• Michael Glick to lead School’s New Center for Integrative Global Oral Health

    The School is launching its first policy center thanks to a $5 million gift made earlier this year by Garry Rayant, a member of the School’s Board of Advisors, and his wife, Kathy Fields, providing the foundational support to establish the Center.

    FULL STORY AT Penn Dental Medicine →

  • Penn Medicine-led research team awarded $2.9 million to study heart disease and cancer in Black and Hispanic communities

    The grant awarded to the Cardio-Oncology Translational Center of Excellence at Penn Medicine will fund projects aimed at reducing racial disparities in breast and prostate cancer patients with a higher risk for cardiovascular disease.

    FULL STORY AT Penn Medicine News →

    • From the Penn Program on Regulation

    NPR

    Creating a safe post-pandemic workplace

    Wendy De La Rosa of the Wharton School said money alone may not be the most effective workplace motivator because people want rewards, such as extra paid time off, that feel meaningful. “People just want to spend time with their families. People aren't dying to spend time at work,” she said. “We want to live out our values.”

    FULL STORY →

    The Washington Post

    Mask mandates violate religious liberty by hiding faces made in God’s image, Catholic school says

    Sarah Barringer Gordon of the Law School spoke about fluctuations in how the U.S. legal system has been interpreting “religious freedom” with regard to mask mandates. “The law seems to be changing, even as we speak,” she said. “And there are very serious challenges to the standard of review that has been in place for the past 30 years.”

    FULL STORY →

    The Washington Post

    Rare 'breakthrough' COVID cases are causing alarm, confusion

    Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine said breakthrough COVID-19 infections tend to be mild because the vaccines give the immune system a head start. “The virus is stopped in its tracks within a few days,” he said.

    FULL STORY →

    The New York Times

    Trust in health agencies and Fauci remains strong, a poll finds, but personal doctors score higher

    A survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that the vast majority of adults polled were confident in the trustworthiness of COVID-19 information from the CDC, the FDA, primary care providers, and Anthony Fauci.

    FULL STORY →

    STAT News

    In the same health system, Black patients are prescribed fewer opioids than white patients

    Salimah Meghani of the School of Nursing commented on a study that found that white patients are prescribed opioids more frequently and in greater quantities than Black patients within the same health system. Because the study was conducted using data from before the CDC’s revised opioid prescription guidelines, it “may be underestimating the actual size of disparities,” she said.

    FULL STORY →

    San Francisco Chronicle

    Why this transit guru who's tried 50 systems think BART is the best for commuters

    Miles Taylor, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, spoke about his passion for public transportation. "Anytime I go anywhere I have to ride transit," he said. "I consider it a failed trip if I haven't ridden any transit in the place I've gone."

    FULL STORY →

    NBC News

    COVID plus overdose deaths drove down life expectancy in 2020

    Irma Elo of the School of Arts & Sciences said the decline in life expectancy among Black and Latinx Americans reflects unequal access to health care and class privilege. "The people who have disproportionately suffered from this pandemic were the same people who were put in positions where they were more likely to be exposed because of their employment," she said.

    FULL STORY →