Health & Medicine | Penn Today

Sketch of two colonial-era men at table, one with an injured foot.

How mismanagement of gout could have impacted the American Revolution

Penn biology professor Philip A. Rea has written a provocative piece examining how gout sidelined two influential 18th-century British leaders and why England eschewed an effective gout treatment.

2 min. read

Ménière’s disease may begin early in inner ear development

A Penn Medicine study shows the first clear biological roadmap for a poorly understood inner ear disorder.

2 min. read

Stephanie Hollister and another healthcare workers at HUP Cedar looking at a computer.

A specialized approach to mental health crisis care at HUP–Cedar

Penn’s Southwest Philadelphia crisis response center has expanded access, eased emergency department crowding, and connected more patients to ongoing mental health support.

2 min. read

Immune activation may determine success of dual-target CAR T therapy in glioblastoma

New research from Penn Medicine finds that activation of natural killer cells is linked to longer survival, and suppressive immune cells is tied to poor response.

2 min. read

Novel medicine for rare disease prompts $10M gift for trials

The Clayco Foundation award to Penn Medicine will go toward safety trials of a new small molecule drug aimed at treating RVCL, a rare, fatal disease with no cure.

Driving harm reduction

Penn Nursing’s Harm Reduction working group has mobilized to write policy briefs about pressing issues related to harm reduction, and made connections to those tracking relevant policy at the local and state levels.

The facade of the Pennsylvania Hospital.

The history of Pennsylvania Hospital’s Pine Building

The original structure of the nation’s first chartered hospital—home to early mental health and maternity care—is a living symbol of innovation.

3 min. read

AI framework aids target discovery for CAR T cell therapy

Researchers at Penn Medicine have created a generalizable strategy to identify new targets for CAR T cell therapy.

2 min. read

CAR T cell therapy leads to 10-year remissions in B-cell lymphoma patients

A long-term follow-up from one of the earliest CAR T cell therapy clinical trials shows potential cures in more than one-third of patients treated at Penn Medicine.

2 min. read

Penn Nursing’s Summer Innovation Institute 2026

In June, Penn’s School of Nursing hosted innovators, educators, clinicians, and healthcare leaders at Tangen Hall for the annual Summer Innovation Institute, an immersive weeklong program focused on Human-Centered Design, co-creation, and advancing health equity.

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How mismanagement of gout could have impacted the American Revolution

Ménière’s disease may begin early in inner ear development

A specialized approach to mental health crisis care at HUP–Cedar

Immune activation may determine success of dual-target CAR T therapy in glioblastoma

Novel medicine for rare disease prompts $10M gift for trials

Driving harm reduction

The history of Pennsylvania Hospital’s Pine Building

AI framework aids target discovery for CAR T cell therapy

CAR T cell therapy leads to 10-year remissions in B-cell lymphoma patients

Penn Nursing’s Summer Innovation Institute 2026