Philadelphia Inquirer

Why you should not use ivermectin or other unproven COVID-19 remedies instead of getting vaccinated

Julio A. Chirinos of the Perelman School of Medicine is leading a study of fenofibrate, a low-cost cholesterol drug that may be able to fight COVID-19.

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A person leaning against a tree outside, wearing a blue-and-white button down shirt, arms crossed.

A partnership to preserve Kashaya

Since the 1980s, linguist Eugene Buckley has studied this Native American language, now spoken by just a dozen or so people in northern California. In collaboration with members and descendants of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, he’s built a database of Kashaya words, sounds, and stories.

Michele W. Berger ・

Axios

Penn Medicine's $1.6 billion hospital opens its doors

The Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania opens its new emergency department this weekend. Nearly 400 HUP patients will be transferred into the 17-story building.

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Stock image of two vials of COVID-19 vaccines. One is upright, the other laying on its side. They both say "COVID-19 vaccine, LOT: D66A443, EXP: 03.22, INJECTION ONLY"

Four facts about the COVID-19 boosters

The FDA and CDC endorsed boosters of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines just a month after the agencies did the same for a Pfizer/BioNTech booster. Here’s what’s known today about these shots.

Michele W. Berger ・

Scientific American

Four success stories in gene therapy

Jean Bennett and Albert Maguire of the Perelman School of Medicine developed a gene therapy to treat blindness in patients with retinal dystrophy caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene. “These people can now do things they never could have dreamed of doing, and they’re more independent and enjoying life,” said Bennett.

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Technical.ly Philly

Penn is establishing a $100M center to focus on the intersection of engineering and biomedicine

A planned Center for Precision Engineering for Health, housed in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will focus on developing biomaterials for personalized medical treatments. “Engineering solutions to problems within human health is one of the grand challenges of the discipline,” Dean Vijay Kumar said. “Our faculty are already leading the charge against these challenges, and the Center will take them to new heights.”

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The Washington Post

A one-way ticket. A cash-stuffed teddy bear. A dream decades in the making

Katalin Karikó of the Perelman School of Medicine was profiled in a series of articles about the scientists who helped create the COVID-19 vaccines. “I think she should be given credit for saving the world,” said her colleague Jean Bennett. Karikó’s ideas were “so ahead of her time, she had a hard time convincing people that they would actually work,” Bennett said. “They seemed too science fiction-y to people and too challenging.”

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The Washington Post

A scientific hunch. Then silence. Until the world needed a lifesaving vaccine

Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine was profiled in a series of articles about the scientists who helped create the COVID-19 vaccines. “The person who achieves his goal is the one that has faced frustration and dealt with it, understood it, and used it to their advantage,” Weissman said.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn RNA scientists win Philly’s Scott award for research used in COVID-19 vaccines

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine have been awarded Philadelphia’s 2021 John Scott Award for their research on mRNA.

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