5/19
Health Sciences
Making a game of it: Contests help new moms increase their steps
Making a game of it: Contests help new moms increase their steps
A Penn Medicine study used wearable tech to foster activity in high-risk, diverse populations, specifically postpartum women to reduce their cardiovascular risk.
Lancaster General Health invests in healthy homes
Lancaster General Health invests in healthy homes
Lancaster General’s Lead-Free Families initiative is the first of its kind in the U.S., as it is 100% funded and led by a community health system. It will identify and remediate lead hazards in Lancaster County homes and educate on the risk of lead exposure.
Running to shine a light on mental health
Running to shine a light on mental health
Earlier this week, Penn’s Samantha Roecker competed in the Boston Marathon. In the process, she raised more than $45,000 to help nurses struggling as a result of the pandemic, and she broke the world record for fastest marathon in scrubs.
A mental health specialist is helping underserved moms find their way
A mental health specialist is helping underserved moms find their way
Lissette “Mitzy” Liriano, Chester County Hospital’s maternal mental health specialist, leads a support group called Moms Supporting Moms, in addition to dividing her time between the hospital and the mental health clinic, where she monitors a largely Hispanic population for mental health needs.
Lead as a social determinant of child and adolescent physiological stress and behavior
Lead as a social determinant of child and adolescent physiological stress and behavior
The association between lead exposure and children’s IQ has been well studied, but few studies have examined the effects of blood lead on children’s physiological stress and behavior, until now.
Regulating the regulators of the immune system
Regulating the regulators of the immune system
Research led by School of Veterinary Medicine scientists reveals a new layer of complexity with which the immune system finds a balance between controlling pathogens and protecting healthy tissue.
Elizabeth Heller’s lab uncovers how drug addiction can create lasting changes in genes
Elizabeth Heller’s lab uncovers how drug addiction can create lasting changes in genes
Leading a neuroepigenetics lab at her alma mater, Heller and the work of her 10-person lab is focused on molecular brain mechanisms, aiming to uncover chronic changes that can happen and keep happening in the brain long after exposure to addictive substances ends.
New health center opens at PHMC Public Health Campus on Cedar
New health center opens at PHMC Public Health Campus on Cedar
PHMC Health Center on Cedar, staffed by Penn Medicine clinicians, offers comprehensive primary and behavioral health care for residents in the West and Southwest Philadelphia community.
Revising the lifecycle of an important human parasite
Revising the lifecycle of an important human parasite
Researchers from Boris Striepen’s lab in the School of Veterinary Medicine tracked Cryptosporidium in real time, creating a new paradigm for how the widespread parasite reproduces in a host.
A new approach to nerve healing
A new approach to nerve healing
Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine developed an injectable microtissue that preserved muscle function in rodents with a severed nerve.
In the News
Business Today
Omicron infection produces better immunity response than booster shots: Report
John Wherry of the Perelman School of Medicine says COVID breakthrough infections should be thought of as essentially equivalent to another dose of vaccine and that, if someone had COVID recently, they could wait before getting another booster shot.
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Wink News
Head injury: Higher risk of epilepsy later in life
Discussing traumatic brain injuries, Andrea Schneider of the Perelman School of Medicine says, “One head injury is associated with about 1.2 times increased risk, but having more than one head injury is associated with over two times increased risk.”
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Want to know which COVID variant you have?
Frederick Bushman of the Perelman School of Medicine comments on COVID variant tracking: “If we know what variants are involved, what their properties are, we can tell what to expect by sort of forecasting by the experience of other places that are ahead of us, based on our sequence and knowledge of the different variants.”
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6ABC.com
Penn Medical School holds first in-person commencement since pandemic
Graduates of The University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine were honored during their 2022 commencement Sunday morning at The Kimmel Center. The graduating class of 169 people were able to receive their diplomas and take the Hippocratic Oath in person for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.
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Bloomberg
Burnt-out nurses push back as staff shortages strain hospitals
Linda Aiken of the School of Nursing comments that there is pressure to cut hospital nursing staffs, but fewer nurses mean more deaths.
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