Health Sciences

A person standing outside, with blurred leaves in the foreground. The person is wearing a surgical cap and the jacket reads, "Kendall Smith, PENN Nurse Anesthesia"

From Penn Nursing undergrad to Nurse Anesthesia doctorate

After graduation, Kendall Smith will work as a certified registered nurse anesthetist in North Carolina. Long term, he hopes to build a career that divides his time between patient care, research, and educating the next generation of CRNAs.

Michele W. Berger , Ed Federico ・

Rows of houses with corrugated metal roofs are interspersed with trees. A mountain range is in the background

India’s COVID crisis

Political scientist Tariq Thachil of the School of Arts & Sciences and economist and public health expert Harsha Thirumurthy of the Perelman School of Medicine take a look at what’s happening in India with the pandemic's second wave and what can be done to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Kristina García ・

A masked health care worker give a vaccine to a person in the upper arm who is wearing a face mask.

Vaccine house calls bring COVID protection home

In an effort to reach residents who are elderly or disabled, Penn Medicine has put its COVID-19 vaccination efforts on wheels, taking shots directly to patients’ homes.

From Penn Medicine Service in Action ・

A fluorescent microscopic image of a cell labeled in orange with virus particles emerging from it labeled green.

Blocking viruses’ exit strategy

Tests of a new antiviral that aims to prevent the deadly Marburg virus from spreading in the body show promise, according to a study led by School of Veterinary Medicine researchers.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・

Doctor wearing a face mask sits at a desk looking at an x-ray with a masked patient.

COVID’s impact on cancer care comes more into focus

With the disruption of cancer care since the pandemic began in March 2020, recent reports are starting to show that the interruption—while still significant—may not be as detrimental as experts originally feared.

Steve Graff ・

Four images labeled embryonic day showing the development of the precursors to sexual organs

The origin of reproductive organs

A new study led by the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Kotaro Sasaki elucidates the early biological processes involved in the development of ovaries and testes.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・



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.

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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.

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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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