Penn Integrates Knowledge Professors

PIK Professor Adrian Raine spoke about human fascination with murder, saying evolutionary forces may be a factor. “We've evolved to avoid being killed so that we can reproduce our genes. One thing that can help here is to learn as much as possible about two things—who the killer is, and why the victim was killed,” he said.

PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff spoke about how humans continue to evolve. For example, she said, a genetic variant that enables lactose tolerance didn’t emerge until somewhere between the past several hundred and 2,000 years. “When you’re talking about evolutionary time scales, that’s like a flash.”

PIK Professor Jonathan Moreno said he hadn’t heard of anyone being disciplined by the American Psychiatric Association for breaking the Goldwater rule, which says it’s unethical for psychiatrists to issue professional opinions about public figures they haven’t examined.

PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts said algorithms can reflect the biases of their creators. “Technology can be used to promote equality or perpetuate inequality. It depends on who’s in control of it and what data they are putting into the algorithms,” she said.

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel recommended that travelers wear N95 masks and spend time outdoors in areas with good ventilation, including for meals.

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel and Emily Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine collaborated with Govind Persad of the University of Denver on an op-ed about equity in COVID-19 vaccine distribution models. “Age-only distribution is unethical, likely illegal and bad health policy,” they wrote.

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel spoke about provisions within the coronavirus relief bill that expand subsidies for health insurance purchased under the Affordable Care Act. “For people that are eligible but not buying insurance it’s a financial issue, and so upping the subsidies is going to make the price point come down,” he said.

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel spoke about minimizing COVID-19 transmission risks after vaccination. “Do the visit outdoors if possible. And as spring is coming, it's going to be a lot easier to do that. Go walk in the park,” he said. “And if you're going to have a meal together, the meal should be outdoors and with good distancing because you're going to have the mask off while you're eating.”

PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel said lifting restrictions on indoor dining and other COVID-19 precautions is premature, in spite of the new vaccines. “The peak was just six weeks ago. We have been in this heightened state of public health alert for the last six, seven weeks,” he said. “We should not just rush out and reverse all of the advances we have had, especially with these new variants.”