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Health Sciences
Campus public health measures help mitigate the spread of COVID-19
Alongside regular saliva-based COVID-19 testing, other tools such as contact tracing, quarantine and isolation facilities, and health and well-being monitoring platforms are critical for protecting and supporting the campus community.
Accessible care for all at a new dental center
Accessible care for all at a new dental center
A priority of Dean Mark Wolff, the Care Center for Persons with Disabilities is now seeing patients at the School of Dental Medicine.
Overlooked part of human cells could be genetic key to common diseases
Overlooked part of human cells could be genetic key to common diseases
Long thought a vestigial part of human cells, new genetic analysis of the primary cilium shows that it may be tied to common conditions like diabetes and kidney failure.
Microbial transplants require key T cells for success
Microbial transplants require key T cells for success
Findings that certain immune cells are needed for fecal microbiota transplant success against C. difficile infections may be a clue to making this promising treatment work more broadly.
Looking out for speech disturbance may be the most important stroke sign
With COVID-19 protocols, fewer in-person doctor visits and ubiquitous face masks make tell-tale signs of stroke like facial drooping and arm weakness harder to detect.
More chairs, new presence expand dental care access
More chairs, new presence expand dental care access
A growing presence in community care centers has given Penn Dental Medicine more opportunities to serve Philadelphians and to train its students.
Where the economy falters, deaths from heart disease rise
Where the economy falters, deaths from heart disease rise
A new study finds that the diverging economic fortunes of different parts of the country is linked to differing death rates from heart disease and stroke among middle-aged Americans.
Five years later: CAR T therapy shows long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin lymphomas
Five years later: CAR T therapy shows long-lasting remissions in non-Hodgkin lymphomas
Findings represent the longest follow-up data to date for a personalized cellular therapy approved by the FDA for the treatment of aggressive lymphomas.
Behavior Change for Good unveils effective strategies to boost vaccination rates
Behavior Change for Good unveils effective strategies to boost vaccination rates
Texts with “reserved for you” messaging boosted flu vaccine rates by up to 11%.
Study explores neurocognitive basis of bias against people who look different
Study explores neurocognitive basis of bias against people who look different
Research from Penn Medicine shows brain responses and attitudes reinforce the “anomalous is bad” stereotype.
In the News
U.S. News & World Report
Many Blacks, Hispanics believe they’ll get worse care if dementia strikes
Roy Hamilton of the Perelman School of Medicine said there’s significant evidence that people from racial or ethnic minority groups tend to receive worse medical care than white patients. “This feeds into or contributes to a complicated cycle of problems where individuals from historically marginalized groups are both more suspicious and more wary of pursuing care,” he said. “And when they do, oftentimes those suspicions are borne out.”
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
‘This is something that we weren’t taught’: How a brand-new nurse learned to treat an unknown disease
Linda Aiken of the School of Nursing said short staffing in hospitals has been exacerbated by the pandemic. “Chronic understaffing in hospitals and chaotic and inefficient work environments put nurses in a very poor position to be able to respond to the COVID surge because they were already reaching deep inside themselves in the normal context of care,” she said.
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Today
What to know about at-home tests for colorectal cancers
Shivan Mehta of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about take-at-home tests as a convenient way to screen patients for colon cancer. “The FIT test has been around for a very long time,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to do than a colonoscopy. But in order to have similar effectiveness to colonoscopies, it has to be done every year. Both have pros and cons. Ultimately, the best test is the one that someone completes.”
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PBS NewsHour
As a new vaccine becomes available, CDC chief warns against rolling back safeguards
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel said lifting restrictions on indoor dining and other COVID-19 precautions is premature, in spite of the new vaccines. “The peak was just six weeks ago. We have been in this heightened state of public health alert for the last six, seven weeks,” he said. “We should not just rush out and reverse all of the advances we have had, especially with these new variants.”
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The Hill
The vaccine leads the march to ending the COVID-19 pandemic
James Alwine of the Perelman School of Medicine co-authored an op-ed about how mass vaccination and continued vigilance can help bring an end to the pandemic.
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