Health Sciences

How does the brain determine which direction to let its thoughts fly? Looking for the mechanisms behind cognitive control of thought, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, University of California and United States Army Research Laboratory have used brain scans to shed new light on this question.

Achromatopsia is a rare, inherited vision disorder that affects the eye’s cone cells, resulting in problems with daytime vision, clarity and color perception. It often strikes people early in life, and currently there is no cure for the condition.

Periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease, doesn’t just cause soft-tissue inflammation and bleeding. It also destroys the bone that supports the teeth. If it progresses unchecked, it can lead to tooth loss and is even associated with systemic inflammatory conditions like atherosclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. 

Biopharmaceuticals, or drugs that are based on whole proteins, are expensive to make and require refrigeration to store. Insulin, for example, is unaffordable and inaccessible to most of the global population.

The precise link between concussions and debilitating conditions like chronic traumatic encephalopathy is still being explored, but as the name suggests, repeated head injuries are a main culprit. Unfortunately, unlike a broken bone or a torn ligament, concussions are invisible and tricky to diagnose.

The Penn Vet Working Dog Center (WDC) recently received an injection of cuteness—and talent. Five Labrador retriever puppies from the “Q litter” reported to the Center to start qualified training on Aug. 21, at exactly 8 weeks old.

The Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania has developed a free online guide for people who want to save lives by reducing illness and homelessness related to drug or alcohol use, and help more people access the care they need to get better more quickly.

Myc is a cancer-causing gene responsible for disrupting the normal 24-hour internal rhythm and metabolic pathways in cancer cells, found a team led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Postdoctoral fellow Brian Altman, PhD, and doctoral student Annie Hsieh, MD, both from the lab of senior author Chi Van Dang, MD, PhD, director of the Abramson Cancer Center, study body clock proteins associated with cancer cells.

A simple blood test can detect early markers of “reinvigorated” T cells and track immune responses in metastatic melanoma patients after initial treatment with the anti-PD-1 drug pembrolizumab, researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania report in new research being presented at the inaugural CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference.

Even patients with health insurance who have multiple myeloma may be vulnerable to “financial toxicity” – including those who make over $100,000 a year – because of the higher use of novel therapeutics and extended duration of myeloma treatment, researchers from Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center report in this week’s