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How to connect communities to colorectal cancer screening
A pair of hands holding a cancer screening kit vial in one hand and paperwork in another extended to a person standing in a park.

A FIT Kit comes in an envelope and includes instructions, a prepaid return mailing envelope, and a small tube to contain a probe that the user will insert into a stool sample to capture a tiny particle. In the lab, the small sample is tested for signs of blood in the stool, which may not be visible. (Image: Penn Medicine Service in Action)

How to connect communities to colorectal cancer screening

Penn Medicine has been on a multiyear journey to both raise the rates of screening for colorectal cancer and increase uptake of follow up care, with the goal of driving down colorectal cancer death rates and addressing inequities

From Penn Medicine Service in Action

HIPAA at 25 remains a work in progress
Folders full of alphabetized medical records on a shelf.

HIPAA at 25 remains a work in progress

Anita Allen argues that while HIPAA has delivered meaningful benefits to consumers, it still needs updating to address new and emerging privacy challenges.

From the Regulatory Review

Long-term COVID and the ADA
microscopic view of coronavirus
  • Q&A

    • Long-term COVID and the ADA

    Jasmine Harris, a disability law expert, shares her thoughts on President Biden’s announcement that long-term COVID sufferers could be protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act

    Kristen de Groot

    Medical anthropologist Fran Barg reflects on three decades at Penn
    A person standing along a black iron fence, one arm hanging over the fence. In the background are trees and a blurred out mural.

    Fran Barg spent more than 30 years at Penn, conducting research that fell at the intersection of medicine and anthropology. Though she technically retired in June 2021, she plans to remain connected to Penn, to the mentoring and research that has enriched her career.

    Medical anthropologist Fran Barg reflects on three decades at Penn

    She spent her career studying the culture of medicine. Through collaborations with colleagues in medicine and anthropology, she’s pinpointed why it’s so crucial to see serious medical problems from both a scientific perspective and a patient one.

    Michele W. Berger

    Relief for dry eyes
    Person holding a smartphone close to their face rubs eyes.

    Relief for dry eyes

    Dry eye is a common condition, affecting nearly half of U.S. adults at some point during their lives, but it is often overlooked as a serious ailment, and the classic symptom of dry eyes isn’t always present.

    Lauren Ingeno

    Four things to know about the latest IPCC climate report
    A dried up desert with a small amount of water on the right-hand side. The sun is blazing in the background, in front of mountains.

    nocred

    Four things to know about the latest IPCC climate report

    The assessment describes ‘unequivocal’ human influence that no doubt caused ‘widespread and rapid changes’ to the atmosphere, oceans, and more. Professors Mark Alan Hughes and Michael Weisberg discuss the findings, plus how we can avoid passing the point of no return.

    Michele W. Berger

    In rural America, religious attendance reduces compassion regarding opioids
    empty street of a small town Main Street with a church on one side of the street.

    In rural America, religious attendance reduces compassion regarding opioids

    Rural areas—particularly those in Appalachian and Midwestern states—are hard hit by the opioid epidemic. However, many individuals in those same states do not support policies scientifically proven to help, like medically aided treatment and syringe exchanges.

    From Annenberg School for Communication

    To get shots in arms, governments turn to money in pockets

    To get shots in arms, governments turn to money in pockets

    Harald Schmidt of the Perelman School of Medicine reflected on the use of incentives to motivate people to get vaccinated for COVID-19. “If we just get needles into arms we haven’t really made any progress on the bigger picture, which is that whole communities are lacking trust in health care systems or the government,” he said.

    When trust in science fosters pseudoscience
    historic illustration of a phrenology map of someone’s skull.

    When trust in science fosters pseudoscience

    A study co-authored by PIK Professor Dolores Albarracín finds that people who trust science are more likely to believe and disseminate false claims containing scientific references than people who do not trust science.

    From the Annenberg Public Policy Center