Health Sciences

A Bash Between Friends

It wasn’t long ago that Maria Soltero-Rivera learned an important lesson: “Different is good.” “We’ve been working so hard doing this, and this little girl puts into a few simple words exactly what we’ve been trying to communicate to everyone,” Soltero-Rivera says. “You just learn so much from these kids.”

Lauren Hertzler

Researchers at Penn Develop Scar-like Culture Systems to Understand and Treat Fibrosis

A scar might be a reminder of an accident or surgery, but the fibrous tissue that makes up a scar also forms after a heart attack and arises in solid tumors as well as in chronic diseases such as liver cirrhosis and muscular dystrophy. Implanted medical devices and materials are similarly surrounded by fibrous capsules that impede their function.  

Evan Lerner

Penn Vet Team Shows a Protein Modification Determines Enzyme’s Fate

The human genome encodes roughly 20,000 genes, only a few thousand more than fruit flies. The complexity of the human body, therefore, comes from far more than just the sequence of nucleotides that comprise our DNA, it arises from modifications that occur at the level of gene, RNA and protein.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Vision-Restoring Gene Therapy Also Strengthens Visual Processing Pathways in Brain, According to Penn Study

Since 2007, clinical trials using gene therapy have resulted in often-dramatic sight restoration for dozens of children and adults who were otherwise doomed to blindness. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), have found evidence that this sight restoration leads to strengthening of visual pathways in the brain, published this week in Science Translational Medicine.

Karen Kreeger



In the News


Newsweek

Sugar-coated gold nanoparticles could replace some antibiotics

According to a Penn Medicine study, a new therapy involving laser light and sugar-coated gold nanoparticles can reduce tooth decay and infected wounds without needing antibiotics.

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Associated Press

A new strategy to attack aggressive brain cancer shrank tumors in two early tests

A clinical trial led by Stephen Bagley of the Perelman School of Medicine suggests that targeting two associated proteins with CAR T cell therapy could be a viable strategy for shrinking brain tumors.

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New Scientist

Alzheimer’s may be caused by a build-up of fat in brain cells

A study by Michael Haney of the Perelman School of Medicine suggests that the root cause of Alzheimer’s is a build-up of fat droplets in brain cells.

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The Washington Post

Cats aren’t jerks. They’re just misunderstood

James Serpell of the School of Veterinary Medicine says that the domestic cat suffers from its legacy of being a not-quite-wild animal on the margins of society.

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WHYY (Philadelphia)

Philadelphia hospital program adds psychologists to bridge mental health services for trauma survivors

A new psychology team at the Penn Trauma Violence Recovery Program has provided about 46 survivors with short- and long- term therapy, featuring remarks from Elinore Kaufman and Lily Brown of the Perelman School of Medicine.

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