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Medical anthropologist Fran Barg reflects on three decades at Penn
A person standing along a black iron fence, one arm hanging over the fence. In the background are trees and a blurred out mural.

Fran Barg spent more than 30 years at Penn, conducting research that fell at the intersection of medicine and anthropology. Though she technically retired in June 2021, she plans to remain connected to Penn, to the mentoring and research that has enriched her career.

Medical anthropologist Fran Barg reflects on three decades at Penn

She spent her career studying the culture of medicine. Through collaborations with colleagues in medicine and anthropology, she’s pinpointed why it’s so crucial to see serious medical problems from both a scientific perspective and a patient one.

Michele W. Berger

Relief for dry eyes
Person holding a smartphone close to their face rubs eyes.

Relief for dry eyes

Dry eye is a common condition, affecting nearly half of U.S. adults at some point during their lives, but it is often overlooked as a serious ailment, and the classic symptom of dry eyes isn’t always present.

Lauren Ingeno

Scaling the model of care for patients with opioid use disorder
Patient laying in hospital bed while a doctor and a nurse compare notes regarding the patient’s medical chart.

Scaling the model of care for patients with opioid use disorder

Data show that concurrent with the opioid overdose crisis, there has been an increase in hospitalizations of people with opioid use disorder. One in ten of these hospitalized medical or surgical patients have comorbid opioid-related diagnoses.

From Penn Nursing News

Is your long-lasting makeup toxic? Study raises concerns about PFAS in cosmetics

Is your long-lasting makeup toxic? Study raises concerns about PFAS in cosmetics

Bruce Brod of the Perelman School of Medicine said the dangers of PFAS in cosmetics are unclear. “It’s still an emerging body as far as the toxicology and risks to health,” he said. “I don’t think the evidence exists to make a broad-brush recommendation for consumers to avoid [all] of them.”

Older adults’ access to primary care during the pandemic
Elderly African American person waves to a doctor via telemedicine on their smartphone.

Older adults’ access to primary care during the pandemic

Older patients who accessed primary care via telemedicine had lower hospitalization rates, but racial disparities in outcomes of in-person primary care persist, with Black older adults more likely to be hospitalized after a telemedicine visit.

From Penn LDI

In rural America, religious attendance reduces compassion regarding opioids
empty street of a small town Main Street with a church on one side of the street.

In rural America, religious attendance reduces compassion regarding opioids

Rural areas—particularly those in Appalachian and Midwestern states—are hard hit by the opioid epidemic. However, many individuals in those same states do not support policies scientifically proven to help, like medically aided treatment and syringe exchanges.

From Annenberg School for Communication

Cytokine treatment promotes weight loss by ‘sweating’ fat
Cross section of a hair follicle surrounded by cells.

Penn Medicine researchers discovered that obese mice were able to shed 40% of their body weight by secreting fat through their skin. (Image: Penn Medicine News)

Cytokine treatment promotes weight loss by ‘sweating’ fat

A seemingly unremarkable observation—greasy hair—showed Penn researchers how the immune system could be targeted to reverse obesity.

Lauren Ingeno