5.20
Health Sciences
Coronavirus or COVID? A glossary to help navigate pandemic vocabulary
Coronavirus or COVID? A glossary to help navigate pandemic vocabulary
As scientific jargon and new words become prevalent in headlines, social media, and everyday conversations, Penn Today provides key definitions and context for making sense of COVID-19.
Performing organ transplants safely amid the COVID-19 outbreak
Performing organ transplants safely amid the COVID-19 outbreak
The unique challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with fewer organ donations, led to a tremendous reduction in transplant procedures in the United States. But the Penn Transplant Institute is working through the crisis.
Can Yelp reviews identify better skilled nursing facilities?
Can Yelp reviews identify better skilled nursing facilities?
A new study suggests that hospitals, payers, and patients might learn something useful about the quality of skilled nursing facilities by checking online Yelp reviews.
At a community health center, doctors offer COVID testing—and screening for depression
At a community health center, doctors offer COVID testing—and screening for depression
The Sayre Health Center in West Philadelphia is including anxiety and depression screening with COVID-19 testing, a necessity for a population especially at risk for both.
New liver cancer research targets non-cancer cells to blunt tumor growth
New liver cancer research targets non-cancer cells to blunt tumor growth
By targeting senescent cells using “senotherapy,” researchers can greatly reduce tumors in models.
COVID-19’s assault on Black and Brown communities
COVID-19’s assault on Black and Brown communities
Racism, inequality, and the coronavirus have combined to cause an alarming number of COVID-19 cases and deaths among African-American and Latinx populations.
Stimulating immune cleanup crew offers affordable possibility for treating rare genetic disorder
Stimulating immune cleanup crew offers affordable possibility for treating rare genetic disorder
Compounds that mimicked the process known as efferocytosis alleviated signs of leukocyte adhesion deficiency type-1 in an animal model, according to work led by the School of Dental Medicine’s George Hajishengallis
Virtual palliative care doctors are a ‘bright spot’ in dark times
Virtual palliative care doctors are a ‘bright spot’ in dark times
An initiative to provide virtual palliative care for nursing home patients, their families, and staff in a group of West Philadelphia nursing homes is providing comfort in the best and safest way possible during the pandemic.
A cautionary tale about Medicaid work requirements
A cautionary tale about Medicaid work requirements
A historical analysis of welfare requirements show large spillover effects among those not actually subject to such work requirements.
To boost opioid treatment prescriptions, entice physicians
To boost opioid treatment prescriptions, entice physicians
A new study shows that a financial incentive can dramatically increase the number of emergency department physicians trained to prescribe a potentially life-saving medication that prevents patients from fatal opioid overdose.
In the News
Business Insider
Nurses who have the coronavirus are fighting their employers to get paid time off: 'Nobody really cares about my safety'
Research led by Linda Aiken of the School of Nursing found that limiting nurses to caring for four or fewer patients at a time can lead to lower rates of readmission or death.
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Los Angeles Times
Column: Developing a coronavirus vaccine should not be rushed. Here’s why
Paul Offit of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the 1955 Cutter incident, in which a polio vaccine was rushed to production and ended up infecting tens of thousands. “We’re much better educated about how to mass-produce vaccines than we were then,” he said.
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The New York Times
There are 3 things we have to do to get people wearing masks
Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences, Lyle Ungar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and PIK Professor Ezekiel J. Emanuel wrote an op-ed about how best to persuade people to wear protective face masks. “It’s not too late to apply three basic principles from behavioral science: make it easy, understood, and expected,” they write, “and we’ll soon see face masks everywhere, saving lives.”
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The New York Times
Cancel sleep away camp
Jill M. Baren of the Perelman School of Medicine and a Columbia University colleague wrote an op-ed proposing the cancellation of summer camps. “Camps are primarily in rural communities where an increasing number of COVID-19 cases are now emerging,” they write. “That local rise in cases increases the risk of transmission into camps, which could overwhelm already fragile hospital systems.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Orchestra channel gives Penn hospitals a new soundtrack
Patients at Penn’s hospitals can now access archived footage of the Philadelphia Orchestra. “Patients have given us feedback that they are utilizing it, that they find it helpful, and that they find it comforting,” said HUP CEO Regina Cunningham.
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