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The Inventive University

The power of protons
Two nurses guiding a prone patient into a proton imaging machine.

(On homepage) Until recently, proton therapy has occupied a small niche within the field of radiation oncology. Penn Medicine has played a leading role in championing proton therapy and moving the field forward.

(Image: Scott Nibauer)

The power of protons

Penn Medicine has treated more than 10,000 cancer patients at three proton therapy centers across the region, including the largest and busiest center in the world—while also leading the way in research to expand the healing potential of these positive particles.

Kirsten Weir for Penn Medicine Magazine

A first, physical system to learn nonlinear tasks without a traditional computer processor
Contrastive local learning network.

University of Pennsylvania physics and engineering researchers have created a contrastive local learning network, an analog system that is fast, low-power, scalable, and able to learn nonlinear tasks.

(Image: Erica Moser)

A first, physical system to learn nonlinear tasks without a traditional computer processor

Physics and engineering researchers created a contrastive local learning network that is fast, low-power, and scalable.
Duncan Watts and CSSLab’s New Media Bias Detector
Cropped Hands Of Journalists Interviewing a politician.

iStock: microgen

Duncan Watts and CSSLab’s New Media Bias Detector

PIK Professor Duncan Watts and colleagues have developed the Media Bias Detector, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze news articles, examining factors like tone, partisan lean, and fact selection.
Exploring the limits of robotic systems
A robotic arm in a lab.

Image: iStock/gorodenkoff

Exploring the limits of robotic systems

Bruce Lee, a doctoral student in Penn Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, offers insights into the fundamental limits of machine learning.

From Penn Engineering Today

Kotaro Sasaki and his team unveil the genetics of testicular cancer
Microscopic image of seminoma tissue. The image shows green-stained cells representing early-stage germ cells, red-stained areas indicating high gene activity linked to cancer growth, and gray-stained nuclei of various cells
Section of seminoma tissue, a type of testicular cancer, showing strong expression of proteins/RNAs (TFAP2C, green; BICD1, red) that are typically present in pre-migratory/migratory primordial germ cells, precursors of sperm.

(Image: Courtesy of Kotaro Sasaki)

Kotaro Sasaki and his team unveil the genetics of testicular cancer

Researchers from Penn Vet develop the first in vitro seminoma model, shedding light on chromosomal anomalies and signaling pathways.
New dissertation grants expand global research support
A glass globe sitting on a woodend table shows north and south America.

Penn Global has announced the first recipients of the newly established Penn Global Dissertation Grants program, which provides up to $8,000 in funding to nearly a dozen Ph.D. students.

(Image: iStock/artisteer)

New dissertation grants expand global research support

The newly established Penn Global Dissertation Grants program provides as much as $8,000 in funding to each of 11 Ph.D. candidates to enhance global components in their research.

Kristen de Groot

Fungi on the front lines against environmental injustice
Mycellium growing in soil.

Image: iStock/Kichigin

Fungi on the front lines against environmental injustice

The collective efforts of the Symbiotic Architecture for Environmental Justice research community are making former industrial sites reborn as vibrant community gardens, and safe, green spaces for children to play a reality.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative