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Health Sciences
Saving energy in the buildings that save lives
Saving energy in the buildings that save lives
In a Q&A, Kat Morlang, energy manager at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses optimizing chiller plants, swapping out inefficient lights, and other ideas to make the health system as energy-efficient as possible.
Cardiac genetic mutation may not always predict heart disease
Cardiac genetic mutation may not always predict heart disease
Researchers at Penn Medicine and Geisinger find only 5% of patients with a mutation of the TTN gene have dilated cardiomyopathy, despite changes in heart function.
Hormone therapy for prostate cancer may raise risk of Alzheimer’s, dementia
Hormone therapy for prostate cancer may raise risk of Alzheimer’s, dementia
A Penn study of more than 150,000 men with prostate cancer shows androgen deprivation therapy was associated with a higher likelihood of developing dementia when compared to patients who were not exposed to the treatment.
Shorter courses of proton therapy can be just as effective on prostate cancer
Shorter courses of proton therapy can be just as effective on prostate cancer
Treating prostate cancer with higher doses of proton therapy over a shorter amount of time leads to similar outcomes when compared to standard dose levels and treatments, and is safe for patients.
How doctors can help cancer patients quit tobacco
How doctors can help cancer patients quit tobacco
A simple set of decision-support tools combined with institutional buy-in can help increase the number of cancer patients who engage in treatment to help them quit tobacco.
Relieving water scarcity, one home at a time
Relieving water scarcity, one home at a time
Due to a rapidly depleting underground aquifer, many residents of Mexico City are left with little-to-no easily accessible clean water for hours or days at a time. This summer, members of the Penn chapter of Isla Urbana helped install rainwater harvesting and filtration systems to provide residents of the Mexican capital with clean water year-round.
One simple change can reduce frequent cancer imaging by half
One simple change can reduce frequent cancer imaging by half
A “nudge” is helping shorten treatment time for patients with advanced cancer, with less frequent palliative radiation therapy sessions.
Use of evidence-based therapies for youth psychiatric treatment is slow to catch on
Use of evidence-based therapies for youth psychiatric treatment is slow to catch on
Intensive training and practices are critical but underutilized in Philadelphia, despite city and researchers’ substantial efforts to showcase their value.
Social solutions to antibiotic resistance
Social solutions to antibiotic resistance
Research by sociologist Julia Szymczak of the Perelman School of Medicine is aimed at understanding, and eventually changing, behaviors that lead to the overprescribing of antibiotics.
Unraveling the brain’s reward circuits
Unraveling the brain’s reward circuits
Food, alcohol, and certain drugs all act to reduce the activity of hunger neurons and to release reward signals in the brain, but alcohol and drugs rely on a different pathway than does food.
In the News
ABC News
Experts offer new recommendations for screening more women for breast cancer
Susan Domcheck of the Basser Center for BRCA at the Abramson Cancer Center said that while new recommendations for the screening for BRCA1 and 2 gene mutations are “very valuable,” they don’t address many persistent problems. She stressed the need for additional research regarding BRCA mutations and risk factors, including the effect of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Treating gun violence in Philadelphia trauma bay
Jeremy Cannon, Jose Pascual, and Franklin Caldera of the Perelman School of Medicine and Rhonda Browning, Michael Atweh, and John Ehman of Penn Medicine were quoted in an article about the impact of gunshot wounds on hospital employees.
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PBS NewsHour
Does the placenta carry germs? What parents should know before they eat one
Frederic Bushman of Perelman School of Medicine commented on research that found that placenta encapsulation kits may be pre-contaminated by outside microbes. “It was really a very impressive bunch of detective work,” he said. “They were absolutely artistic at figuring out the sources of different kinds of contamination.”
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Scientific American
Scientists seek better guidelines for editing genes in human embryos
Bruce Levine of the Perelman School of Medicine called for a moratorium on scientific research that entails gene editing in human embryos. “There has not been a conversation with society at large—the lay public, government, religious groups, NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], stakeholders—because the science has been moving faster than [our own] conversations have been,” he said.
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The New York Times
The ethical mess of our healthcare system
President Amy Gutmann and PIK Professor Jonathan Moreno authored an op-ed about the U.S. health care system. “By revising and reinforcing the A.C.A.,” they wrote, “we can benefit all Americans without threatening any with the loss of hard-fought, lifesaving health coverage. Surely our fellow Americans with life-threatening diseases of all sorts are also worth saving.”
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