Health Sciences

A piece of pumpkin pie on a serving spatula, a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Navigating holidays in a pandemic, again

Experts from Penn’s Center for Public Health Initiatives and Positive Psychology Center offer six tips for making the holiday season joyful, fun, and safe.

Michele W. Berger, Erica K. Brockmeier ・

Onika Washington-Johnson hands a box of food to David Cabello in a parking lot.

A FAST approach to helping food insecurity

FAST (Food Access Support Technology) is a new platform created by Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Equity Advancement (CHEA) that connects health systems, food access community-based organizations and minority-owned small businesses to fight food insecurity.

From Penn Medicine Service in Action ・

aerial shot of Penn Medicine buildings

Penn Medicine launches new Colton Center for Autoimmunity

The Center, made possible through a $10 million gift from alumni Stewart and Judy Colton, unites game-changing research and patient care programs across the University, and connects Penn’s efforts to two other world-renowned institutions.

Penn Today Staff ・

A graphic with a stomach and a brain next to one another

In the brain’s cerebellum, a new target for suppressing hunger

A research team led by J. Nicholas Betley in the School of Arts & Sciences has identified an entirely new way the brain signals fullness after eating. The findings offer a novel target for therapies that could dramatically curb overeating.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・

graphic of red blood cells in a vein

Novel gene therapy for hemophilia A

The multicenter study, led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, showed improved and sustained production of a needed clotting factor and reduced bleeding events.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・

An illustration of six faces with different skin tones, ranging from dark to light. Above the faces are connected lines that look like jacks, to indicate social networks.

Clinician peer networks remove race and gender bias

Research from Damon Centola of the Annenberg School for Communication shows that structured health care networks significantly reduce health care inequities and disparities in patient treatment.

Alina Ladyzhensky ・



In the News


6ABC.com

Bird flu suspected in deaths of 200 snow geese in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley

Stephen Cole of the School of Veterinary Medicine says that indoor cats are contracting bird flu through raw pet foods of poultry origin or raw milk products.

FULL STORY →

Self

The surgeon general calls for new warning labels on alcohol—here’s the truth about how it impacts your health

Henry Kranzler of the Perelman School of Medicine says that alcohol’s effects on the brain are observed more readily because it’s the organ of behavior.

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NPR

Tuberculosis rates plunge when families living in poverty get a monthly cash payout

Aaron Richterman of the Perelman School of Medicine says that there are large and underappreciated benefits of cash-transfer programs, such as potentially ending a tuberculosis epidemic.

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Newsweek

Cancer breakthrough as ‘speckles’ may reveal best treatment

A paper co-authored by PIK Professor Shelley Berger finds that patterns of “speckles” in the heart of tumor cells could help predict how patients with a common form of kidney cancer will respond to treatment options.

FULL STORY →

Time

Scientists are racing to develop a new bird flu vaccine

Drew Weissman and Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine are testing a vaccine to prevent a strain of H5N1 bird flu in chickens and cattle.

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