Public Health

The legal history of epidemics in America

Sarah Barringer Gordon, the Arlin M. Adams Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of History, offers a commentary on American political responses to epidemics past.

Why do people react differently when confronting the same threat?

In the face of the coronavirus, some people collected household goods. Others ignored the warnings altogether. Two Penn researchers explain why both responses are normal and how to find a middle ground if you disagree with those around you.

Michele W. Berger

Impact of COVID-19 on homelessness

A new report coauthored by researchers at SP2 finds that COVID-19 could hospitalize some 21,295 people who don’t have housing, or about 4.3% of the nationwide homeless population.

Penn Today Staff

Providing care from a distance

Telemedicine is a critical tool in the COVID-19 epidemic. Clinicians at the medical, dental, and veterinary schools are making use of virtual encounters to keep providing patients with safe, timely, quality care.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Enhanced Penn Health insurance coverage and care access

Penn’s insurance carriers have made enhancements for participants to the existing plan, so that members may receive appropriate testing and treatment for the coronavirus without encountering barriers associated with navigating any benefits issues.

Dee Patel

Flattening the curve of the coronavirus

In the current fast-moving, unprecedented situation, what we do today to stem the impact of COVID-19 can vastly affect what we will face tomorrow. Two epidemiologists discuss what we can do individually and as a society to slow the spread of the disease.

Michele W. Berger



In the News


Philadelphia Gay News

UPenn hosts free online panel for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion

The Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative, led by José Bauermeister and Jessica Halem of the School of Nursing, will host a free online panel in April on the integration of LGBTQ+ people in the workforce.

FULL STORY →



Philadelphia Inquirer

Mayor Parker’s plan to ‘remove the presence of drug users’ from Kensington raises new questions

Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing and Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on the lack of specificity in Philadelphia’s plan to remove drug users from Kensington and on the current state of drug treatment in the city.

FULL STORY →



FactCheck.org

Posts mislead about COVID-19 vaccine safety with out-of-context clip of FDA official

Jeffrey S. Morris of the Perelman School of Medicine says that many adverse medical events, even those clearly unrelated to vaccines, have been reported an order of magnitude more for COVID vaccines during the pandemic than any time before.

FULL STORY →



WHYY (Philadelphia)

Philadelphians hope a cleaner city will reduce gun violence. Will Oh or Parker make it a reality?

A $3 million blight reduction project in Philadelphia is informed by Penn research showing that cleaning up trash and revitalizing vacant lots can reduce gun violence rates by as much as 29%.

FULL STORY →



Business Insider

Universal basic income is working—even in red states

Researchers at Penn concluded that a basic income program in Stockton, California, could have profound positive impacts on local public health.

FULL STORY →



CBS Philadelphia

NJ’s Camden County deploying virtual reality to teach students about naloxone

Penn partnered with New Jersey’s Camden County to create a virtual reality training video for administering the opioid-reversing drug Narcan.

FULL STORY →