Faculty

The Penn Research Experience for High School Students gives Philadelphia 11th and 12th graders a rare opportunity to tackle college-level research.

Historian Benjamin Nathans’ huge volume on the stories and lives of Soviet dissidents has gotten renewed attention after winning the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Nathan’s research and insights span a four-decade-long career studying Russia and the USSR, modern Jewish history, and the history of human rights.

In the lab of associate professor of physics and astronomy Robyn Sanderson, Alexandra DiMauro and Mariam Tskitishvili search for hints about dark matter and analyze data that could inform what is known about how stars form.

Eugenie Birch, Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and Education in the Department of City and Regional Planning and co-director of Penn’s Institute for Urban Research, has been selected to receive the Above and Beyond Award from the Regional Plan Association (RPA) for her contributions to urban planning policy and longstanding service to the RPA.

Penn researchers and their colleagues have investigated how unmet social needs impact the health and well-being of U.S. cancer survivors. Their findings are relevant for other serious chronic illnesses.

A new study by Penn Medicine’s Sony Tuteja finds that preemptive genetic testing for those with two specific genes cut chemotherapy side effects in half, as compared to similar patients given standard doses without testing.

Daniell, a faculty fellow of the Environmental Innovations Initiativ and the W.D. Miller Professor and vice chair in the Department of Basic & Translational Sciences at Penn’s School of Dental Medicine, explains his research and its connections to sustainability and the environment.

Research from psychologists in the School of Arts & Sciences shows that children ages 3 to 5 can identify emotions in music, but that kids who show fewer signs of empathy or guilt demonstrate poorer emotion recognition. “We’re excited to continue to use music as a paradigm both to understand underlying mechanisms and as a treatment target,” Rebecca Waller says.

A new Penn Nursing Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research study reveals a significant underrepresentation of Black nurses compared to the Black patient populations they serve, particularly in hospitals that care for a higher proportion of Black patients. The study, led Eileen T. Lake, the Edith Clemmer Steinbright Professor in Gerontology, Professor of Nursing and Sociology, and CHOPR associate cirector, is set to be published in Nursing Research.

Zhang, a professor in the Department of Preventive & Restorative Sciences and Director of Restorative Research at Penn Dental Medicine, has been recognized for his leadership in advancing the field of dental materials as the 2025 recipient of the International Association for Dental Research Distinguished Scientist Wilmer Souder Award.