6.21
Health Sciences
Battle of the bacteria: Studying the causes of and protectors against premature birth
Battle of the bacteria: Studying the causes of and protectors against premature birth
Seven types of bacteria and certain immune factors in a woman’s vagina and cervix may be responsible for increasing the risk of spontaneous preterm birth or protecting against it.
In Ethiopia, new perspectives on the challenges of development
In Ethiopia, new perspectives on the challenges of development
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel and Assistant Professor Heather Schofield led a group of Wharton students on a four-day trip to Ethiopia, for a close-up look at the African nation’s health, agricultural, business, and political sectors.
Wonder within wonder
Wonder within wonder
Penn Medicine’s uterus transplant trial offers hope for a rare form of infertility—and at the same time, has the potential to unlock a deeper understanding of the complex biology of human pregnancy.
The placebo cure
The placebo cure
Drug researchers use control groups to measure the efficacy of their drug tests. What happens when the control group responds? Science proves the placebo effect is indeed medicine itself.
A bad bout of flu triggers ‘taste bud cells’ to grow in the lungs
A bad bout of flu triggers ‘taste bud cells’ to grow in the lungs
The discovery of these seemingly out-of-place sensing cells may lend insight into possibilities for protecting lung function in people who experience severe influenza infections.
Perelman School of Medicine students find their match
Perelman School of Medicine students find their match
On March 15, 146 medical students from the Perelman School of Medicine celebrated Match Day—the national, annual ceremony, during which students learn where they will spend the next chapter of their journeys toward becoming physicians and surgeons.
An implant to blunt opioid effects
An implant to blunt opioid effects
A study by Penn Medicine researchers finds a slow-release naltrexone implant helps HIV patients with opioid dependence adhere to medications and prevent relapse.
Barriers and facilitators in treating opioid addiction in the ER
Barriers and facilitators in treating opioid addiction in the ER
Despite effective medications for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine and methadone, few people receive treatment. The ongoing challenge is to expand access to these lifesaving treatments to people who need them the most.
Western bias in human genetic studies is ‘both scientifically damaging and unfair’
Western bias in human genetic studies is ‘both scientifically damaging and unfair’
In a commentary in the journal Cell, PIK Professor Sarah Tishkoff and Giorgio Sirugo shine a light on the lack of ethnic diversity represented in genomic studies, and the consequences for health and medicine.
What is esketamine?
What is esketamine?
Following FDA approval of esketamine as a nasal spray to address otherwise untreatable cases of depression, Michael Thase, a professor of psychiatry at Penn Medicine, explains what it is and how it came to be.
In the News
Axios
The flimsy promises of brain wearables
Anna Wexler of the Perelman School of Medicine said the FDA is ill prepared to reign in the companies producing wearable brain devices, which record brain activity or stimulate the brain with electric currents in spite of little oversight.
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Philadelphia Inquirer
College affirmative action bans linked to higher rates of smoking among minority youth
A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine has found that states that ban affirmative action in college admissions experience increased smoking rates among black, Latino, and Indigenous high schoolers. “Educational policies can have these unintended health consequences,” said co-author Atheendar Venkataramani. “Social policies really matter for health, and it’s worth talking about.”
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
In Pennsylvania, ‘deaths of despair’ are 50% higher than the national average
Maria Oquendo of the Perelman School of Medicine is quoted on increased suicide rates in Pennsylvania.
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Time
‘They’re chipping away.’ Inside the grassroots effort to fight mandatory vaccines
In an article about anti-vax organizing, Paul Offit of the Perelman School of Medicine said, “Vaccines are a victim of their own success.” Offit continued, “people have forgotten how sick measles can make you and how dead measles can make you.”
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Nature
Whole-body PET scanner produces 3D images in seconds
Abass Alavi of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about a new version of a PET scanner that can generate 3D renderings of the entire human body in just seconds, a fraction of the time required by older iterations. “The whole-body machine is another quantum jump in medical imaging,” said Alavi.
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