Faculty

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.

A new study from Penn’s School of Nursing reveals a critical link between neighborhood firearm violence exposure, involvement in fighting, and adolescents’ perceived ability to obtain a firearm outside the home.

A team led by researchers in the School of Nursing has developed a multicomponent intervention that uses passive monitoring and behavioral support to help reduce falls in at-risk older adults.

Anthropology professor Mallika Sarma of the School of Arts & Sciences is challenging what we think of as an extreme environment—beyond settings like low temperature or high altitude—and who gets studied.

Faculty and doctoral students at Penn Nursing are at the forefront of advancing human milk feeding through a series of research studies, featured in the current issue of The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing. The issue, edited by Penn Nursing’s Diane L. Spatz, the Helen M. Shearer Professor of Nutrition and Professor of Perinatal Nursing in the Department of Family and Community Health, highlights articles showcasing critical strategies to enhance lactation care and improve outcomes for families.

Thomas Parsons, Marie A. Moore Endowed Chair and director of Penn Vet’s Swine Teaching and Research Center, has pioneered a more efficient, humane way to feed mother pigs. Daniel Foy is the co-founder and CEO of the tech firm AgriGates, a Philadelphia firm that is turning technology into a next-generation tool for raising and managing livestock. The two are among the first recipients of Pennsylvania’s new Agricultural Innovation Grants, among 88 innovators from 45 counties that put forth cutting-edge solutions and technologies to move Pennsylvania agriculture into the future.

A new edited collection from Annenberg School for Communication professor Juan Llamas-Rodriguez titled “Media Travels: Toward an Atlas of Global Media” brings readers on a tour of media beyond the typical U.S. canon.

The James H. Broussard Best First Book Prize, awarded annually to the best first book by a new author published in the previous calendar year and dealing with any aspect of the history of the early American republic, went to Sarah L. H. Gronningsater, associate professor of history at Penn’s School of Arts &N Sciences, for “The Rising Generation: Gradual Abolition, Black Legal Culture, and the Making of National Freedom.”

Modupe O. Coker from the School of Dental Medicine and a collaborative team of researchers identified changes over time in the oral microbiome of children living with HIV, offering insights into how early immune challenges shape not only oral health but also systemic health.