Health Sciences

All creatures great and small, including fruitflies, need sleep. Researchers have surmised that sleep – in any species -- is necessary for repairing proteins, consolidating memories, and removing wastes from cells. But, really, sleep is still a great mystery.

A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that moderate to severe hot flashes continue, on average, for nearly 5 years after menopause, and more than a third of women experience moderate/severe hot flashes for 10 years or more after menopause.

Substances called adjuvants that enhance the body’s immune response are critical to getting the most out of vaccines. These boosters stimulate the regular production of antibodies -- caused by foreign substances in the body -- toxins, bacteria, foreign blood cells, and the cells of transplanted organs.

Chris Feudtner, MD, PhD, MPH, associate professor of Pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Steven D. Handler Endowed Chair of Medical Ethics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was recently presented with the 2014 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award in the mid-career category.

If the content of many a situation comedy, not to mention late-night TV advertisements, is to be believed, there’s an epidemic of balding men, and an intense desire to fix their follicular deficiencies.

In PennDesign’s Fabrication Lab, students and faculty use three-dimensional printers to craft geometric forms, architectural models, and other products of the imagination.

By Marjorie FerroneWith a craving to “see dentistry beyond the domestic boundaries,” Tina Chou, a second-year student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, seized the opportunity to advance dentistry in The Gambia in a unique internship opportunity this past summer.

Four University of Pennsylvania students have received Thouron Awards to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom.  The scholarship recipients are:

Frederick Ding’s interest in making an impact by improving the lives of others begins with his work on campus assisting fellow students at the University of Pennsylvania.

Researchers at Penn Medicine have generated a brain development index from MRI scans that captures the complex patterns of maturation during normal brain development.