Medicine | Penn Today

New technology is poised to bring gene therapy to common chronic diseases

New research from Penn Medicine reveals a safe delivery system of DNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles directly to cells, which could transform treatment for common chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

2 min. read

Headshots of five Penn professors elected 2024 AAAS Fellows.

Five from Penn elected 2024 AAAS Fellows

Professors from the School of Arts & Sciences, Perelman School of Medicine, and School of Engineering and Applied Science are among 471 scientists, engineers, and innovators being recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

4 min. read

Allyson Mackey, Melissa Kelly, Ping Wang, and Vanessa Chan speaking to audience.

Modeling careers in STEM

At Penn’s annual Women in STEM Symposium, Vanessa Chan, Allyson Mackey, Ping Wang, and Melissa Kelly shared lessons from their experiences.

3 min. read

2025 CAREER Award recipient: Jina Ko

Ko, a professor in bioengineering in Penn Engineering and in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine, is awarded the 2025 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for her expertise across bioengineering, molecular biology, and chemistry in developing transformative technologies for molecular diagnostics of diseases, especially with respect to how brain-related conditions are diagnosed and treated.

Immunotherapy may boost KRAS-targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer

A preclinical study from the Perelman School of Medicine and Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center that combines RAS inhibition and immunotherapy shows promise for future clinical trials in pancreatic cancer treatment strategies.

1 min. read

Anti-obesity medication boosts weight loss when behavioral therapy falls short

Adding an anti-obesity medication just one month after behavioral therapy begins—rather than waiting the currently recommended six months—can more than double weight loss for patients who struggle initially with lifestyle changes alone, according to new research published in Nature Medicine from a team at the Perelman School of Medicine.

1 min. read

Ambient scribe tool increases efficiency, reduces documentation burden for clinicians

A study by Anna Schoenbaum of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues found that ambient scribing technology significantly decreased clinical documentation burden for health care professionals at an academic medical center.

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Kathryn Griffo named Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Penn

Griffo has worked at Penn for nearly two decades, serving most recently as Chief Advancement Officer for Penn Medicine Development and Alumni Relations.

3 min. read

Four ways the COVID-causing virus changed science

Susan Weiss of the Perelman School of Medicine says that the successful race to develop vaccines, especially those based on messenger RNA, was probably the most important lesson from the pandemic.

Fewer deaths, new substances and evolving treatments in Philly’s opioid epidemic − 4 essential reads

Rachel McFadden of Penn Medicine explains the protocol for treating serious wounds caused by tissue death or necrosis due to opioid use.

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