11/15
Meredith Mann
meredith.mann@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Medicine
Breaking through the medical fake news bubble
Breaking through the medical fake news bubble
In a new perspective piece published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Raina Merchant and David A. Asch provide some guidance for medical professionals and scientists as they wade into online discussions.
Treating spinal pain with ‘engineered living tissue’ moves closer to reality
Treating spinal pain with ‘engineered living tissue’ moves closer to reality
A multidisciplinary team at Penn successfully demonstrated the feasibility of an innovative new disc replacement made of living material.
Why we have hair here, but not there
Why we have hair here, but not there
A new study answers a fundamental question in human evolution about how and where hair grows on the body, and reveals the existence of a naturally-occurring inhibitor to hair growth.
How to survive baseball’s ‘most fearsome injury’
How to survive baseball’s ‘most fearsome injury’
There is one injury that can thwart both an all-star pitcher with the Chicago Cubs and a teen practicing to make the varsity team: a torn labrum.
Staging the plague
Staging the plague
Eighty-one students training in a diversity of health professions worked with regional and federal agencies to confront an imagined outbreak scenario centered around bubonic plague in Philadelphia.
Skin cream use OK’d during radiation therapy
Skin cream use OK’d during radiation therapy
A new study challenges common advice given to patients about whether topical creams increase radiation dose during cancer treatment.
Drivers of inflammation provide valuable targets for new gum disease therapies
Drivers of inflammation provide valuable targets for new gum disease therapies
A subset of T cells contributes to the inflammation and bone loss that characterizes periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease. According to new research by George Hajishengallis and scientists at the National Institutes of Health, drugs that specifically inhibit these cells may offer an effective therapy.
Elected to the NAM, four faculty members earn the highest honor in biomedicine
Elected to the NAM, four faculty members earn the highest honor in biomedicine
Susan M. Domchek, Daniel E. Polsky, Marie Celeste Simon, and Rachel M. Werner are four of the 85 newly-elected members of the National Academy of Medicine.
Multidisciplinary team to develop stem cell-based approaches to restore vision
Multidisciplinary team to develop stem cell-based approaches to restore vision
Gene therapies have had success in treating blindness but can’t save areas of the retina where cells have already died. In a new effort, School of Veterinary Medicine scientists John Wolfe and William Beltran will attempt to develop a stem-cell-based approach that restores vision.
Linguistic red flags from Facebook posts can predict future depression diagnoses
Linguistic red flags from Facebook posts can predict future depression diagnoses
The language people use in these social media posts can make these predictions as accurately as the tools clinicians use in medical settings to screen for the disease.
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In the News
The Washington Post
The latest skincare trend: Beef fat. Yes, beef fat
Bruce Brod of the Perelman School of Medicine says that there’s no evidence to show beef tallow is better than conventional moisturizers.
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CBS Philadelphia
Philadelphia doctors and scientists encourage young women to pursue STEM careers at Penn event
The STEM Goes Red event hosted at Penn Medicine showed young Philadelphia women in high school how to program miniature computers, with remarks from Helene Glassberg of the Perelman School of Medicine.
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ScienceFriday.com
CAR-T cell therapies show promise for autoimmune diseases
Daniel Baker, a Ph.D. student in Carl June’s lab at the Perelman School of Medicine, discusses the results of a study on donor CAR-T cell therapy.
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AARP.org
Fifteen things to know about the two new Alzheimer’s drugs
Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine says that some reactions to new Alzheimer’s drugs can resemble flu-like symptoms, such as chills, shortness of breath, and rash.
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Stat
Social media misinformation is scaring women about birth control
In an opinion essay, postdoc Emily Pfender of the Leonard Davis Institute and Perelman School of Medicine cautions that social media can set back women’s health by perpetuating fear and misinformation instead of empowering informed choices.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Does it matter what time you take your medicine?
Garret FitzGerald of the Perelman School of Medicine says that the timing of medication dosing can substantially influence the drug levels in people’s blood.
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