12.8
Health Sciences
Promoting innovative, reproducible science: Penn’s Research Excellence Initiative
The two-year effort includes electronic research notebooks, a research symposium, and a task force of faculty and students, all spearheaded by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.
On the biomed menu: Mini-organs, organ-on-a-chip
Since the first paper describing a brain organoid—a miniature, simplified version of a human organ—published in 2013, many new technologies, from organs-on-a-chip to organoids, have continued biomedical science down the innovative path.
Be in the know about your health, and be rewarded
From Human Resources’ 2018-19 “Be in the Know” campaign to details about diabetes, cancer, and other screenings recommended by a Penn Med expert, a breakdown of ways to make healthy living achievable.
Future fertility: Giving hope to men who received childhood cancer treatment
Researchers have discovered a way to grow human stem cells destined to become mature sperm in an effort to provide fertility options later in life to males who are diagnosed with cancer and undergo chemotherapy and radiation as children.
Studying the players in immune regulation
Penn Vet's Oliver Garden Garden's lab is exploring new facets in regulating immune responses.
Abramson Cancer Center receives $10.7 million to study CAR T cells in solid tumors
A new program project grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will fund research by the Translational Center of Excellence for Lung Cancer Immunology for experimental approaches in lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Skin cream use OK’d during radiation therapy
A new study challenges common advice given to patients about whether topical creams increase radiation dose during cancer treatment.
Drivers of inflammation provide valuable targets for new gum disease therapies
A subset of T cells contributes to the inflammation and bone loss that characterizes periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease. According to new research by George Hajishengallis and scientists at the National Institutes of Health, drugs that specifically inhibit these cells may offer an effective therapy.
Multidisciplinary team to develop stem cell-based approaches to restore vision
Gene therapies have had success in treating blindness but can’t save areas of the retina where cells have already died. In a new effort, School of Veterinary Medicine scientists John Wolfe and William Beltran will attempt to develop a stem-cell-based approach that restores vision.
Elected to the NAM, four faculty members earn the highest honor in biomedicine
Susan M. Domchek, Daniel E. Polsky, Marie Celeste Simon, and Rachel M. Werner are four of the 85 newly-elected members of the National Academy of Medicine.
In the News
Science
What now for human genome editing?
The Perelman School of Medicine’s James Wilson discussed possible venues for the scientific oversight of controversial research. The FDA could be a good option, he suggested, but the organization would have to change its confidentiality restrictions to supervise effectively.
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Reader’s Digest
The 10 most common types of cancer in the United States
Thomas Karasic of the Perelman School of Medicine weighed in on treatments for liver and pancreatic cancers.
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Today
Died of a broken heart? The science behind close couple deaths
David Casarett of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the phenomenon of spouses dying shortly after one another. Casarett said social and cultural factors may play a role, as in cases when “the surviving spouses stop taking care of themselves. Sometimes they become depressed.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Black and Hispanic Americans have a harder time quitting cigarettes. Will this Penn study find a way to help?
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, led by Scott Halpern, are exploring better ways to support smoking cessation in black and Latino populations. “We’re confident that if we succeed in producing this evidence, health systems and payers will respond,” Halpern said.
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Smithsonian Magazine
What’s new, and what’s not, in the reported birth of the CRISPR babies
The Perelman School of Medicine’s Kiran Musunuru said that the birth of gene-edited babies does not constitute a scientific advancement because “there was nothing preventing previous researchers who edited human embryos from doing the same, except their own ethics and morals.”
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