11/15
Public Health
Penn launches $750M investment in science, engineering, and medicine
The investment will cover research in novel therapeutics and health-related initiatives, energy and sustainability, data engineering and science, and infrastructure to support physical science research over the next five years.
Can food assistance influence diabetes trends in the U.S.?
In a new study, researchers investigate the relationship between the prevalence of diabetes at the county-level and state SNAP policies, with findings that suggest SNAP could play a key role in the health of communities.
A Black-owned radio station, a physician, and a quest to prevent colon cancer
A unique community-based campaign by Penn Medicine, WURD, Philadelphia’s Black-owned and -operated talk radio station, and other organizations provide free colon cancer testing kits and follow-up support to Philadelphia residents.
With more kids eligible for vaccines, is the pandemic in a new phase?
With the FDA authorization last week, 28 million more children are eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Experts from the School of Nursing and Perelman School of Medicine share their thoughts about what to expect in the weeks and months to come.
The controversy surrounding vaccinations, then and now
Robert Aronowitz, Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences, reflects on vaccine hesitancy today compared to the past, and the politicization of public health.
Yelp star ratings may reveal county-level death rate disparities
A one-star disparity on health care facility Yelp reviews could indicate a 60-death-per-year difference between some United States counties where those facilities are located.
Penn Libraries acquires the personal papers of historian and activist Elizabeth Fee
The papers of the pioneering historian and health advocate, who died in 2018, adds to the Libraries’ growing collection of materials charting the history of public health activism.
Four facts about the COVID-19 boosters
The FDA and CDC endorsed boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines just a month after the agencies did the same for a Pfizer/BioNTech booster. Here’s what’s known today about these shots.
Racial disparities in avoidable hospitalizations for Medicare beneficiaries
A new Medical Care study by LDI Fellow Norma Coe and colleagues reveals racial disparities in avoidable hospitalizations that are even greater than in traditional Medicare.
Mandates likely work to increase vaccine uptake
Rather than causing a backlash, vaccination requirements will succeed at getting more people inoculated, according to research from PIK Professor Dolores Albarracín and colleagues at Penn.
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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