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Health Sciences
Despite Increasing Global Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide, Use Remains Rare, Penn Study Finds
Despite increasing legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) worldwide, the practice remains relatively rare and, when carried out, is primarily motivated by psychological factors such as loss of autonomy or enjoyment of life, rather than physical pain.
Penn Medicine: New Therapy Treats Autoimmune Disease Without Harming Normal Immunity
In a study with potentially major implications for the future treatment of autoimmunity and related conditions, scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to remove the subset of antibody-making cells that cause an autoimmune disease, without harming the rest of the immune system.
Penn Engineers Develop $2 Portable Zika Test
University of Pennsylvania engineers have developed a rapid, low-cost genetic test for the Zika virus. The $2 testing device, about the size of a soda can, does not require electricity or technical expertise to use. A patient would simply provide a saliva sample. Color-changing dye turns blue when the genetic assay detects the presence of the virus.
Penn Nursing's Wendy Grube Appointed Director of the Center for Global Women’s Health
Wendy Grube, PhD, CRNP, Practice Associate Professor (effective July 1, 2016), has been appointed Director of the Center for Global Women’s Health.
Penn Study Links Recession Recovery, Increase in Commercial Truck Fatalities
By Patrick Ammerman What could be the downside to unemployment rates plummeting in recent years? One place to look is the road. Research has shown that when the economy improves, motor vehicle fatalities also increase.
Alliance of Minority Physicians Celebrates Newest Crop of Doctors
Nearly 100 members and friends of the Alliance of Minority Physicians (AMP) gathered at the Penn Museum to honor what Perelman School of Medicine Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine
Gustavo Aguirre of Penn Vet Awarded Proctor Medal for Blindness Research
By Patrick Ammerman
Penn Study: New Antiviral Drugs Could Come From DNA ‘Scrunching’
Evidence of DNA “scrunching” may one day lead to a new class of drugs against viruses, according to a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Columbia University. The team is led by Stephen C.
Penn Study Describes a Better Animal Model to Improve HIV Vaccine Development
Vaccines are usually medicine’s best defense against the world’s deadliest microbes. However, HIV is so mutable that it has so far effectively evaded both the human immune system and scientists’ attempts to make an effective vaccine to protect against it.
In the News
UPenn hosts free online panel for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion
The Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative, led by José Bauermeister and Jessica Halem of the School of Nursing, will host a free online panel in April on the integration of LGBTQ+ people in the workforce.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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