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Genomic differences selected through evolution may offer clues as to why COVID-19 outcomes vary widely
two DNA double helixes next to an illustration of the SARS-CoV-2 virus

COVID-19’s hard-to-predict effects likely owe in part to genetic differences. A Penn-led study analyzing the genomes of a diverse set of populations globally points to genetic variants that may help explain some of the variability in disease severity.

Genomic differences selected through evolution may offer clues as to why COVID-19 outcomes vary widely

A team from the University of Pennsylvania analyzed genomic data from global populations, including thousands of ethnically diverse Africans, to identify genetic variants that may be associated with clinical COVID-19 outcomes.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Penn Athletics hires Liz Nobis as first-ever mental health professional
Franklin Field, with center city Philadelphia to the right in the background.

Penn Athletics hires Liz Nobis as first-ever mental health professional

Nobis earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Biola University’s Rosemead School of Psychology in 2021 and has been serving as a postdoctoral fellow at Penn’s Counseling Services for the past year.

Penn Today Staff

People imitate accent features they expect to hear, even without hearing them
An illustration of many different-colored heads with many different-colored talking bubbles.

People imitate accent features they expect to hear, even without hearing them

Research from postdoc Lacey Wade confirmed this idea, what she calls expectation-driven convergence, in a controlled experiment for the first time. The work reveals just how much the subconscious factors into the way people speak.

Michele W. Berger

Researchers find topological phenomena at high technologically relevant frequencies
a close up of a needle etching stars into a blue membrane with a Z down the middle

Researchers find topological phenomena at high technologically relevant frequencies

A collaborative new study led by researchers in the School of Arts & Sciences demonstrates topological control capabilities in an acoustic system, with implications for applications such as 5G communications and quantum information processing.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Decoding a material’s ‘memory’
particles shown as gray dots with arrows and colored lines indicating their direction of movement

A suspension of particles of different sizes during shearing experiments conducted in the lab of Paulo Arratia, with arrows indicating particle “flow” and trajectories. In a new study published in Nature Physics, researchers detail the relationship between a disordered material’s individual particle arrangement and how it reacts to external stressors. The study also found that these materials have “memory” that can be used to predict how and when they will flow. (Image: Arratia lab)

Decoding a material’s ‘memory’

A new study details the relationship between particle structure and flow in disordered materials, insights that can be used to understand systems ranging from mudslides to biofilms.

Erica K. Brockmeier

One graceless tweet doesn’t warrant cancellation

One graceless tweet doesn’t warrant cancellation

Elle Lett, a postdoc in the Perelman School of Medicine, wrote about how the word “freak” has been used to dehumanize Black women. “There is a history that dates back to the antebellum South” of “fetishizing, hypersexualizing and otherizing Black women in freak shows and displays to media and even medical textbooks,” Lett wrote. “Black women are consistently dehumanized in America. By using ‘freak of nature,’ you separate Black women from the rest of human existence.”

Perceptions shaped social behavior during the pandemic
A movie marquee with the words "1. Elbow Bumps 2. Foot Shakes 3. Just Wave!"

Perceptions shaped social behavior during the pandemic

Research from Penn psychologists found that Americans who most feared losing their connections continued interacting with others, paradoxically acting in ways that risked prolonging disease-mitigating social restrictions.

Michele W. Berger

Therapy dogs help students relax and relieve stress
Penn students petting a dog outside

Beau the English Labrador plays with students as they take a break from studying and enjoy therapy dogs on campus during the event, “Pawsitive Study Break”, sponsored by Wharton Undergraduate Division at Tannenbaum Quad. (Image: Sara Hoover, Wharton Undergraduate Division)

Therapy dogs help students relax and relieve stress

The Wharton School’s Undergraduate Division invited students to take a break from studying and enjoy therapy dogs on campus.

Dee Patel

From corals to humans, a shared trigger for sperm to get in motion
coral diving

With coral reefs under threat from climate change, pollutants, sedimentation, and other factors, Barott and colleagues hope to continue investigating how such challenges may influence coral reproduction and persistence. (Image: Courtesy of Kelsey Speer)

From corals to humans, a shared trigger for sperm to get in motion

Coral sperm require a specific pH to move, according to research from the School of Arts & Sciences, which identifies a signaling pathway that is shared by organisms including humans. The results inform how corals may fare with climate change.

Katherine Unger Baillie

In the brain’s cerebellum, a new target for suppressing hunger
A graphic with a stomach and a brain next to one another

Signals between the brain and stomach help animals decide when and how much to eat. A research collaboration involving Penn neuroscientists has uncovered a sensor for fullness in an area of the brain never before associated with satiation: the cerebellum. (Image: Courtesy of the Betley laboratory)

In the brain’s cerebellum, a new target for suppressing hunger

A research team led by J. Nicholas Betley in the School of Arts & Sciences has identified an entirely new way the brain signals fullness after eating. The findings offer a novel target for therapies that could dramatically curb overeating.

Katherine Unger Baillie