1/23
Medical Ethics
Through Literature of Care course, a curriculum of compassion
Literature of Care, a course offered every fall in the School of Arts & Sciences, explores medical humanities and the role storytelling plays in patient care.
Catalyzing reform in health care payment
Penn’s Parity Center engages an interdisciplinary team of experts to collaborate with health insurers, health systems, physician practices and policymakers. Deputy director Austin S. Kilaru describes the Center’s mission, success, and future.
Killings of unarmed Black people and racial disparities in sleep health
Penn Medicine research finds that Black adults across the U.S. suffer from sleep problems following exposure to news about unarmed Black individuals killed by police during police encounters.
Challenges and advances in brain-computer interfaces
Following FDA approval for tech startups to begin human clinical trials for brain-computer interfacing technologies, Penn Today met with Anna Wexler of the Perelman School of Medicine to discuss the promising possibilities and potential pitfalls of neurotechnology.
Home health is another care setting where workers use judgment language
A first-of-its kind study from Penn LDI reveals that Black and Hispanic patients are described negatively, and have shorter visits.
Beyond the pipette and the stethoscope, students explore biology’s societal impacts
The new Biology and Society course, supported by SNF Paideia, gave biology majors the chance to explore how scientists must contend with subjects such as health equity and vaccine hesitancy.
Tackling the ethical considerations of dementia research
Alzheimer’s research poses tricky questions. Bedside-nurse-turned-bioethicist Emily Largent wants to answer them, and to improve the lives of Alzheimer’s patients.
Going beyond the binary in historical explorations of sex and gender
Beans Velocci of the School of Arts & Sciences explores how sex and gender have been shaped and categorized through history—and the consequences of those constructions taking on the guise of scientific and medical fact.
Five from Penn elected to National Academy of Medicine
Five Penn experts have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine for their contributions to the advancement of the medical sciences, health care, and public health.
Abortion clinic websites may unwittingly aid patient prosecutions
More than 99% of abortion clinic web pages studied included widely used code that transferred user data to external entities, which could sell the data or provide it to law enforcement, without the clinics knowledge.
In the News
Tuberculosis rates plunge when families living in poverty get a monthly cash payout
Aaron Richterman of the Perelman School of Medicine says that there are large and underappreciated benefits of cash-transfer programs, such as potentially ending a tuberculosis epidemic.
FULL STORY →
Nation’s health care industry can be improved, if we have the will to try
Michael Anne Kyle of the Perelman School of Medicine says that patient frustration with health care is fueled by spending a lot of money while still facing problems with the service.
FULL STORY →
How Kennedy could make it harder for you and your family to get vaccinated
In a co-written opinion essay, PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel explains how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies in the Trump administration could discourage the use and research of vaccines.
FULL STORY →
Elon Musk asked people to upload their health data. X users obliged
Matthew McCoy of the Perelman School of Medicine recommends not contributing private health data to the X chatbot Grok as an individual user.
FULL STORY →
Can ‘magic’ mushrooms help one of the most painful conditions?
Dominic Sisti of the Perelman School of Medicine says there’s compelling evidence that psilocybin is efficacious, safe, and seems to help people with cluster headaches.
FULL STORY →
Being a patient can be a full-time job. This ICU nurse wants to make it easier
Michael Anne Kyle of the Perelman School of Medicine is linking survey data and medical records to determine exactly how administrative burdens impact health care.
FULL STORY →