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The long view on COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy
covid-19 virus

A creative rendition of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, not to scale. As of mid-July, the virus has sickened more than 186 million people worldwide and more than 4 million people have died from it, according to the World Health Organization. Globally, more than 3.3 billion vaccine doses have been administered. (Homepage image: NIAID)

The long view on COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy

Penn researchers weigh in on the regulatory and scientific efforts to track COVID-19 vaccines.

Katherine Unger Baillie, Michele W. Berger

New microfluidic device delivers mRNA nanoparticles a hundred times faster
An etched silicon and glass wafer on a surface with a quarter beside it for scale.

The researchers’ new platform technology, called Very Large Scale Microfluidic Integration, allows tens of thousands of microfluidic units to be incorporated into a single three-dimensionally etched silicon-and-glass wafer. (Image: Penn Engineering Today)

New microfluidic device delivers mRNA nanoparticles a hundred times faster

With a “liquid assembly line,” Penn researchers have produced mRNA-delivering-nanoparticles significantly faster than standard microfluidic technologies.

Evan Lerner

The pandemic, health inequities, and an ‘opportunity for change’
covid global map

As a global pandemic, COVID-19 spread across the world. But it didn’t hit everyone equally. “Being healthy is essential to human flourishing,” says Jennifer Prah Ruger, who advocates for shared norms in health governance to address global inequalities. (Image: Martin Sanchez, also featured on homepage)

The pandemic, health inequities, and an ‘opportunity for change’

Experts across the University weigh in on which lessons the pandemic drove home and what immediate measures are needed to prevent future loss.
Penn mRNA pioneers receive the Princess of Asturias Award
Two people seated at a table in front of a panel that reads "Penn Medicine" many times over. The person on the left is wearing a gray suit, with a white shirt and red tie. The person on the right is wearing glasses, an orange shirt, and a black cardigan.

Drew Weissman (left) is the Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research in the Perelman School of Medicine. Katalin Karikó is an adjunct professor of Neurosurgery at Penn and a senior vice president at BioNTech. (Image: Penn Medicine)

Penn mRNA pioneers receive the Princess of Asturias Award

Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó earned the prestigious honor for their foundational research that led to development of two lifesaving mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.

From Penn Medicine News

How mRNA vaccines help fight cancer tumors
gloved hand holding covid vacciine

How mRNA vaccines help fight cancer tumors

Penn researchers are looking to mRNA vaccines for applications outside of infectious diseases, as they can not only prompt strong antibody responses to fight off invaders, like COVID-19, but also potent cytotoxic T cell responses.

Steve Graff

In the vaccine trenches with Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman
vaccine_vials

In the vaccine trenches with Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman

Key breakthroughs leading to the powerful mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 were forged at Penn, and the COVID-19 vaccines may only be the beginning of its impact on 21st-century medicine.

The Pennsylvania Gazette

Translating groundbreaking scientific discoveries into practical technologies
a cartoon of four researchers one with a notebook, one looking through a microscope, one injecting liquid into a test tube, and one looking at two flasks

Translating groundbreaking scientific discoveries into practical technologies

Amidst the numerous challenges posed by COVID-19, the Penn Center for Innovation has continued to facilitate impactful innovations created at Penn, fostering partnerships and helping to realize new products and businesses.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Five things to know about the promising COVID-19 vaccine news
Health care worker prepares to give patient a vaccine injection

Five things to know about the promising COVID-19 vaccine news

Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine, whose work is a key factor helping to enable two vaccines in late stages of testing, sheds light on the biology behind them and on his predictions about next steps in vaccine development and approval.

Katherine Unger Baillie