Ahead of the main event on July 4, 2026, marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Penn students, faculty, and staff will have multiple early opportunities to engage with America’s 250th anniversary.
Electronic medical records help save lives of HIV patients
Management and socioeconomic development expert Leandro ‘Leo’ Pongeluppe and colleagues found that switching from paper to electronic medical records at HIV clinics in Malawi led to an estimated 28% reduction in deaths after five years, with the greatest impact on children.
Centering joy in AI development and implementation
PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton—of Annenberg and SP2—and collaborators introduce a joy-informed framework designed to initiate conversations among engineers, designers, and researchers.
The world’s smallest programmable, autonomous robots
Engineers at Penn Engineering have created robots barely visible to the naked eye that operate without tethers, magnetic fields or joystick-like controls.
Addressing the psychological impacts of inflammatory bowel disease
Psychologist Melissa Hunt and gastroenterologist Chung Sang Tse and colleagues have found that cognitive behavioral therapy reduced disability for patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and that psychologists with no prior gastrointestinal experience could learn to deliver this therapy effectively.
The Mobile CPR Project takes lifesaving training on the road
When cardiac arrest hits outside the hospital, the odds of survival are long. The Mobile CPR Project is driving to increase those odds with free trainings all around Philadelphia and beyond.
Penn historian Jared Farmer recently launched a website about Philadelphia’s fossil fuel economy to help students and residents learn about the local past in larger context.
Students in the Performance, Analysis, History class explore and perform on piano the work of Johann Sebastian Bach, regarded among history’s greatest composers. Taught by Jamuna Samuel and Yu Xi Wang, the class contextualizes and demystifies Bach through a historical and geographical lens.
Jason Karlawish, professor of medicine, medical ethics and health policy, and neurology at Penn, co-associate director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and co-director of the Penn Memory Center, will discuss emerging research into aging, neuroethics, and policy. He has investigated issues in dementia drug development, informed consent, quality of life, research and treatment decision-making, and voting by persons living with dementia. Free and open to the Penn community. Register to attend.
Penn professors Emma Hart, Sophia Rosenfeld, and Duncan Watts will address the power and impact of Thomas Paine’s revolutionary pamphlet Common Sense—250 years after its publication—including how to think about the changing meanings of “common sense” in the American political landscape. Free and open to the public. Register to attend.
Penn’s guiding principles are the University’s enduring values and distinctive strengths: anchored, inventive, interwoven, and engaged. The practices support and strengthen Penn’s core educational mission.
At Penn Today, we focus on some of the ways the University is putting this framework into action. From student, faculty, and staff profiles to research updates and event coverage, Penn Today highlights the latest examples of the University’s principled approach to excellence.
Penn Forward’s Access, Affordability, and Value co-chairs on creating opportunity
As co-chairs of Penn Forward’s Access, Affordability, and Value working group, Sara Bachman, dean of the School of Social Policy & Practice, and Patrick Harker, a professor and dean emeritus of the Wharton School, discuss breaking down barriers and opening pathways.
A conversation with Penn Forward’s Global Opportunity and New Markets co-chairs
In a Q&A with Ezekiel Emanuel and Megan Ryerson, co-chairs of the Global Opportunity and New Markets working group for Penn Forward, the duo discuss the charge of their group, where they are in the process, and leaning into global engagement.
Through Penn First Plus, students unlock potential and purpose
Providing first-generation and limited-income students with a comprehensive array of support, Penn First Plus equips undergraduates for success during and after their time at Penn.
The eighth annual Penn Local Business Exchange brought together entrepreneurs, city officials, and University buyers to swap insights and build relationships.
Yong Chen of the Perelman School of Medicine found that weight-loss drugs improved obstructive sleep apnea severity through weight loss or respiratory mechanisms.
