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Health Sciences
Successful Guide Dogs Have ‘Tough Love’ Moms, Penn Study Finds
Much has been written of the pitfalls of being a helicopter parent, one who insulates children from adversity rather than encouraging their independence.
Penn Vet Researchers Contribute Expertise to Checklist for ‘One Health’ Studies
A growing body of scientific research is focused on One Health, the integration of knowledge concerning humans, animals and the environment. Yet there is no clear, unified definition of what a One Health study is or how such a study should be conducted.
Penn Engineers Identify Protein Implicated in 3-D Epigenetics of Brain Development
The vast majority of genetic mutations that are associated with disease occur at sites in the genome that aren’t genes. These sequences of DNA don’t code for proteins themselves, but provide an additional layer of instructions that determine if and when particular genes are expressed.
Protons with a purpose
Protons with a purpose
As many as 115 patients treated each day. Upwards of 5,000 people who have received life-saving cancer care since 2010. As impressive as these numbers are, the outcomes at the Roberts Proton Therapy Center are even more so.
Researchers on the front line in a ‘gangbusters’ year for Lyme disease
Before winter had even ended, the warnings came in: 2017 was going to be a bad one for Lyme disease.
Penn Sociologist Examines Complex World of Diagnosing Mental Illness
In a new book, out this month, a University of Pennsylvania sociology professor addresses the complex subject of the accurate classification and treatment of psychiatric disorders.
Diabetes Causes Shift in Oral Microbiome That Fosters Periodontitis, Penn Study Finds
A new study led by University of Pennsylvania researchers has found that the oral microbiome is affected by diabetes, causing a shift to increase its pathogenicity.
Brain Training Has No Effect on Decision-making or Cognitive Function, Penn Researchers Report
During the last decade, commercial brain-training programs have risen in popularity, offering people the hope of improving their cognitive abilities through the routine performance of various “brain games” that tap cognitive functions such as memory, attention and cognitive flexibility.
Penn Nursing Undergrad Seeks Enlightenment, Better Health Through Service at Buddhist Retreat
This summer, Stephanie Tran Rojas, an undergraduate nursing student at the University of Pennsylvania, is exploring a new approach to healthy living at a tranquil Tibetan Buddhist retreat in California.
Penn Researchers Engineer Macrophages to Engulf Cancer Cells in Solid Tumors
One reason cancer is so difficult to treat is that it avoids detection by the body. Agents of the immune system are constantly checking the surfaces of cells for chemical signals that say they belong, but cancer cells express the same chemical signals as healthy ones. Without a way for the immune system to tell the difference, little stands in the way of cancer taking over.
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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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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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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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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