Health Sciences

State mandates requiring commercial health plans to cover the cost of services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have resulted in an increased number of children being diagnosed and treated for ASD, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Three military veterans who are enrolled as graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania, John Schippert, Jonathan Wood and Matthew Miclette, have been appointed as 2016 Tillman Scholars through the Pat Tillman Foundation.

How much marijuana does the average joint contain?

Findings from Penn researchers indicate that conventional approaches to smoking cessation may actually be doing more harm than good: a trend that Associate Professor of Pulmonary Medicine Frank Leone is leading the charge to reverse.

The growing trend of "do-it-yourself" transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) poses hidden risks to healthy members of the public who seek to use the technique for cognitive enhancement.

Cancerous tumors must be fed. Their unregulated growth requires a steady stream of blood flow and nutrients. Thus, one way that researchers have tried to wipe out cancer is to target cells undergoing the metabolic shifts that enable a tumor’s rapid growth.

Despite increasing legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) worldwide, the practice remains relatively rare and, when carried out, is primarily motivated by psychological factors such as loss of autonomy or enjoyment of life, rather than physical pain.

In a study with potentially major implications for the future treatment of autoimmunity and related conditions, scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to remove the subset of antibody-making cells that cause an autoimmune disease, without harming the rest of the immune system.

University of Pennsylvania engineers have developed a rapid, low-cost genetic test for the Zika virus. The $2 testing device, about the size of a soda can, does not require electricity or technical expertise to use. A patient would simply provide a saliva sample. Color-changing dye turns blue when the genetic assay detects the presence of the virus.

Wendy Grube, PhD, CRNP, Practice Associate Professor (effective July 1, 2016), has been appointed Director of the Center for Global Women’s Health.