Public Health | Penn Today

A skyscraper against a blue sky with white clouds and a budding tree

Past successes, future questions as United Nations turns 75

Perry World House held a series of virtual talks with global leaders looking at the organization’s current efforts, ongoing struggles, and future.

A farm for the community

The Food and Wellness Collaborative, which emerged from the ‘Your Big Idea’ competition, has turned an expanse of turf into a productive growing space.

Tap faucet head with several drips of water dripping off the top.

Is your drinking water toxic? This app may help you find out

A new tool developed by Penn Medicine researchers informs users about their potential exposure to hydraulic fracturing chemicals.

Woman in a red jacket standing at a podium with two microphones.

Across U.S. Catholic archdioceses, child protection policies vary widely

A report from CHILD USA, led by Professor of Practice Marci Hamilton, found that such policies lack uniformity, aren’t comprehensive, and often don’t take a victim-centered approach.

Morning sun shining through a window in a hospital room with a patient lying in bed attached to tubes and monitors.

U.S. COVID deaths may be underestimated by 36%

The research team found that more of these deaths occurred in places with greater income inequality, more non-Hispanic Black residents, and other factors indicating a pattern related to socioeconomic disadvantage and structural racism.

person holding a virtual reality headset to their eyes.

Virtual reality trains public to reverse opioid overdoses

A group of interdisciplinary researchers from Penn and the Philadelphia Department of Public Heath have developed a virtual reality immersive video training aimed to save lives from opioid overdoses.

Happy same-sex couple seated at a table outside homeschooling their young child.

State laws are key to HIV prevention efforts

Data show that four of five people who could benefit from PrEP did not access the medication in 2018. A new study from Penn Nursing finds that states with comprehensive nondiscrimination laws for sexual and gender minorities have a higher PrEP-to-need ratio.

Virbrant graphic of microscopic virus molecules in array

Belief in conspiracy theories is a barrier to controlling spread of COVID-19

Belief in conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic is not only persistent but also is associated with reluctance to accept a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available.

Philly Council calls for hearings as city’s auto fatality rate soars

Erick Guerra of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design attributed a spike in car crashes in part to increased alcohol consumption. “People are drinking more during COVID so probably a high share are drunk. And people know there’s a higher consequence, so they run,” he said. “The other reason is just speed…. When there are less people on the road, you can go faster. And that really impacts the fatality rate.”

Smiling person standing arms held down, together and in front, outside of a brick building.

Pizza, a nascent dairy industry, and infant health in the Peruvian highlands

Research from anthropologist Morgan Hoke shows that in homes that produce their own foods, children exhibit better growth rates and mothers report more autonomy and economic control.

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