Health Sciences

Enhanced Penn Health insurance coverage and care access

Penn’s insurance carriers have made enhancements for participants to the existing plan, so that members may receive appropriate testing and treatment for the coronavirus without encountering barriers associated with navigating any benefits issues.

Dee Patel

Flattening the curve of the coronavirus

In the current fast-moving, unprecedented situation, what we do today to stem the impact of COVID-19 can vastly affect what we will face tomorrow. Two epidemiologists discuss what we can do individually and as a society to slow the spread of the disease.

Michele W. Berger

The facts on coronavirus testing

FactCheck.org explains how testing works, what happened with the CDC’s coronavirus test and what’s known about how many tests are available in the U.S.

Penn Today Staff

At the dental school, the dietitian is in

Matthew Whipple, a registered dietitian at the School of Dental Medicine, consults with patients in clinics and educates students about the importance of spreading nutrition advice. He also cooks up a mean chicken and sausage gumbo.

Katherine Unger Baillie

The biology of coronaviruses: From the lab to the spotlight

The recent coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19, has been swift, but according to microbiology professor Susan Weiss, it didn’t come out of nowhere. Coronaviruses have been around for a long time, and new strains have transformed and may continue to emerge.

Penn Today Staff



In the News


6ABC.com

Bird flu suspected in deaths of 200 snow geese in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley

Stephen Cole of the School of Veterinary Medicine says that indoor cats are contracting bird flu through raw pet foods of poultry origin or raw milk products.

FULL STORY →



Self

The surgeon general calls for new warning labels on alcohol—here’s the truth about how it impacts your health

Henry Kranzler of the Perelman School of Medicine says that alcohol’s effects on the brain are observed more readily because it’s the organ of behavior.

FULL STORY →



NPR

Tuberculosis rates plunge when families living in poverty get a monthly cash payout

Aaron Richterman of the Perelman School of Medicine says that there are large and underappreciated benefits of cash-transfer programs, such as potentially ending a tuberculosis epidemic.

FULL STORY →



Newsweek

Cancer breakthrough as ‘speckles’ may reveal best treatment

A paper co-authored by PIK Professor Shelley Berger finds that patterns of “speckles” in the heart of tumor cells could help predict how patients with a common form of kidney cancer will respond to treatment options.

FULL STORY →



Time

Scientists are racing to develop a new bird flu vaccine

Drew Weissman and Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine are testing a vaccine to prevent a strain of H5N1 bird flu in chickens and cattle.

FULL STORY →