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Can tiny ocean organisms offer the key to better climate modeling?
Researcher Xin Sun injects substance into glass vials.

Xin Sun prepares samples collected from the Eastern Tropical North Pacific aboard a research vessel. By adding stable isotope tracers to these vials, Sun and her team can track how different microbial groups convert nitrogen compounds into nitrous oxide, revealing how subtle shifts in oxygen and organic matter change the ocean’s chemistry.

 
 

(Image: Courtesy of Xin Sun)

Can tiny ocean organisms offer the key to better climate modeling?

In the shadowy layers of the Pacific, microbes decide how much nitrous oxide—a potent greenhouse gas—rises skyward. New research from Penn’s Xin Sun offers an improved understanding of microbial ecology and geochemistry—key to forecasting global emissions in response to natural and man-made climate change.

3 min. read

Street lighting and public safety
People dining on a well-lit Philly sidewalk at night.

Image: benedek via Getty Images

Street lighting and public safety

Criminology researchers Aaron Chalfin and John MacDonald, and data scientist Brian Wade of Penn’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab, evaluate the effect of improved street lighting on crime rates.

Blake Cole

2 min. read

Helpline support eases stress for dementia caregivers
An elderly person on the phone.

Image: PIKSEL via Getty Images

Helpline support eases stress for dementia caregivers

Penn Nursing researchers and collaborators found that caregivers for family members with dementia who receive one or two consultations saw improvements in their ability to manage stress, and that people requesting more than one call reported lower baseline confidence in their ability to manage their emotions than those requesting only one call.

3 min. read

Dogs with cancer are helping save lives—both canine and human
Nicola Mason, Antonia Rotolo, and Mary Beth Boland with Rex, first dog treated on metastatic osteosarcoma trial.

(Left to right) Nicola Mason, Mary Beth Boland, and Antonia Rotolo with Rex, first dog treated on metastatic osteosarcoma trial.

nocred

Dogs with cancer are helping save lives—both canine and human

The Comparative Immunotherapy Program led by Penn Vet’s Nicola Mason is redefining how therapies are developed and tested—uniting human and veterinary medicine to move promising immunotherapies forward.

4 min. read

Inspiring interest in water quality at Cobbs Creek
Two people in waders in Cobbs Creek getting water samples.

nocred

Inspiring interest in water quality at Cobbs Creek

Faculty and staff, high school and Penn students, and community members are working together to collect and analyze the most detailed water quality data to date at the West Philadelphia stream.

4 min. read

An overdose prediction tool for cocaine and other stimulants

An overdose prediction tool for cocaine and other stimulants

To treat stimulant use disorder more like other chronic diseases, researchers at Penn Medicine have created a prediction tool to identify who may be at risk and what they have in common.

Frank Otto

2 min. read

A built-in ‘off switch’ to stop persistent pain
Brain imaging

Collaborative research on the neural basis of chronic pain led by neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley finds that a critical hub in the brainstem, has a built-in “off switch” to stop persistent pain signals from reaching the rest of the brain. Their findings could help clinicians better understand chronic pain. (Pictured) Flurorescence imaging reveals hunger neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus labeled in maroon with nuclei shown in blue.

(Image: J. Nicholas Betley)

A built-in ‘off switch’ to stop persistent pain

J. Nicholas Betley has led collaborative research seeking the neural basis of long-term sustained pain and finds that a critical hub in the brainstem holds a mechanism for stopping pain signals from reaching the rest of the brain. Their findings could help clinicians better understand chronic pain and lead to new, more efficacious treatments.

4 min. read

A new Penn Vet study is finding where the wild things are
A deer by a river in nature.

Image: Courtesy of Penn Vet

A new Penn Vet study is finding where the wild things are

The Accessing Urban Nature Initiative is gathering data on how urban wildlife is using the Philadelphia region’s ecosystem with motion-triggered cameras around Philadelphia parks, cemeteries, forest preserves, and private land.

From Penn Vet

2 min. read