Health Sciences

Opioids and hepatitis C: How OxyContin fed a new epidemic

A new study from LDI senior fellow Abby Alpert, with David Powell and Rosalie Pacula, links OxyContin reformulation to a national epidemic of hepatitis C, which kills more than 20,000 Americans a year and infects tens of thousands more.  

Penn Today Staff

To get smokers to quit, tap into their biology

How quickly nicotine clears the bloodstream determines which treatment will work best, a tool scientists at Penn Medicine are using to advance the field of tobacco research.

Michele W. Berger

What does a dolphin have in common with a fruit fly?

To determine what goes on during sleep, a trio of Penn experts studied sleep function across phylogeny—that is, the evolutionary development of species—to find the origins of the need for sleep.

Penn Today Staff

Community outreach at Penn Medicine

Community outreach is an integral component of Penn Medicine’s three-part mission of research, patient care, and education, and countless members of the Health System family reach out on an individual basis.

Penn Today Staff

The art of talking about science

Paul Offit of Penn Medicine and CHOP offers five tips for better communicating tough scientific topics to the public—and standing up for science in the process.

Michele W. Berger



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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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