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Coronavirus Research
Five things to know about this year’s ‘tripledemic’
Five things to know about this year’s ‘tripledemic’
The Perelman School of Medicine’s E. John Wherry and Scott Hensley discuss the season’s confluence of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV and how our bodies are responding.
How sex differences may influence lung injury
How sex differences may influence lung injury
Comparing lung cells from male and female mice, School of Veterinary Medicine scientists found gene expression differences that may explain why older males are at a higher risk than females for worse outcomes from COVID-19 and similar diseases.
Our 15 favorite stories from 2022
Our 15 favorite stories from 2022
From interdisciplinary research and life-changing discoveries to a new University president and everything in between, this year at Penn has been one for the books.
A target for improving recovery from lung injury
A target for improving recovery from lung injury
After a bout of severe respiratory disease, some patients never fully recover. New research from the School of Veterinary Medicine identifies a factor responsible for inappropriate tissue regrowth after infection, pointing to a possible therapeutic target.
For ‘spirit of innovation,’ three from Penn named National Academy of Inventors Fellows
For ‘spirit of innovation,’ three from Penn named National Academy of Inventors Fellows
Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine were honored with the recognition.
The pandemic’s impact on individual generosity
The pandemic’s impact on individual generosity
How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect people’s volunteering, donating, and helping behaviors? A report by SP2 faculty and students summarizes a nationally representative study aiming to answer this question.
Pre-pandemic conspiratorial mindset predicted hesitance to accept COVID-19 vaccine
Pre-pandemic conspiratorial mindset predicted hesitance to accept COVID-19 vaccine
A new study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds that people who evinced a conspiracy mentality in 2019, prior to the pandemic, were subsequently more likely to believe COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
What U.S. adults know and believe about polio and the bivalent COVID booster
What U.S. adults know and believe about polio and the bivalent COVID booster
A new survey finds that while Americans say they do not have concerns about the safety or effectiveness of the bivalent COVID booster, they show much less acceptance of it than the vaccines against polio or monkeypox.
Unpacking barriers to COVID-19 vaccination in Latino communities
Unpacking barriers to COVID-19 vaccination in Latino communities
A study from Penn Nursing and others finds that for Latino or Hispanic populations in the U.S. four main barriers come into play: access to health care services, money, immigration concerns, and misinformation.
Hands-on medical simulation, simplified
Hands-on medical simulation, simplified
Elizabeth Sanseau of CHOP and Annenberg’s Kyle Cassidy discuss Annenberg Hotkeys, a medical simulator developed during the pandemic to remotely prepare health care providers for emergency situations.
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn scientists are honored for mRNA research used in COVID vaccines
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine have been named to the National Inventors Hall of Fame for their research on mRNA vaccines.
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U.S. News & World Report
For pregnant women and their newborns, COVID vaccine offers better protection than prior infection
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that COVID vaccinations provide more robust protection for pregnant mothers than COVID infection, with a quote from CHOP’s Dustin Flannery.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Paul Offit, Philly’s most vocal vaccine advocate, on science, truth, and why he’s not a fan of the latest COVID boosters
A profile examines the life and career of the Perelman School of Medicine’s Paul Offit, from his advocacy for vaccines to his criticism of FDA attitudes toward the new bivalent boosters.
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NPR
Are the new boosters that target omicron better than the previous shots?
John Wherry of the Perelman School of Medicine says that bivalent vaccines are not providing perfect protection from omicron variants.
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NPR
The FDA authorizes omicron boosters for kids as young as 5 years old
On an episode of “All Things Considered,” Paul Offit of the Perelman School of Medicine says that there’s no evidence yet that the bivalent vaccine is any better than the original COVID vaccines.
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CNN
Five women who should have won a Nobel Prize
Katalin Karikó of the Perelman School of Medicine is lauded for her work with Perelman’s Drew Weissman pioneering the use of synthetic messenger RNA to fight diseases, which served as the basis for two widely used COVID-19 vaccines.
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