Public Health | Penn Today

Dean Andrew Hoffman at New Bolton Center campus

A veterinarian’s take on vaccine hesitancy

In a conversation with Penn Today, School of Veterinary Medicine Dean Andrew Hoffman shares his perspective on the important role veterinarians can play in supporting underserved communities.

Group of people wearing masks outside a building in Malawi.

It takes a village, especially during a global pandemic

A Penn LDI and Penn Population Aging Research Center team tracks behavior and attitudes in Malawi during COVID-19’s first wave.

Alexis McGill Johnson and Dorothy Roberts

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.

Patient with a face mask looking at a computer with a medical professional.

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.

Person walking with cane past a tall apartment building.

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.

Three new pandemic initiatives launch as Biden hits one-year mark

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center said that even if vaccination rates continue to climb despite anti-vax sentiments, there would still be room for improvement. “Even the relatively small part of the population that accepts misinformation is problematic,” she said.

A person in a doctor's office checks their fitness tracker on their wrist.

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.

Person wearing a face mask while studying in Fischer Fine Arts Library.

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.

Pop-up COVID testing sites may be rife for identity theft, experts say

Allison Hoffman of the Law School spoke about the emergence of unregulated COVID testing sites. “If they're asking for more information than they should be, like Social Security numbers, don't give that to them,” she said. “If they're asking for payment, don't give them payment because you shouldn't be paying out of pocket at all for these tests right now.”

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