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Tumor-on-a-chip offers insight into cancer-fighting cells in immunotherapy
Hand holding a microdevice

Penn engineers and collaborators have developed a transparent, micro-engineered device that houses a living, vascularized model of human lung cancer—a “tumor on a chip”—and show that the diabetes drug vildagliptin helps more CAR T cells break through the tumor’s defenses and attack it effectively.

(Image: Courtesy of Dan Huh)

Tumor-on-a-chip offers insight into cancer-fighting cells in immunotherapy

Penn engineers and collaborators have built a living tumor on a chip to expose how cancers block immune attacks, and how one existing drug could make immunotherapy like CAR T more effective against solid tumors.

3 min. read

Through Penn First Plus, students unlock potential and purpose
Marc Lo (left) and Enmanuel Martínez (center) speaking with Mayokun Omitogun (right)

Marc Lo (left) and Enmanuel Martínez (center) speaking with Mayokun Omitogun (right)

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Through Penn First Plus, students unlock potential and purpose

Providing first-generation and limited-income students with a comprehensive array of support, Penn First Plus equips undergraduates for success during and after their time at Penn.

5 min. read

2025 Bioethics Founders’ Award

2025 Bioethics Founders’ Award

George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology & Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights Dorothy E. Roberts has been named a recipient of the 2025 Bioethics Founders’ Award, which recognizes individuals who have made substantial, sustained contributions to bioethics in ways that have advanced thinking and practice in medicine, the life sciences, and public policy.

$27.2M national effort launches to unify Alzheimer’s research data

$27.2M national effort launches to unify Alzheimer’s research data

Yong Chen, Leonard Davis Institute senior fellow and professor of biostatistics, epidemiology, and informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine, has been selected by the National Institute on Aging initiative to establish a collaborative network and data ecosystem to accelerate discovery and improve prevention, detection, and treatment strategies for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Can tiny ocean organisms offer the key to better climate modeling?
Researcher Xin Sun injects substance into glass vials.

Xin Sun prepares samples collected from the Eastern Tropical North Pacific aboard a research vessel. By adding stable isotope tracers to these vials, Sun and her team can track how different microbial groups convert nitrogen compounds into nitrous oxide, revealing how subtle shifts in oxygen and organic matter change the ocean’s chemistry.

 
 

(Image: Courtesy of Xin Sun)

Can tiny ocean organisms offer the key to better climate modeling?

In the shadowy layers of the Pacific, microbes decide how much nitrous oxide—a potent greenhouse gas—rises skyward. New research from Penn’s Xin Sun offers an improved understanding of microbial ecology and geochemistry—key to forecasting global emissions in response to natural and man-made climate change.

3 min. read

Penn Medicine, CHOP researchers elected to National Academy of Medicine

Penn Medicine, CHOP researchers elected to National Academy of Medicine

The newly-elected members are Gerd A. Blobel, co-director of Penn's Epigenetics Institute; Enrique Schisterman, chair and Perelman Professor of biostatistics, epidemiology, and informatics; and Katalin Susztak, professor of nephrology and genetics and director of the Kidney Innovation Center at Penn and CHOP.

X-ray plates from 1896 give a snapshot of Penn’s place in history
An X-ray plate from 1896.

Two X-ray plates from Arthur Goodspeed, believed to have created the world’s first X-ray image, were donated by his family to Penn’s University Archives.

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X-ray plates from 1896 give a snapshot of Penn’s place in history

A gift from the family of Penn physicist Arthur Goodspeed represents the beginning of a revolution in medicine that began at Penn.

From Penn Medicine News

5 min. read

Street lighting and public safety
People dining on a well-lit Philly sidewalk at night.

Image: benedek via Getty Images

Street lighting and public safety

Criminology researchers Aaron Chalfin and John MacDonald, and data scientist Brian Wade of Penn’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab, evaluate the effect of improved street lighting on crime rates.

Blake Cole

2 min. read

Helpline support eases stress for dementia caregivers
An elderly person on the phone.

Image: PIKSEL via Getty Images

Helpline support eases stress for dementia caregivers

Penn Nursing researchers and collaborators found that caregivers for family members with dementia who receive one or two consultations saw improvements in their ability to manage stress, and that people requesting more than one call reported lower baseline confidence in their ability to manage their emotions than those requesting only one call.

3 min. read

How DMV questions shape organ donor registration decisions

How DMV questions shape organ donor registration decisions

Wharton professor of business economics and public policy Judd Kessler explores whether rewording organ donor questions at the DMV can meaningfully increase registration rates.