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Public Health
Lead toxicity risk factors in Philadelphia
Two studies identify factors that correlate with high blood-lead levels in children, pointing to ongoing environmental justice issues that disproportionately fall on children of color and poorer communities in the city.
Solutions to mitigate climate change, from the IPCC
The latest assessment offers both a harsh reality check and a path forward. Experts William Braham, Peter Psarras, and Michael Mann offer their thoughts.
Providing naloxone in the emergency department can save lives
A survey finds that approximately half of the patients said that they were carrying naloxone after their ED visit and two-thirds planned to continue carrying naloxone in the future.
Well water, lead, and the link to juvenile delinquency
Research from Penn and other universities found that, compared to children with municipal water, those relying on private wells in the U.S. had a 21% higher risk of being reported for any delinquency and a 38% increased risk of being reported for serious delinquency after age 14.
HUP Food Pantry team innovates to address food insecurity
Between June 2020 and November 2021, the HUP Food Pantry gave out nearly 5,000 bags of food to postpartum families with food insecurity.
COVID-19 turned everything upside down. What has Penn Medicine’s innovation team learned?
To many in health care—including those in Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Care Innovation—the COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis from which to find the next great learning opportunity.
Leonard A. Lauder talks game-changing gift to Penn Nursing, and more
Lauder, a Penn alumnus and emeritus Trustee, donated $125 million to the University, establishing a new program for aspiring nurse practitioners who intend to work in underserved communities.
Improving access to at-home health care
With their company Mobility Health, President’s Innovation Prize winners Aris Saxena and Yiwen Li have created a program which connects patients with on-demand health care at their homes.
Belief in vaccination misinformation predicts attitudes toward vaccinating children
The survey data come from the fifth wave of the Annenberg Science Knowledge survey, a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults empaneled by the Annenberg Public Policy Center in April 2021 to track attitudes and behavior in the pandemic.
Four takeaways from the IPCC’s report on climate adaptation and vulnerability
The assessment gets explicit about the effect of climate change on people, places, and ecosystems. Experts from Penn weigh in on what it means.
In the 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.
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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.
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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.
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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%.
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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.
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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.
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