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Health Sciences
Penn Medicine: Made to Order at the Synapse: Dynamics of Protein Synthesis at Neuron Tip is Basis for Memory and Learning
Protein synthesis in the extensions of nerve cells, called dendrites, underlies long-term memory formation in the brain, among other functions.
Penn Researchers Use Facebook Data to Predict Users’ Age, Gender and Personality Traits
In the age of social media, people's inner lives are increasingly recorded through the language they use online. With this in mind, an interdisciplinary group of University of Pennsylvania researchers is interested in whether a computational analysis of this language can provide as much, or more, insight into their personalities as traditional methods used by psychologists, such as self-reported surveys and questionnaires.
Penn Medicine: Treating Brain Cancer with Neurosurgical Resection and Chemotherapeutic Wafers Can Improve Cognitive Function
A new approach to treating cancer that has spread to the brain is able to preserve and, in some cases, improve cognitive function in patients, while achieving local control of tumor progression.
Penn Medicine Study: Proton Therapy Cuts Side Effects for Pediatric Head and Neck Cancer Patients
The precise targeting and limited dosing of radiation via proton therapy is proving to be an advantage in ongoing efforts to reduce treatment side effects among head and neck cancer patients, according to a new study of pediatric patients from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Penn Study Shows New Islet Cell Transplant Procedure Offers Improved Outcomes for Patients with Type 1 Diabetes
The latest approach to islet transplantation, in which clusters of insulin-producing cells known as islets are transplanted from a donor pancreas into another person’s liver, has produced substantially improved results for patients with type 1 diabetes, and may offer a more durable alternative to a whole pancreas transplant.
Penn Medicine Researchers Harness the Immune System to Fight Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer ranks as the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, due to its resistance to standard treatments with chemotherapy and radiation therapy and frequently, its late stage at the time of diagnosis.
Penn Researchers Hornik and Lerman Receive $20 Million in Federal Funding to Establish Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science
A $20 million federal grant will create the University of Pennsylvania Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (Penn TCORS). A first-of-its-kind regulatory science research enterprise, the new center is designed to conduct studies to inform the regulation of tobacco products to protect public health. The new grant is supported by the U.S.
Fish Skin Immune Responses Resemble That of the Gut, Penn Study Finds
Fish skin is unique in that it lacks keratin, the fibrous protein found in mammalian skin that provides a barrier against the environment. Instead, the epithelial cells of fish skin are in direct contact with the immediate environment: water.
Penn Researchers Pinpoint Molecular Path that Makes Antidepressants Act Quicker
The reasons behind why it often takes people several weeks to feel the effect of newly prescribed antidepressants remains somewhat of a mystery – and likely, a frustration to both patients and physicians.
Two Penn Students Awarded HHMI International Research Fellowships
Two doctoral students from the University of Pennsylvania, Nam Woo Cho of the Perelman School of Medicine and Maryam Yousefi of the School of Veterinary Medicine, have received International Student Research Fellowships from the Howar
In the News
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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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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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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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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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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