11/15
Public Health
Anti-racism and reproductive justice
PIK Professor Dorothy Roberts joined Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, in the 21st annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Social Justice. They addressed the intersectional nature of anti-racism and reproductive freedom.
The origins of the opioid epidemic
The study, “Origins of the Opioid Crisis and its Enduring Impacts” examines the role of the 1996 introduction and marketing of OxyContin as a potential leading cause of the opioid crisis.
Busting myths about the Asian American ‘model minority’
Two new studies highlight the problem with aggregating diverse groups of people into a single category of “Asian American” when applied to cardiovascular disease and cancer diagnosis and outcomes.
Environment key to injury recovery for Black men
Data from a Penn Nursing study shows that injured Black men from disadvantaged neighborhoods experience higher injury mortality, years of life-expectancy loss, and psychological symptoms that persist after initial wounds have been treated.
Mask-wearing and moral values
Tiffany Tieu led a study on the psychology of mask-wearing and its relationship with a person’s moral values, using Penn undergraduates as the subjects.
Wearables can predict near-term blood sugar control in prediabetes patients
Penn researchers find that using wearable devices, especially those on the wrist, and machine learning approaches could predict blood sugar control.
A Wharton study on the best ways to boost workout habits
New research from Wharton professors Katy Milkman, Angela Duckworth, and co-authors on how to effectively nudge people to show up at the gym.
Cost effectiveness of financial incentives for smoking cessation
A new study explores the cost benefit of financial incentive programs, and the life expectancy and quality of life gains, for both employers and society at large.
Millions embrace COVID-19 misinformation, which is linked to vaccine hesitancy
Millions continue to believe misinformation about vaccination and COVID-19, and these beliefs are associated with hesitancy to get themselves and their children vaccinated—or, if they are vaccinated, to get a booster for added protection.
The COVID landscape after a year with vaccines
In a conversation hosted by LDI, experts from Penn, the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations discussed the vaccine rollout, boosters, misinformation, and more.
In the News
Got canker sores? Try switching your toothpaste
Richard Wender of the Perelman School of Medicine says that canker sores often start with a minor trauma to the mucosal lining, like a sharp edge on a tooth or a pair of prickly braces.
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FDA Study finds infectious H5N1 bird flu virus in 14% of raw milk samples
Patrick E. Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says it is important that anyone planning to consume raw milk be aware that doing so can make you sick and that pasteurization reduces the risk of milk-borne illnesses.
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Colorado has the most cases of bird flu among dairy cows in the U.S.
The School of Veterinary Medicine has developed a bird flu vaccine that is to be tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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This Juneteenth, we must invest in our future as well as remember our past
Victor Roy, an incoming assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine, writes that “baby bonds” could help mitigate the worsening racial wealth gap.
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Column: How a blunder by a respected medical journal is fueling an anti-vaccine lie
Jeffrey S. Morris of the Perelman School of Medicine says that even with a 100% effective vaccine, there would have been high levels of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 in 2021.
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RFK Jr.’s vaccine misinformation campaign started after he ignored a Philly doctor
Paul Offit of the Perelman School of Medicine and Melanie Kornides of the School of Nursing comment on Robert F. Kennedy’s misinformation campaign against vaccines.
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