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Neuroscience
Penn fourth-year Om Gandhi is a 2025 Rhodes Scholar
Penn fourth-year Om Gandhi is a 2025 Rhodes Scholar
Penn fourth-year Om Gandhi, from Barrington, Illinois, has been awarded a 2025 Rhodes Scholarship, which funds tuition and a living stipend for graduate study at the University of Oxford in England. He is among 32 American Rhodes Scholars, and an expected 100 worldwide.
Studying Wikipedia browsing habits to learn how people learn
Studying Wikipedia browsing habits to learn how people learn
A collaborative team of researchers analyzed the information-seeking styles of more than 480,000 people from 50 countries and found that gender and education inequality track different types of knowledge exploration. Their findings suggest potential cultural drivers of curiosity and learning.
Scratching beneath the surface of itchy skin
Scratching beneath the surface of itchy skin
Researchers from Penn Vet provide insights into how a species of worms found a way around the mammalian urge to scratch an itch.
Building solutions for brain disorders
Building solutions for brain disorders
Penn Engineering’s Flavia Vitale’s work developing devices that help people living with brain disorders has earned her a CAREER award, which will support her lab’s research in materials and devices that interface with different chemical and electrical signals inside the brain.
Breaking through the mysteries of predicting coma recovery
Breaking through the mysteries of predicting coma recovery
Penn Medicine’s David Fischer created the RECOVER (REcovery of COnsciousness Via Evidence-Based Medicine and Research) program to provide specialized, comprehensive, and ongoing care for coma patients in various stages of coma recovery.
Four academic journeys explored
Four academic journeys explored
Vijay Balasubramanian and Tukufu Zuberi in the School of Arts & Sciences, Amy Hillier in the School of Social Policy & Practice, and Brittany Watson in the School of Veterinary Medicine share their academic paths toward interdisciplinary work.
Who, What, Why: Lasya Sreepada on decoding Alzheimer’s disease
Who, What, Why: Lasya Sreepada on decoding Alzheimer’s disease
The doctoral candidate at the School of Engineering and Applied Science discusses her path to brain research and how it set her on a course to demystifying neurological diseases using data science approaches.
Hurricane changed ‘rules of the game’ in monkey society
Hurricane changed ‘rules of the game’ in monkey society
PIK Professor Michael Platt and collaborators from the University of Exeter find Hurricane Maria transformed a monkey society by changing the pros and cons of their interpersonal relations.
Making virtual worlds
Making virtual worlds
In a class this spring, Jeffrey Vadala of the Penn Brain Science Center taught students to analyze virtual reality landscapes and create their own.
Fruitful insights on the brain
Fruitful insights on the brain
Research led by China Byrns of the lab of Nancy M. Bonini in the School of Arts & Sciences have uncovered new details about the role of zombie-like cells in brain aging, using the fruit fly as a model.
In the News
SciTechDaily
Scientists unveil 16+ distinct nerve cell types behind human touch
A study by Wenqin Lo of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues used detailed analyses of the genes used by individual nerve cells to identify 16 distinct types of nerve cells in humans.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Free West Philly community clinic, which provided care to hundreds, is closed
Penn Medicine resident Noor Shaik and Michael Rubenstein of the Perelman School of Medicine discuss a West Philadelphia clinic that became a model for collaborations between academic health systems and community organizations.
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The Washington Post
Alzheimer’s patients and their families hear a new word: Progress
Jeffrey Maneval of the Perelman School of Medicine classifies two new drug treatments for Alzheimer’s as “a double, not a home run.”
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Medscape
The next frontier of antibiotic discovery: Inside your gut
César de la Fuente of the Perelman School of Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science says the main pillars that have enabled us to almost double our lifespan in the last 100 years have been antibiotics, vaccines, and clean water.
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Nature
Five ways science is tackling the antibiotic resistance crisis
César de la Fuente of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Perelman School of Medicine is using AI to identify antimicrobial peptides found in modern and extinct humans, as well as other extinct animals.
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Bloomberg
How wildfire smoke could cause dementia
A study by Holly Elser of the Perelman School of Medicine finds that wildfire smoke exposure can significantly increase the risk of dementia.
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