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Medicine
Dangers and protections of rising temps for people on common medicines
We know that as temperatures rise, so do many health risks: not just for heat stroke and dehydration but also for heart disease, respiratory diseases, and deaths overall. Three studies explore the impact that rising temperatures have on people who take common medications.
Blinking eye-on-a-chip used for disease modeling and drug testing
Penn Engineering’s Dan Huh and Jeongyun Seo built an eye model that could imitate a healthy eye and an eye with dry eye disease, allowing them to test an experimental drug without risk of human harm.
A cohort study comes of age
For nearly two decades, a major national study of kidney disease led and coordinated at Penn has defined key risk factors in an all-too-common silent epidemic.
Sun, sand, and medical rehab robots
As part of a new interdisciplinary Penn Global Seminar, 16 undergraduates traveled to Jamaica to test and refine robotic rehabilitation devices for patients in need.
When pediatricians become podcasters, who tunes in?
Sophomore Julia Kafozoff, a Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia intern, is working with three podcasting physicians to determine how much listeners actually learn from these educational tools.
Music can be a viable option in reducing anxiety before surgery
A new study found music to be similarly effective as the intravenous form of the sedative medication midazolam in lowering anxiety before anesthetic procedures.
Three-dimensional printing turns fiction into medical reality
One of its most significant impacts in health care is in the area of “traditional prototyping”—the process leading to designing medical devices.
A new cancer drug, thanks to a new approach
Researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center helped bring new hope to patients with multiple myeloma with a drug that targets the command center of a cancer cell.
Five questions with Kevin Mahoney
Kevin B. Mahoney, a 23-year veteran of Penn Medicine, became CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System on July 1. In a Q&A, Mahoney shares his expertise and inspiration on Penn Medicine’s strengths, where it can improve, and a little insight into his downtime.
Reaching millennial women ‘where they’re at’—on Instagram
Researchers in the Women’s Health Clinical Research Center at Penn Medicine began experimenting with using Instagram for clinical birth control trial recruitment in 2017, and have since seen a surge in research participants.
In the News
Sugar-coated gold nanoparticles could replace some antibiotics
According to a Penn Medicine study, a new therapy involving laser light and sugar-coated gold nanoparticles can reduce tooth decay and infected wounds without needing antibiotics.
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Alzheimer’s may be caused by a build-up of fat in brain cells
A study by Michael Haney of the Perelman School of Medicine suggests that the root cause of Alzheimer’s is a build-up of fat droplets in brain cells.
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Philadelphia hospital program adds psychologists to bridge mental health services for trauma survivors
A new psychology team at the Penn Trauma Violence Recovery Program has provided about 46 survivors with short- and long- term therapy, featuring remarks from Elinore Kaufman and Lily Brown of the Perelman School of Medicine.
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Social factors may ‘disproportionately’ affect transplant process
A 2023 study led by researchers at Penn found that 44% of patients evaluated for liver transplants were not placed on organ wait lists, with nearly 17% rejected because of psychosocial or financial reasons. Marina Serper and Tamara Cozzi of Penn Medicine discuss the evaluation process for transplants.
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Dal study of football players sheds light on how concussions affect the brain
A collaborative study by Penn found that 60% of cases with blood-brain-barrier dysfunction had healed three months later.
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Best CPAP alternatives
Richard Schwab of the Perelman School of Medicine says that obstructive sleep apnea causes breathing to pause during sleep when something like the tongue or relaxed throat muscles blocks the airway.
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