News from

Faculty

Reset All Filters
938 Results
Fruit fly development offers insights into condensed matter physics
A fruit fly sits on a piece of food

Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, has long been a model species for biologists seeking to understand the molecular mechanisms of animal function and how novelty may arise in organisms. Theoretical physicist Andrea Liu of the School of Arts & Sciences is conducting research on the insect, along with biology and experimental biophysics collaborators at Duke University. Their research has opened the door to an approach that could offer not only a new understanding of how biological function emerges but also suggest a new class of systems in condensed matter physics.

(Image: iStock / nechaev-kon)

Fruit fly development offers insights into condensed matter physics

Penn Physicist Andrea Liu and collaborators modeled the behavior of tissue during a stage of fly development and found, surprisingly, it doesn’t fluidize as it shrinks but stays solid. Their approach could offer insights physical systems with complex functionality.
Unlocking the brain: Peptide-guided nanoparticles deliver mRNA to neurons
Emily Han, a doctoral student in the Mitchell Lab.

Emily Han is a doctoral student in the Mitchell Lab in Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Unlocking the brain: Peptide-guided nanoparticles deliver mRNA to neurons

Researchers in the lab of Michael Mitchell in Penn Engineering have developed a method for delivering lipid nanoparticles across the blood-brain barrier specifically to targeted neurons.

Ian Scheffler

Jessica Varner on the long arc of built environment and its materials
Jessica Varner.

nocred

Jessica Varner on the long arc of built environment and its materials

Varner, an assistant professor of landscape architecture at the Weitzman School, explores the intersections between architectural, environmental, and chemical history.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Dorothy Roberts on reproductive rights and justice
Dorothy Roberts teaching a class at Penn Carey Law.

Image: Courtesy of Penn Carey Law

Dorothy Roberts on reproductive rights and justice

PIK Professor Roberts designed her Penn Carey Law course around a reproductive justice framework, which extends far beyond access to abortion.

From Penn Carey Law

What’s the future of cities?
Illustration of a person walking to a building in a city, one side is abandoned, the other side is revitalized.

nocred

What’s the future of cities?

Before COVID-19, major U.S. urban centers were enjoying a resurgence. Now decreased occupancy has downtown economies and municipal budgets feeling the pinch. Wharton faculty research suggests that how cities navigate the next few years could be crucial.

Janine White for Wharton Magazine

Brain research could help patients with paralysis move again
Iahn Cajigas and Qasim Qureshi review data on a desktop computer.

Iahn Cajigas and researcher Qasim Qureshi review data to identify consistent patterns in brain activity that will enable them to predict a patient’s intention to move in real time.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine News)

Brain research could help patients with paralysis move again

Penn Medicine researchers are using machine learning to study the areas of the brain that control movement.

From Penn Medicine News

Addressing the ‘catch-22’ academics face on social media
Four people on panel.

At the symposium “Academe in the Age of Social Media: Scholarly Inquiry at Risk?” Annenberg School for Communication professor Guobin Yang, left, participated in a panel on the past and present of risks in academia associated with visibility and surveillance. Annenberg doctoral student Anjali DasSarma, right, moderated the panel. Yang’s Center on Digital Culture and Society hosted the event with Annenberg professor Barbie Zelizer’s Center for Media at Risk.

(Image: Sharareh Faryadi)

Addressing the ‘catch-22’ academics face on social media

The Annenberg School for Communication’s Center for Media at Risk and Center for Digital Culture and Society brought together scholars to analyze the interconnected benefits and risks that academics face using social media.
A seminar explores what history can be
Archival images of Indigenous students at a boarding school.

A photograph in the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania shows students at a Native American boarding school.

(Image: Courtesy of Omnia)

A seminar explores what history can be

Hardeep Dhillon, an assistant professor of history in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, teaches a first-year seminar that explores the history of children in America while equipping students with foundational analytical skills.

From Omnia