11/15
Coronavirus
Coronavirus models aren’t crystal balls. So what are they good for?
Coronavirus models aren’t crystal balls. So what are they good for?
Epidemiologists and data scientists have been gathering data, making calculations, and creating mathematical models to answer critical questions about COVID-19, but math cannot account for the unpredictability of human behavior.
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.
As society looks for a ‘new normal,’ is antibody testing a way forward?
As society looks for a ‘new normal,’ is antibody testing a way forward?
Penn experts discuss the limitations of commercial antibody tests, how scientists are assessing the true scale of COVID-19 infections, and what studies are being done to see who might now be immune to the novel coronavirus.
Health care education in a virtual world
Health care education in a virtual world
For future health care providers, moving education online has proved especially challenging. With ingenuity and creativity, faculty are helping them continue gaining the skills they’ll need.
Pandemics and presidential elections
Pandemics and presidential elections
The coronavirus outbreak has already caused disruptions in the 2020 election cycle. What if the nation is in the midst of another shutdown come Election Day in November?
Use of conservative and social media linked with COVID-19 misinformation
Use of conservative and social media linked with COVID-19 misinformation
A study of media use and public knowledge has found people who relied on conservative or social media were more likely to be misinformed about how to prevent COVID-19 and believe conspiracy theories about it.
Childhood hunger research offers a warning as pandemic threatens food security
Childhood hunger research offers a warning as pandemic threatens food security
As the COVID-19 pandemic has limited access to many free school meal programs, research from Penn GSE’s Sharon Wolf and two colleagues suggests that hunger poses developmental risks for young children.
Alex Chen’s lessons from Ebola
Alex Chen’s lessons from Ebola
Alex Chen, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, studies emerging disease preparedness, and how air and airflow is the most powerful tool against disease.
How do you homeschool kids? The pandemic has lots of parents asking
How do you homeschool kids? The pandemic has lots of parents asking
Penn GSE’s Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher’s new podcast offers guidance on juggling work and homeschooling, and how to focus on what kids and parents truly need during the pandemic.
President Gutmann teaches session in first-of-its-kind Wharton coronavirus online course
President Gutmann teaches session in first-of-its-kind Wharton coronavirus online course
President Amy Gutmann participated in a Q&A session with Wharton Dean Geoff Garrett and approximately 2,000 students as part of the new course dedicated to the coronavirus crisis called Epidemics, National Disasters, and Geopolitics: Managing Global Business and Financial Uncertainty.
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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