Health Sciences

HIV Patients Experience Better Kidney Transplant Outcomes than Hepatitis C Patients, According to Penn Study

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)-positive kidney transplant patients experienced superior outcomes when compared to kidney transplant patients with Hepatitis C and those infected with both HIV and Hepatitis C, according to a study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at theUniversity of Pennsylvania and published online in Kidney International.

Anna Duerr

Penn Dental Medicine Teams Up With PCCY to Provide Free Dental Care to Children

WHO:             Students and Faculty from University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine                         Public Citizens for Children and Youth 

Beth Adams, Anthony Hopkins

Odds of Reversing ICU Patients' Prior Preferences to Forgo Life-Sustaining Therapies Vary Widely Across the U.S., according to Penn Study

Intensive care units across the United States vary widely in how they manage the care of patients who have set preexisting limits on life-sustaining therapies, such as authorizing do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders and prohibiting interventions such as feeding tubes or dialysis, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Their work is published in the current issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

Lee-Ann Donegan

Most NFL Players with Injuries to the Midfoot Return to Game Action, Penn Medicine Study Finds

Nearly 93 percent of National Football League (NFL) athletes who sustained traumatic injuries to the midfoot returned to competition less than 15 months after injury and with no statistically significant decrease in performance, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings, which focus on Lisfranc injuries – characterized by fracture of the midfoot bones and/or disruption of the midfoot ligaments – between 2000-2010, were presented today at the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual conference in Las Vegas.

Katie Delach

Malnourished Patients are More Likely to Suffer Postoperative Complications than Morbidly Obese Patients Following Knee, Hip Replacement, Penn Study Finds

Malnourished patients are more likely to have complications following total knee or hip replacement surgeries than morbidly obese patients,according to new research from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings are being presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las Vegas March 24-28. 

Katie Delach

Penn Medicine Experts Unveil Two New Ways to Identify Joint Replacement Patients at Risk for Post-Operative Complications

Orthopedic surgeons from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have developed two new prediction tools aimed at identifying total hip and knee replacement patients who are at-risk of developing serious complications after surgery. The first tool identifies patients who have risk factors that should disqualify them from undergoing same-day (outpatient) or short-stay (overnight) total hip and knee replacement procedures, opting instead for traditional recovery pathways in the hospital.

Katie Delach

Penn Medicine Study: In Debated Surgical Procedure, Technique Trumps Technology

A team of orthopedic surgeons from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that modern technology for healing distal femur fractures is as safe and effective as its more established alternative, without a potential shortfall of the older approach.

Katie Delach

Roseroot Herb Shows Promise as Potential Depression Treatment Option, Penn Team Finds

Rhodiola rosea (R. rosea), or roseroot, may be a beneficial treatment option for major depressive disorder (MDD), according to results of a study in the journal Phytomedicine led by Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, associate professor of Family Medicine, Community Health and Epidemiology and colleagues at the Perelman School of Medicine of University of Pennsylvania.

Greg Richter

New Penn Program Studies the Body’s Cells, One By One

By Sarah Welsh Cancer starts with a single cell going haywire. What is it about that one cell that makes it different from the rest, setting it on a path of destruction? A new program at the University of Pennsylvania may help find an answer to that and many other questions.

Katherine Unger Baillie



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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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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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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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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