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Health Sciences
Using fat cells to predict response to anti-diabetes drugs
In a new study, a team of researchers have demonstrated—using fat cells derived from human stem cells—that individual genetic variation can be used to predict whether the TZD rosiglitazone will produce the unwanted side effect of increasing cholesterol levels in certain individuals.
The NICU ensures safe sleep one swaddle at a time
The Women & Babies Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit focuses on promoting sleep safety techniques with parents while their baby is still in the NICU.
Does opioid use in pets create higher risk for abuse in humans?
A new study shows a 41 percent increase in opioids for small animals over the past 10 years, indicating an avenue of potential risk for human access to opioids.
Can music improve anxiety and depression for people with memory disorders?
That’s the aim of a recently completed pilot program connecting Penn Memory Center patients, Penn graduate students, and Curtis Institute musicians.
Black and Hispanic teens see risky behaviors on social media, but few actually post about them
The research, from Penn Nursing and Annenberg, points to a need to change the feedback loop on these channels and to dispel myths about what constitutes normal behaviors.
Cell development discovery changes our understanding of how genes shape early embryos
To fit inside each nucleus, DNA coils around specialized proteins. These spools of wrapped DNA inhibit gene regulatory proteins from binding to protein-coding stretches along the genome, which help keep genes in the “off” position when they’re not needed.
Resistance to cancer treatment is a chain reaction
A study identifies a chain reaction in cells that enables cancer to resist treatments that target BRAF mutations.
Improvements needed for care, safety of pediatric patients in hospital settings
Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research found that when acute-care settings have better work environments for nurses, children are better protected.
Doctors can weigh in on brain tumors remotely
Brain tumor patients will now have access to Penn Medicine’s cancer expertise through the new telemedicine second opinion program for brain tumors.
End of life care quality remains a problem—nurses may be a solution
A new study from the School of Nursing’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research describes the quality of end of life care in nearly 500 U.S. hospitals, utilizing nearly 13,000 bedside nurses as informants of quality.
In the News
CNN
How some wellness programs encourage toxic attitudes about body size
The Perelman School of Medicine’s Rebecca Pearl spoke about workplace wellness programs. “It’s important for leaders or people who are implementing these programs to be aware that employees, especially employees with obesity, might feel self-conscious or targeted,” said Pearl. “If it’s creating an atmosphere in which other employees are commenting on each other’s weight or eating choices, we should be conscious of the potential downstream effects of being stigmatized.”
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USA Today
Unproven medical treatments cost us lives and money. Let research tell us what works
PIK professor Ezekiel Emanuel and Justin Bekelman of the Perelman School of Medicine wrote that expensive, experimental medical treatments may be a waste of money until proven effective.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
What makes addiction a disease?
Charles O’Brien and Daniel Langleben of the Perelman School of Medicine discussed the brain’s reward system and its relationship to addiction.
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NPR
A drug that eases miscarriages is difficult for women to get
Courtney Schreiber of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the importance of access to mifepristone. “It offers [miscarrying women] a sense of control over their own bodies and their own process when they feel that they've already lost an element of control,” Schreiber says.
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The Washington Post
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg misses Supreme Court arguments for first time as she recovers from cancer
The Perelman School of Medicine’s John Kucharczuk commented on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s recovery from a recent pulmonary lobectomy, saying that even younger patients are “tired and washed out” after the procedure.
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