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Health Sciences
For melanoma patients, one dose of immunotherapy before surgery can lead to remission
An Abramson Cancer Center study finds that with a single dose of a PD-1 inhibitor, immune responses can peak in just one week.
Immune profiling: A new opportunity for drug development
Immunologists, oncologists, and infectious disease specialists are thinking about the immune system in a new way based on its integral and ubiquitous ties to human health, amassing data on its role in gastroenterology, neurology, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disease.
Eleventh state enacts law to protect victims of child sex abuse
Marci Hamilton, a professor of practice and founder and CEO of the nonprofit think tank CHILD USA, helped draft the original New York legislation more than 15 years ago and has been working ever since to push it through.
Embracing a community’s practice to promote the measles vaccine
Mimicking a news-sharing custom common among ultraorthodox Jewish communities, two Penn Nursing students created and placed posters around a Jerusalem neighborhood, employing a mystical technique that assigns a numerical value to each Hebrew letter.
The single word most associated with negative hospital reviews
A Penn Medicine research team found that the word “told” was tied to almost 20 percent of poor reviews, pointing to the value points patients and their loved ones’ place on communication in health care settings.
A shared past for East Africa’s hunter-gatherers
PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff, Laura Scheinfeldt, and Sameer Soi use data from 50 populations to study African genetic diversity. Their analysis suggests that geographically far-flung hunter-gatherer groups share a common ancestry.
Human milk is a ‘life-saving intervention’ for infants with congenital heart disease
With a lower risk of serious complications and improved feeding and growth outcomes, human milk is strongly preferred as the best diet for infants with congenital heart disease, according to a research review in Advances in Neonatal Care.
Joey the senior cat triumphs over illness with help from friends
A professor at Pen Vet who specializes in geriatric feline medicine is able to identify what was ailing Joey, a cat d’un certain âge.
Opioids and hepatitis C: How OxyContin fed a new epidemic
A new study from LDI senior fellow Abby Alpert, with David Powell and Rosalie Pacula, links OxyContin reformulation to a national epidemic of hepatitis C, which kills more than 20,000 Americans a year and infects tens of thousands more.
To get smokers to quit, tap into their biology
How quickly nicotine clears the bloodstream determines which treatment will work best, a tool scientists at Penn Medicine are using to advance the field of tobacco research.
In the News
U.S. News & World Report
What is syphilis, and why are rates rising?
Amy Forrestel of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the symptoms, spread, and long-term effects of syphilis. If left untreated, the sexually transmitted infection “can wreak a lot of havoc” on the body, said Forrestel.
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The Washington Post
A smarter way to think about willpower
Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts and Sciences and Katherine Milkman of the Wharton School are among co-authors of an op-ed about self-control. While many believe Americans’ willpower is on the decline, the authors write, “the scant scientific evidence on the question suggests that if anything, the capacity to delay gratification may be increasing.”
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NPR
First U.S. patients treated with CRISPR as human gene-editing trials get underway
A clinical trial led by Edward Stadtmauer of the Perelman School of Medicine will be using CRISPR to treat cancer patients.
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Associated Press
Senior’s weakness for scams may be warning sign of dementia
Jason Karlawish of the Perelman School of Medicine said a recent study on aging and scam awareness doesn’t prove a link between susceptibility and cognitive decline in seniors. However, Karlawish says, the results “should be a call to action to health care systems, the financial services industry and their regulators.”
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The Washington Post
New cancer therapies offer great hope, but there can be surprising complications
Ravi Parikh of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about rapid advances in cancer therapies. While excited about the possibilities, Parikh notes that new treatments come with new side effects, among other complications.
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