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Health Sciences
Penn: Plant-made Antimicrobial Peptide Targets Dental Plaque and Gum Tissues
Protein drugs, which derive from biological sources, represent some of the most important and effective biopharmaceuticals on the market. Some, like insulin, have been used for decades, while many more based on cloned genes are coming to market and are valued for their precise and powerful functions.
Penn Vet researcher helps boost yields on small farms in China
Despite tremendous effort and good intentions, many international agricultural development endeavors efforts fail when the implementing agency leaves and the local farmers go back to their old practices.
Penn Medicine: 100 Million Prescription Opioids Go Unused Each Year Following Wisdom Teeth Removal
ore than half of opioids prescribed to patients following surgical tooth extraction – such as the removal of impacted wisdom teeth – were left unused by patients in a new study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine.
Philly Sisters, Mentorship Program Graduates, Return to Penn as Students
By Patrick Ammerman A high school mentoring program at the University of Pennsylvania designed for local first-generation students helped two sisters navigate the college-appication process. That path ultimately led both back to Penn.
Penn Medicine: New Activity-Tracking App Could Improve Concussion Care
A new app may offer new insights for millions of Americans diagnosed with a concussion each year. Patients are usually advised to rest for the first several days after sustaining a concussion, based on what is known about the metabolic cascade that happens shortly after an injury.
Targeting Mosquito Immunity to Fight Disease
Before a mosquito can transmit a disease like dengue fever, Zika, or malaria to a human, the mosquito itself must get infected. That means the parasite or virus must find a way around the natural defenses of the insect’s immune system.
Penn Research Identifies Brain Network that Controls Spread of Seizures
A flurry of coordinated activity in a brain-spanning network of neurons may sound like the formation of a brilliant new idea, but it is actually the description of a seizure. Understanding why and how this synchronization spreads would be a critical tool in treating severe epilepsy.
Penn Study: Lengthy ER Visits for Psychiatric Patients Often Result in Transfer, Not Treatment
Cutbacks in capacity at state and county mental hospitals have forced more and more psychiatric patients to seek treatment . But a new study led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, found that people who visit emergency rooms for mental health care were transferred to another facility at six times the rate of people who visit ERs for non-psychiatric conditions, and could wait almost two hours longer.
Penn Medicine: New Mouse Model Points to Drug Target Potentially Useful for Increasing Social Interaction in Autism
A study of a new mouse model identifies a drug target that has the potential to increase social interaction in individuals with some forms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Teens Are Less Likely to Select Sugary Beverages that Contain Health Warning Labels, Penn Study Shows
Teens are more than 15 percent less likely to say they would purchase soft drinks and other sugary drinks that include health warning labels, according to a new study led by researchers at theCenter for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics in the
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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