11/15
Coronavirus
Penn Libraries expands digital collections, online platforms, and expert support
Penn Libraries expands digital collections, online platforms, and expert support
To support the Penn community while working remotely, the Penn Libraries purchased 35,000 e-books, negotiated access to other digital collections, increased video streaming access, and tripled the number of librarians available to answer questions.
Cassandra Adams helps students navigate the health system in a crisis
Cassandra Adams helps students navigate the health system in a crisis
As part of the Essential Staff Profiles series, Cassandra Adams’ work as a medical receptionist with Student Health Services is a critical service that helps keep students safe navigating their medical needs.
Coming together to solve the many scientific mysteries of COVID-19
Coming together to solve the many scientific mysteries of COVID-19
Putting some of their regular research projects on the back burner, researchers around Penn are digging into unknowns about the novel coronavirus from their deep and varied perspectives.
The sociology of disease and disgust
The sociology of disease and disgust
Ramah McKay and David Barnes discuss the historical association of disease, shame, and social stigma.
Inside the pandemic’s most deadly targets: Nursing homes
Inside the pandemic’s most deadly targets: Nursing homes
The fourth in an ongoing series of LDI “Experts at Home” virtual seminars focused on how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the cracks in how we fund and staff nursing home care.
Penn Wharton Budget Model projects reopening states early could cause up to 233,000 extra deaths
Penn Wharton Budget Model projects reopening states early could cause up to 233,000 extra deaths
The Penn Wharton Budget Model analyzed the health and economic effects of states both partially and fully reopening schools, businesses and restaurants.
With support from parents, teens forge a path to handle social distancing
With support from parents, teens forge a path to handle social distancing
Adolescents need and value their friends, relationships challenged by COVID-19 restrictions. By having explicit conversations and facilitating remote access to peers, the adults in their lives can help.
Why risk behaviors, not orientation, should decide who gives blood
Why risk behaviors, not orientation, should decide who gives blood
In a Q&A with Assistant Professor of Medicine Katharine Bar, an explanation on how the ban of blood donations on men who have sex with men came to be, why it persists, and what it should be changed to.
Drone light show by Verge Aero honors frontline workers
Drone light show by Verge Aero honors frontline workers
As part of the local #PhillyShinesBlue campaign and the global #LightItBlue campaign, the aerial tribute honored health care professionals and first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Supporting agriculture and a safe food supply
Supporting agriculture and a safe food supply
Essential workers in the School of Veterinary Medicine are caring for livestock, keeping track of disease, ensuring product consistency, and communicating with farmers to ensure that farms can continue providing a reliable food supply for the community.
In the News
Los Angeles Times
Column: How a blunder by a respected medical journal is fueling an anti-vaccine lie
Jeffrey S. Morris of the Perelman School of Medicine says that even with a 100% effective vaccine, there would have been high levels of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 in 2021.
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CNN
After four years with COVID-19, the U.S. is settling into a new approach to respiratory virus season
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that the sense of urgency around vaccination has faded as attention on respiratory viruses wanes.
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CBS News
The mRNA miracle workers
Nobel laureates Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine appear on “Sunday Morning” to discuss their careers, their mRNA research, and the COVID-19 vaccines.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Paul Offit looks back on COVID-19, misinformation, and how public health lost the public’s trust in new book
“Tell Me When It’s Over,” a new book by Paul Offit of the Perelman School of Medicine, chronicles the initial years of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mishaps of public health agencies. Recent surveys by the Annenberg Public Policy Center find that mistrust of vaccines has continued to grow through last fall.
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Minnesota Public Radio
Review of COVID death stats finds likely undercount in official numbers
A paper co-authored by Penn researchers found that COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. were likely undercounted in official statistics during the first 30 months of the pandemic.
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Boston Globe
You should still get the COVID-19 vaccine. The Nobel Prize winner who helped discover it explains why
Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine, who won the Nobel Prize along with Katalin Karikó, discusses the backlash against vaccinations and whether to receive the latest COVID vaccine.
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