to reimagine the built world. Using graphic statics, a method where forces are mapped as lines, they design forms that balance compression and tension. These result in structures that use far fewer materials while remaining strong and efficient.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

20 breakthroughs of 2025

From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.

5 min. read

Startup recognized for milestones in cancer care
Marco Ruella in the Ruella Lab, collaborating with two lab technicians. Ruella is wearing a white lab coat and holding up a chemical sample. Two of his colleagues are observing the sample.

Marco Ruella, associate professor of medicine at PSOM and hematologist-oncologist at Penn Medicine, collaborates with his colleagues in the Ruella Lab.

nocred

Startup recognized for milestones in cancer care

During the Penn Center for Innovation’s 10th annual Celebration of Innovation, viTToria Biotherapeutics was presented with the Startup of the Year Award for its remarkable progress in the development of promising treatment of T-cell lymphoma.

4 min. read

Identifying genes that keep cancer from spreading
Immunofluorescent view of a normal colon on the left and a colon tumor on the right.

Histopathology tissue sections of the normal colon (left) showing highly organized cell-cell junctions (red) and proliferative zones (green) in colonic crypts. In contrast, a colon adenocarcinoma (right) is highly disorganized, with inconsistent cell junctions that can ultimately contribute to metastatic dissemination.

(Image: Maggie Robertson)

Identifying genes that keep cancer from spreading

Using a novel approach, Penn Vet’s Chris Lengner and M. Andrés Blanco and colleagues have identified two genes that suppress colorectal cancer metastasis.

3 min. read

New CAR T strategy targets most common form of heart disease
a close-up view of a coronary artery with cholesterol plaque signifying cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis

Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

New CAR T strategy targets most common form of heart disease

Preclinical research from investigators at Penn Medicine shows that experimental CAR T cells block inflammation in arteries, preventing more than two-thirds of the plaque buildup seen in untreated controls.

2 min. read

A serendipitous find leads to lifesaving discoveries
Fluorescent imaging of glioblastoma under a microscope.

Image: Kyosuke Shishikura

A serendipitous find leads to lifesaving discoveries

A Penn-led team has revealed a how hydralazine, one of the world’s oldest blood pressure drugs and a mainstay treatment for preeclampsia, works at the molecular level. In doing so, they made a surprising discovery—it can also halt the growth of aggressive brain tumors.

3 min. read

2025 Basser Center Awards

2025 Basser Center Awards

The Basser Center for BRCA at the Abramson Cancer Center has announced two awards for 2025. Ephrat Levy-Lahad of Shaare Zedek Medical Center and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the recipient of the 2025 Basser Global Prize for her BRCA1 and BRCA2-related research. Alan D. D’Andrea of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is awarded the 2025 BRCA Impact Award for his research in in cancer genetics.