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Postdocs

A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise
A researcher walking through a glacier in Greenland.

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A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise

For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland’s Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim’s massive calving events don’t behave the way scientists once thought, reframing how ice loss contributes to sea-level rise.

5 min. read

New Katz Center fellowship amplifies study of antisemitism through classes, events, and community
Mendel Kranz leaning against bookshelves in a library setting

Mendel Kranz is the inaugural recipient of the Ross-Silk-Lowenstein Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism

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New Katz Center fellowship amplifies study of antisemitism through classes, events, and community

Mendel Kranz, the inaugural recipient of the Ross-Silk-Lowenstein Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, elevates awareness and critical inquiry into antisemitism through research projects, classroom dialogue, and educational events.

4 min. read

Mapping the links between brain development and mental health
Sheet of a child’s brain scans.

A collaborative team led by Theodore D. Satterthwaite, Golia Shafiei, and Michael P. Milham has developed a large-scale, open data resource for mapping brain development and its associations with mental health.

(Image: fmajor via Getty Images)

Mapping the links between brain development and mental health

A new large-scale, open data resource from the Perelman School of Medicine and collaborators helps researchers link brain development with mental health disorders.

3 min. read

Tumor-on-a-chip offers insight into cancer-fighting cells in immunotherapy
Hand holding a microdevice

Penn engineers and collaborators have developed a transparent, micro-engineered device that houses a living, vascularized model of human lung cancer—a “tumor on a chip”—and show that the diabetes drug vildagliptin helps more CAR T cells break through the tumor’s defenses and attack it effectively.

(Image: Courtesy of Dan Huh)

Tumor-on-a-chip offers insight into cancer-fighting cells in immunotherapy

Penn engineers and collaborators have built a living tumor on a chip to expose how cancers block immune attacks, and how one existing drug could make immunotherapy like CAR T more effective against solid tumors.

3 min. read

National award and appointment for Penn Nursing’s David (Hyunmin) Yu

National award and appointment for Penn Nursing’s David (Hyunmin) Yu

The postdoctoral research fellow in Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research has been selected as one of this year’s STAT Wunderkinds, a national recognition that highlights standout early-career researchers who are not yet independent scientists but are already making extraordinary contributions to biomedical science.

National award and appointment for Penn Nursing’s David (Hyunmin) Yu

A summer in the tick trenches
A person in PPE holding blue painters tape covered in several ticks.

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A summer in the tick trenches

With the help of five Penn undergrads, biology professor Dustin Brisson’s research group collected 9,000 tick specimens this summer to understand how seasonal activity patterns of these arachnids affects human pathogens and what role a changing climate might play.

Kristina Linnea GarcĂ­a

2 min. read

A new way to guide light
Researchers stand and point at a white board littered with equations.

Bo Zhen (right) and postdoctoral researcher Li He developed a system for guiding light through tiny crystals in ways that allow it to navigate undeterred bu bumps and defects. Their work could lead to sturdier lasers, faster data links, and light-based chips that don’t get tripped up by imperfections.

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A new way to guide light

Penn researchers developed a system that allows light to be guided through a tiny crystal, undeterred by bumps, bends, and back-reflections. Their findings pave the way for robust, controllable light-based chips, smarter routing for data links, and more stable lasers.

3 min. read

AI uncovers new antibiotics in ancient microbes
Cesar de la Fuente in his lab.

César de la Fuente (pictured) and his team used AI to study the proteins of hundreds of ancient microbes, searching for new antibiotic candidates.

(Image: Jianing Bai)

AI uncovers new antibiotics in ancient microbes

César de la Fuente uses AI to hunt for new antibiotic candidates in unlikely places, from the DNA of extinct organisms to the proteins of ancient microbes.

Ian Scheffler

2 min. read

A nature-inspired leap in water harvesting technology

A nature-inspired leap in water harvesting technology

Penn Engineering’s Shu Yang and postdoctoral fellow Yunchan Lee are working to develop a new material and device that imitate raspberries and sunflowers. Together, these bio-inspired forms make clean, sustainable water harvesting possible by using just the moisture in the air and the heat of the sun.

Curiosity, STEM, and a summer on campus
Two high school students woking with pipettes in a science classroom.

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Curiosity, STEM, and a summer on campus

The Penn Research Experience for High School Students gives Philadelphia 11th and 12th graders a rare opportunity to tackle college-level research.

From Omnia

2 min. read