Health Sciences | Penn Today

Piecing together an ancient biblical site, bone by bone

In the lab of Penn Museum’s Janet Monge, rising senior Fiona Jensen-Hitch is sorting and photographing ancient human remains to shed light on the people of ancient city of Gibeon.

Criminologist John MacDonald and emergency medicine physician Eugenia South of the University of Pennsylvania.

Greening vacant lots reduces depression in city dwellers

People living within a quarter mile of greened lots had a 41.5 percent decrease in feelings of depression and a nearly 63 percent decrease in self-reported “poor mental health,” compared to those who lived near the lots that received no intervention.

The changing landscape of mosquito- and tick-borne diseases

Lyme disease, West Nile virus, Zika, chikungunya, and dengue are among the vector-borne infections making headlines. Penn researchers shed light on what’s behind the spread and how to stay safe.

A ‘smart-connected cup’ to fight Zika

By combining a a Thermos, a microfluidics chip and a smartphone, researchers have found a way to bring Zika testing to sites where clinical laboratories aren’t present but diagnostics are needed.

Serving those who serve

In preparation for a career as a physician with the Military Health System, Ryan Leone is spending his summer in Falls Church, Va., interning with the Defense Health Agency.

A maverick among chemists

Madeleine Joullie, the first woman to join Penn’s chemistry faculty, was also the University’s first affirmative action officer, which she says is the most important thing she’s done.

Boosting testosterone makes men prefer higher-status products

A study out of the Wharton School found that a single dose of testosterone increased men's preference for luxury, high-status items, mimicking animal behavior.

Roy Hamilton of Penn Medicine was part of a research team that looked at whether a minimally invasive brain stimulation can reduce someone's intent to commit a violent crime.

Brain stimulation decreases intent to commit assault

Research from Penn Medicine and the Criminology department shows that using minimally invasive electrical currents on the prefrontal cortex can reduce the desire to carry out such violence and increase the perception that it’s morally wrong.

Using statistics to uncover the truth about individual cells

Researchers at Penn have developed a better method for interpreting data from single-cell RNA sequencing technologies.

Correcting a blind spot

A groundbreaking genetic study seeks to transform the prevention and treatment of glaucoma while reversing historical racial disparities in who suffers from the disease, and who benefits from such research.

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