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Penn engineers turn toxic fungus into anti-cancer drug
A sample of Aspergillus flavus 

A sample of Aspergillus flavus cultured in the Gao Lab.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Penn engineers turn toxic fungus into anti-cancer drug

Penn-led researchers have isolated a new class of molecules from Aspergillus flavus, a toxic crop fungus, and modified it into a promising cancer-killing compound

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Heat domes and flooding have nearly tripled since the ’50s
Everett Clayton looks at a digital thermometer on a nearby building that reads 116 degrees while walking to his apartment on June 27, 2021 in Vancouver, Washington.

Record-breaking temperatures lingered over the Northwest during a historic heatwave in June, 2021 in Vancouver, Washington.

(Image: Nathan Howard via AP Images)

Heat domes and flooding have nearly tripled since the ’50s

New research led by Michael E. Mann links a surge in stalled jet stream events to human-driven climate change, with major implications for future heatwaves, wildfires, and floods.

7 min. read

Creating a classroom democracy
Assistant Professor of History Sarah Gronningsater teaching Hamilton’s America to Penn students.

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Creating a classroom democracy

Through a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia course, assistant professor of history Sarah Gronningsater and her students resuscitate early American history.

Kristina García

2 min. read

Nancy A. Speck honored for pioneering research in hematology

Nancy A. Speck honored for pioneering research in hematology

Speck, the John W. Eckman Professor in Medical Science II and chair of the department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine, has been named the 2025 recipient of the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize from the American Society of Hematology.

Professor Philip Rea wins Jesse H. Neal Award for Scientific Journalism

Professor Philip Rea wins Jesse H. Neal Award for Scientific Journalism

Rea, professor of biology in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences and Belldegrun Distinguished Director of the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences & Management has won the Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Technical/Scientific Content for his article “Gliflozins for Diabetes: From Bark to Bench to Bedside,” published in American Scientist.

Exhibition as conversation
Exterior view of “(Ex)Urban Futures of the Recent Past” artwork.

Exterior view of “(Ex)Urban Futures of the Recent Past” at Galleria Thomas Schultz in Berlin.

(Image: Courtesy of Weitzman News)

Exhibition as conversation

For three faculty members in the Department of Fine Arts, curating exhibitions offers the opportunity to explore relationships between works of art, art and politics, history, and the environment.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

Decoding ancient immunity networks
Hand holding a blood vial that reads "complement (C3 + C4)"

A collaborative team from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Perelman School of Medicine have unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that acts like the body’s bouncer, “deciding” which foreign materials get degraded by immune cells and which are allowed entry.

(Image / iStock Md Saiful Islam Khan)

Decoding ancient immunity networks

A collaborative team from Penn Medicine and Penn Engineering have  unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that “decides” which foreign materials are friend or foe.

Nathi Magubane , Ian Scheffler , Holly Wojcik , Matt Toal

5 min. read