Coronavirus

Why COVID misinformation continues to spread

Penn Medicine’s Anish Agarwal discusses why false claims about the virus and vaccines arise and persist, plus what he hopes will come from NIH-funded research he and Penn Engineering’s Sharath Chandra Guntuku have recently begun.

Michele W. Berger

Pregnancy, childbirth, the pandemic, and stress

For two years, the interdisciplinary Project IGNITE has followed 1,000 pregnant individuals and their children to learn more about what role environmental factors play in preterm birth, poor pregnancy outcomes, and social and emotional development.

Michele W. Berger

Chewing to curb COVID

Penn Medicine will conduct a new clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a chewing gum designed by School of Dental Medicine researchers to trap SARS-CoV-2 in the saliva.

Katherine Unger Baillie



In the News


The New York Times

Experts see lessons for next pandemic as COVID emergency comes to an end

According to PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel, the pandemic has shown that officials should think carefully about school closures and keep them as limited as possible to avoid negative educational impact.

FULL STORY →



The New York Times

Scientist revisits data on raccoon dogs and COVID, stressing the unknowns

Frederic Bushman of the Perelman School of Medicine doesn’t think that a new study reexamining genetic material proves that infected raccoon dogs were the origin of COVID.

FULL STORY →



Stat

The NIH has poured $1 billion into long COVID research—with little to show for it

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel says that the National Institutes of Health have nothing to show for a billion dollars’ worth of research on long COVID.

FULL STORY →



ABC27 (Harrisburg)

COVID death rate higher for young people

A Penn analysis discovered that people aged 25-54 had a higher COVID death rate than people 55 and older.

FULL STORY →



The New York Times

Wuhan market samples contained COVID and animal mixtures, report says

Frederic Bushman of the Perelman School of Medicine says that the report finding COVID-infected raccoon dogs in China had sound methods but isn’t absolute proof that the animals were the source of the pandemic.

FULL STORY →



Los Angeles Times

How immune are we? Why answering this question is essential for post-pandemic life

Paul Offit of the Perelman School of Medicine believes that the government’s strategy of repeated COVID vaccine booster shots is probably unnecessary for all except patients with weakened immune systems.

FULL STORY →