4/16
Health Sciences
Penn Team Uses Nanoparticles to Break Up Plaque and Prevent Cavities
The bacteria that live in dental plaque and contribute to tooth decay often resist traditional antimicrobial treatment, as they can “hide” within a sticky biofilm matrix, a glue-like polymer scaffold.
Penn Medicine: Personalized Medicine Meets Thyroid Cancer: Drug Targeting BRAF Mutation Helps Patients
In the era of precision medicine, targeting the mutations driving cancer growth, rather than the tumor site itself, continues to be a successful approach for some patients.
Penn Researchers Develop Placenta-on-a-chip
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed the first placenta-on-a-chip that can fully model the transport of nutrients across the placental barrier.
New Multi-photon Microscope at Penn Vet Offers Faster, Deeper Images
By Patrick Ammerman You can’t study what you can’t see.
Penn Study Models How the Immune System Might Evolve to Conquer HIV
It has remained frustratingly difficult to develop a vaccine for HIV/AIDS, in part because the virus, once in our bodies, rapidly reproduces and evolves to escape being killed by the immune system.
Penn-led Team Develops Plant-based Polio Booster Vaccine
Jonas Salk created a vaccine against polio that has been used since 1955; Albert Sabin created another version that has been on the market since 1961. Together, these two vaccines have nearly eliminated polio from the face of the earth.
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2016/07/riley/
HIV researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Wistar Institute will co-lead a five-year, $23 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, as part of the second iteration of the
Penn Study Shows Elevated Brain Blood Flow Linked to Anxiety and Mood Symptoms in Females
Adolescence is a critical period for emotional maturation and is a time when significant symptoms of anxiety and depression can increase, particularly in females. Prior work by a team of Penn Medicine researchers found that sex-specific changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) begin at puberty.
Want to Cut Calories? New Penn Studies Suggest Placing Orders Before It's Time to Eat
Want to cut calories and make healthier meal choices? Try avoiding unhealthy impulse purchases by ordering meals at least an hour before eating.
Penn Study: Friendly Competition and a Financial Incentive Increases Team Exercise
Would having your exercise performance compared to that of your peers motivate you do more? A new study suggests it might. And adding a financial incentive would only sweeten the deal even more.
In the News
How to die in good health
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel says that incessantly preparing for old age mistakes a long life for a worthwhile one.
FULL STORY →
Mayor Parker’s plan to ‘remove the presence of drug users’ from Kensington raises new questions
Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing and Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on the lack of specificity in Philadelphia’s plan to remove drug users from Kensington and on the current state of drug treatment in the city.
FULL STORY →
How many patients would recommend their Philly-area hospital to family and friends? Check your local hospital
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has been named one of the most recommended acute-care facilities by patients in the Philadelphia area.
FULL STORY →
Homeward bound: When a Penn Medicine nurse was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she turned to the service dogs she helped to train
A profile highlights Maria Wright of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, from her volunteer work connecting people with service dogs to her cancer diagnosis and her own journey applying for a service dog.
FULL STORY →
UPenn medical school names first vice dean of AI
Mary Ritchie has been named the vice dean of artificial intelligence and computing at the Perelman School of Medicine. Mitchell Schnall has been named the first senior vice president for data and technology solutions at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
FULL STORY →