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Graduate Students

Blending empathy and analytics
Nature Hu.

Nature Hu is MSSP+DA student at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

Blending empathy and analytics

SP2 Class of 2026 student Nature Hu explains how qualitative insight coupled with strong data analysis can effectively shape policy and resource allocations.

2 min. read

Researching 17th century Caribbean freedom and empire
Clifton Sorrell III

Clifton E. Sorrell III is a McNeil Center for Early American Studies Advisory Council Fellow.

(Image: Courtesy of McNeil Center for Early American History)

Researching 17th century Caribbean freedom and empire

McNeil Center for Early American Studies Advisory Council Fellow Clifton E. Sorrell III pieces together the world that shaped how people of African descent experienced slavery and freedom in the early Caribbean.

From The McNeil Center for Early American Studies

2 min. read

Turning peels into pavers: How Penn designers turn food scraps into biodegradable building materials
Two students working with biodegradable food waste specimens.

At the DumoLab, research associate Yasaman Amirzehni is working to develop a biocomposite suitable for indoor and outdoor cladding applications, which could eventually serve as true structural components like load-bearing columns.

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Turning peels into pavers: How Penn designers turn food scraps into biodegradable building materials

The Weitzman School’s Laia Mogas-Soldevila and Yasaman Amirzehni transform unavoidable food waste—like fruit peels and eggshells, which account for 14.8% of post-consumer restaurant food waste—into durable, biodegradable building materials in collaboration with Penn Dining.

4 min. read

When bone behaves like a sponge
Three members of the Tertuliano lab looking at a computer in the lab.

To visualize the nanoscale structures, the Tertuliano lab often uses large-scale models like the one pictured.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

When bone behaves like a sponge

Penn Engineers in the Tertuliano Lab have developed a nanoengineered 3D-printed scaffold for observing how cells feel force.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

Robots that can see around corners using radio signals and AI
Zitong Lan, Haowen Lai and Mingmin Zhao with a robot in a lab.

(From left) Penn Engineering’s Zitong Lan, Haowen Lai and Mingmin Zhao.

(Image: Sylvia Zhang)

Robots that can see around corners using radio signals and AI

Doctoral students at Penn Engineering have built a new system, powered by AI and radio signals, that allows robots to view around corners, with implications for vehicle safety and industrial efficiency.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Engineers sharpen gene-editing tools to target cystic fibrosis
Engineering researchers at a whiteboard in the Gao lab.

Beyond cystic fibrosis, the refined base editor could help researchers tackle a wide range of genetic diseases caused by single-letter DNA changes.

(Image: Bella Ciervo)

Engineers sharpen gene-editing tools to target cystic fibrosis

Researchers at Penn Engineering have developed a modified base-pair editor that offers improved accuracy and could help treat diseases like cystic fibrosis.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

Who, What, Why: Katelyn Candido on improving surgical procedures and keeping health care human-first
Katelyn Candido sitting on a staircase, smiling and facing forward, wearing a white coat and blue scrubs in the Perelman School of Medicine

Katelyn Candido, a second-year medical student at PSOM and aspiring neurosurgeon, researches a novel tool’s utility for improving surgical precision.

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Who, What, Why: Katelyn Candido on improving surgical procedures and keeping health care human-first

Second-year medical student Katelyn Candido shares insight into her research project on a promising tool for improving surgical precision and efficiency, and why she aims to drive equitable patient care through a career in neurosurgery.

3 min. read

Awards and accolades for Penn faculty and graduate students
Statue of Ben Franklin on a bench in the snow.

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Awards and accolades for Penn faculty and graduate students

A roundup of the latest awards for various faculty members and graduate students at Annenberg, Wharton, Penn Nursing, SP2, and Penn Engineering.

Penn Today Staff

2 min. read