4.15
Health Sciences
How to foster supported decision making for adults with cognitive impairment
How to foster supported decision making for adults with cognitive impairment
Supported decision making helps medical professionals identify what people living with dementia can do, not what they can’t.
From animals to people and back again
From animals to people and back again
Penn researchers are studying the propensity of SARS-CoV-2 to cross between species, and they are working to protect people, pets, and wildlife from COVID-19 infection.
Take-at-home tests boost colorectal cancer screening tenfold
Take-at-home tests boost colorectal cancer screening tenfold
By making it the default to send screening tests to patients’ homes unless they opted out via text message, screening rates increased by more than 1000%.
When the message matters, use science to craft it
When the message matters, use science to craft it
An interdisciplinary initiative called the Message Effects Lab aims to understand, tap into, and develop communication around what motivates specific behaviors for specific populations. Its first projects center around COVID-19 testing and vaccines.
Antibodies to common cold coronaviruses do not protect against SARS-CoV-2
Antibodies to common cold coronaviruses do not protect against SARS-CoV-2
Antibodies that react to both ordinary coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2 are common in the population but don’t neutralize the COVID-19-causing virus.
Stem cell study illuminates the cause of an inherited heart disorder
Stem cell study illuminates the cause of an inherited heart disorder
A new study from Penn Medicine shows that LMNA gene mutations can disrupt the ‘identity’ of heart muscle cells, leading to a congenital form of dilated cardiomyopathy.
Penn Medicine opens the largest equipment sterilization facility in the country
Penn Medicine opens the largest equipment sterilization facility in the country
The Interventional Support Center, an instrument processing and surgical supply preparation facility, will support two hospitals and three outpatient centers.
Dietary adherence and the fight against obesity
Dietary adherence and the fight against obesity
While eating less and moving more are the basics of weight control and obesity treatment, finding ways to help people adhere to a weight-loss regimen is more complicated.
Evicted and infected: How the housing crisis could worsen the COVID-19 pandemic
Evicted and infected: How the housing crisis could worsen the COVID-19 pandemic
A research team found that evictions could lead to a considerable uptick in COVID-19 infections in U.S. cities. With rising eviction rates, COVID cases in Philadelphia could cause 53,000 additional infections.
Children, the pandemic, and long-term mental health consequences
Children, the pandemic, and long-term mental health consequences
New work from Penn Nursing and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia describes the importance of recognizing COVID-19’s psychological effects on young people and the pivotal role pediatric nurses in all settings can play.
In the News
Philadelphia Inquirer
I’m a doctor who examines asylum seekers. I want Biden to fix the asylum system
Jules Lipoff of the Perelman School of Medicine argued for reforming and expanding the U.S. asylum system. “We must renew the United States as a bold world leader in standing for the dignity of human rights,” he wrote.
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CNBC
Dr. Zeke Emanuel on why the U.S. should consider a vaccine mandate
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel talks about why a vaccine mandate for some types of workers may be a necessary last resort in establishing herd immunity. “I don’t think the risks of the vaccine compare to the risks for the country of the coronavirus is really at issue,” he said.
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The Atlantic
COVID-19 vaccines are entering uncharted immune territory
Meena Bewtra of the Perelman School of Medicine said, regarding still unknown facets of how the coronavirus interacts with the immune system, “We still don’t understand why only certain people get so sick and die” from COVID-19.
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The Washington Post
Vaccine etiquette: A guide to politely navigating this new phase of the pandemic
Carolyn Cannuscio of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about how people justify engaging in unsafe behaviors during the pandemic. “People are looking for the magical loopholes that they can step through so that they can return to their free and rich and rewarding social world,” she said. “And we’re not there.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
Against the clock
Tarik Khan, a Ph.D. student in the School of Nursing, has been spending his evenings delivering leftover COVID-19 vaccine doses to homebound people in Philadelphia.
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