3.30
Health Sciences
Researchers illuminate racial disparity in U.S. acne treatment
Researchers illuminate racial disparity in U.S. acne treatment
A new study from Penn Medicine finds Black patients are less likely than white peers to receive systemic treatments and acne medication overall.
The dangers of asbestos: What the public should know
The dangers of asbestos: What the public should know
Marilyn Howarth and Ian Blair of the Perelman School of Medicine discuss the hazards of asbestos, how it harms the body, the crisis in the school district, and why there is no safe level of asbestos.
Answers to microbiome mysteries in the gills of rainbow trout
Answers to microbiome mysteries in the gills of rainbow trout
In trout, the School of Veterinary Medicine’s J. Oriol Sunyer and colleagues discovered that a particular type of primitive antibody is essential for fighting microbes that cause disease while preserving others that make up a healthy microbiome.
For aging patients, one missed doctor’s visit can lead to vision loss
For aging patients, one missed doctor’s visit can lead to vision loss
A Penn Medicine study found keeping regular ophthalmology appointments play an important role in outcomes for patients with age-related macular degeneration.
Treatment in a FLASH
Treatment in a FLASH
A clinical trial in dogs with cancer, co-led by the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Veterinary Medicine, is testing the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of delivering a full dose of radiation therapy in a split second.
The many lives of charcoal
The many lives of charcoal
Catherine Nabukalu, an alumna of the Master in Environmental Studies program, worked with School of Arts and Sciences Professor Reto Gieré to track the charcoal supply chain through research in Nabukalu’s native Uganda.
CRISPR-edited immune cells can survive and thrive after infusion into cancer patients
CRISPR-edited immune cells can survive and thrive after infusion into cancer patients
In the first U.S. clinical trial, cells removed from patients and brought back into the lab were able to kill cancer months after their original manufacturing and infusion.
With a protein ‘delivery,’ parasite can suppress its host’s immune response
With a protein ‘delivery,’ parasite can suppress its host’s immune response
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii need not infect a host immune cell to alter its behavior, according to a new study from the School of Veterinary Medicine.
The healing power of music
The healing power of music
WXPN celebrates 15 years of its Musicians On Call volunteer program, which has brought music to more than 100,000 patients in Philadelphia hospitals.
Better prescribing for bad backs
Better prescribing for bad backs
A recent study finds that finds that patients with new low back pain are receiving opioids less frequently, although prescription rates remain uneven across the country.
In the News
ABC News
Nurses group turns to crowd-sourcing for unused protective gear
Marion Leary of the School of Nursing spoke about efforts to crowd-source safety masks and other personal protective gear. “Anyone that has a stock of these supplies that they could donate to their local hospitals and healthcare providers,” she said, would be doing a great service.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Lessons from 1918
Pat D’Antonio of the School of Nursing spoke about the 1918 influenza pandemic and how we can apply its lessons to the present.
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The New York Times
7 medical leaders to politicians: Save lives, not Wall Street
In collaboration with the leaders of six other large academic medicine institutions, Dean J. Larry Jameson of the Perelman School of Medicine wrote an op-ed urging “national leadership to resist pressure to lift tough social restrictions intended to subdue this outbreak and save thousands of lives.”
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NPR
Her incredible sense of smell is helping scientists find new ways to diagnose disease
Richard Doty of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the use of scent signaling in diagnosing disease. “It used to be that physicians did use breath odor and other odors, to signify certain disorders. But that’s not really invoked presently, because we have so much better ways of [diagnosing] things,” he said.
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The Washington Post
Trump’s not a doctor. He’s only playing one on TV
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel wrote an op-ed about the hazards of implementing untested treatments for the novel coronavirus. “When it comes to fearsome, fatal conditions, it is human nature to try something because it should help, because it might help, because it must help, or because it couldn’t hurt,” he writes. “But often it does harm people and our quest for a real cure.”
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