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Health Sciences
Researchers discover drug that blocks multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants
The drug diABZI—which activates the body’s innate immune response—was highly effective in preventing severe COVID-19 in mice that were infected with SARS-CoV-2 and likely other coronaviruses.
Honing cultural humility skills can improve health care as a whole
At Penn Medicine, medical personnel are adopting cultural humility as an ongoing process of developing a set of skills to approach any individual from any culture at any time.
Low on antibodies, blood cancer patients can fight off COVID-19 with T cells
T cells can step up to do the job when antibodies are depleted, suggests a new Penn Medicine study of blood cancer patients with COVID-19.
Scientists say active early learning shapes the adult brain
Through the Abecedarian Project, an early education, randomized controlled trial that has followed children since 1971, Penn and Virginia Tech researchers reveal new discoveries about brain structure decades later.
Pennsylvania Hospital’s unusual venue brings the celebration to vaccination
When Pennsylvania Hospital leadership began looking for a neighborhood site where they could set up a COVID-19 vaccine clinic, they found an enthusiastic partner at the Theatre of Living Arts.
Vaccines, variants, and the evolving lexicon of COVID-19
Penn Today shares the third update to the pandemic glossary, providing insights into the jargon becoming an everyday part of conversations and news headlines about the ongoing public health crisis.
Hepatitis C screening doubles when tests ordered ahead of time
By sending eligible patients a screening order along with the usual reminder, Penn Medicine researchers show they could double hepatitis C screening rates.
A mental health checkup for children and adolescents, a year into COVID
As a whole, this group experienced a significant short-term psychological toll. Though the long-term consequences aren’t yet known, particularly given how the year disproportionately exacerbated adverse childhood experiences, Penn experts remain cautiously optimistic.
Neuro-oncologist joins Penn’s mission to fight brain cancer
Richard Phillips, a Presidential Assistant Professor of Neurology and member of the Penn Epigenetics Institute, hopes to bring glioma research out of the “basement.”
The potential role of vaccine certificates in the next phase of the pandemic
Public health law expert Eric Feldman and medical ethicist Emily Largent discuss the legal and ethical implications of companies and organizations requiring proof of vaccination to reengage with different sectors of the economy.
In the News
Fentanyl overdoses hit a surprising group of San Franciscans: the city’s dogs
Cynthia Otto of the School of Veterinary Medicine says that fentanyl can be absorbed across the mucous membranes in canine noses, causing dogs to face a life-threatening overdose.
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Rural jails turn to community health workers to help the newly released succeed
According to Aditi Vasan of the Leonard Davis Institute and Perelman School of Medicine, evidence is mounting in favor of the model of training community health workers to help their neighbors connect to government and health care services.
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When it’s time for an aging driver to hit the brakes
Lauren Massimo of the School of Nursing says that losing the ability to drive is a major and dehumanizing loss for older adults.
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What is food noise and how do you get rid of it?
According to Thomas Wadden of the Perelman School of Medicine, people taking GLP-1 drugs are finding that daily experiences that used to trigger a compulsion to eat or think about food no longer have that effect.
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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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