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Health Sciences
No-click system doubles hepatitis C screening orders
A Penn Medicine study finds that screening rates climbed to 80% for patients whose doctors didn’t need to opt in to order a screening.
CAR T cells suppress GI solid tumor cells without toxicity to healthy tissue
New research finds that CAR T cells can eliminate solid tumors, but do not damage healthy, normal tissues that also express a tumor antigen, because the tumor antigen is sequestered and hidden between the normal cells.
Industrial robots and population health: A deadly mix
A new Penn study demonstrates how, over the last 40 years, high-tech factory automation has enhanced business operations at the same time it has generated widespread “deaths of despair” and other health problems in communities with ousted human workers.
Well water, lead, and the link to juvenile delinquency
Research from Penn and other universities found that, compared to children with municipal water, those relying on private wells in the U.S. had a 21% higher risk of being reported for any delinquency and a 38% increased risk of being reported for serious delinquency after age 14.
Hands to hold on the path to surgery
The first-of-its kind Center for Surgical Health provides navigation and support to help under- and uninsured patients receive surgical treatment before it becomes an emergency.
HUP Food Pantry team innovates to address food insecurity
Between June 2020 and November 2021, the HUP Food Pantry gave out nearly 5,000 bags of food to postpartum families with food insecurity.
COVID-19 turned everything upside down. What has Penn Medicine’s innovation team learned?
To many in health care—including those in Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Care Innovation—the COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis from which to find the next great learning opportunity.
Correcting night blindness in dogs
Researchers in the School of Veterinary Medicine and colleagues have developed a gene therapy that restores dim-light vision in dogs with a congenital form of night blindness, offering hope for treating a similar condition in people.
From a pandemic, scientific insights poised to impact more than just COVID-19
Pivoting to study SARS-CoV-2, many scientists on campus have launched new research projects that address the challenges of the pandemic but also prepare us to confront future challenges.
Rapid adaptation in fruit flies
New findings from School of Arts & Sciences biologists show that evolution—normally considered to be a gradual process—can occur in a matter of weeks in fruit flies in response to natural environmental change.
In the News
UPenn hosts free online panel for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion
The Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative, led by José Bauermeister and Jessica Halem of the School of Nursing, will host a free online panel in April on the integration of LGBTQ+ people in the workforce.
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How to die in good health
PIK Professor Ezekiel Emanuel says that incessantly preparing for old age mistakes a long life for a worthwhile one.
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Mayor Parker’s plan to ‘remove the presence of drug users’ from Kensington raises new questions
Shoshana Aronowitz of the School of Nursing and Ashish Thakrar of the Perelman School of Medicine comment on the lack of specificity in Philadelphia’s plan to remove drug users from Kensington and on the current state of drug treatment in the city.
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How many patients would recommend their Philly-area hospital to family and friends? Check your local hospital
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has been named one of the most recommended acute-care facilities by patients in the Philadelphia area.
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Homeward bound: When a Penn Medicine nurse was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she turned to the service dogs she helped to train
A profile highlights Maria Wright of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, from her volunteer work connecting people with service dogs to her cancer diagnosis and her own journey applying for a service dog.
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