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Examining asthma with human lung-on-a-chip technology
A chip with asthma cells being held up in a dark, neon-colored laboratory environment

A bioengineered “asthma-on-a-chip” platform. (Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

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Examining asthma with human lung-on-a-chip technology

Researchers at Penn Engineering developed an ‘asthma-on-a-chip’ system that mimics the mechanical stresses experienced by human airways during an asthma attack. The innovation enables scientists to probe how unhealthy lung tissue responds to compression in ways previously impossible to observe directly in patients.

Melissa Pappas , From Penn Engineering

2 min. read

A robotic solution for safer tree trimming
Margaret Zhu working in the Venture Lab.

Margaret Zhu and the Serpent Robotics team fine-tuning their robot at Tangen Hall.

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A robotic solution for safer tree trimming

Margaret Zhu and the Serpent Robotics team have leveraged Penn resources to create a tree-cutting robot, improving safety in a dangerous industry. The President’s Innovation Prize allows Zhu to iterate and pilot the device over the next year.

3 min. read

Shreya Parchure: Leveraging AI to help stroke survivors recover speech abilities
Shreya Parchure in a white coat in the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation in the Goddard Laboratory on Penn's campus, smiling with arms crossed and facing forward.

Shreya Parchure, an M.D.-Ph.D. candidate at Penn, conducts much of her AI-driven research in the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation, focusing on ways to personalize speech therapy for patients with post-stroke aphasia.

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Shreya Parchure: Leveraging AI to help stroke survivors recover speech abilities

Doctoral student Shreya Parchure and her team evaluated the usefulness of an AI tool for personalizing speech therapy for patients with post-stroke aphasia.

4 min. read

20 breakthroughs of 2025
Masoud Akbarzadeh holding up one of the fabricated materials.

The Polyhedral Structures Laboratory is housed at the Pennovation Center and brings together designers, engineers, and computer scientists to reimagine the built world. Using graphic statics, a method where forces are mapped as lines, they design forms that balance compression and tension. These result in structures that use far fewer materials while remaining strong and efficient.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

20 breakthroughs of 2025

From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.

5 min. read

Startup recognized for milestones in cancer care
Marco Ruella in the Ruella Lab, collaborating with two lab technicians. Ruella is wearing a white lab coat and holding up a chemical sample. Two of his colleagues are observing the sample.

Marco Ruella, associate professor of medicine at PSOM and hematologist-oncologist at Penn Medicine, collaborates with his colleagues in the Ruella Lab.

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Startup recognized for milestones in cancer care

During the Penn Center for Innovation’s 10th annual Celebration of Innovation, viTToria Biotherapeutics was presented with the Startup of the Year Award for its remarkable progress in the development of promising treatment of T-cell lymphoma.

4 min. read

Harnessing technology in research to improve well-being
Tony Shaw, Dennis Culhane, Isabel Algrant, Ken Miles, and Shana Kleiner at table.

As part of the year-long Politics of Well-Being series from the School of Social Policy & Practice and the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, Tony Shaw moderated a conversation with Dennis Culhane, Isabel Algrant, Ken Miles, and Shana Kleiner.

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Harnessing technology in research to improve well-being

As part of the Politics of Well-Being speaker series, researchers in the School of Social Policy & Practice talked about their work helping governments address social issues and creating a joy-centered framework for AI development.

3 min. read

Impact of research
Idea illustration showing hands reaching towards a lightbulb of ideas overlayed on a cityscape.

Illustration: Lauren Thomas

  • Q&A

    • Impact of research

    Senior Vice Provost for Research Dawn Bonnell discusses with Inspiring Impact Magazine why a robust research enterprise is at the core of Penn’s educational mission.

    From Penn Inspiring Impact

    5 min. read

    Improving T-cell responses to vaccines
    Person in mask holding vaccine vial.

    Image: franckreporter via Getty Images

    Improving T-cell responses to vaccines

    Penn Vet and Penn Medicine researchers have modified mRNA vaccines to include the cytokine IL-12 and improve T-cell responses which could improve the body’s ability to fight infections.

    3 min. read