Research Highlights
For more news highlights about basic science research at PennMedicine, see the PennMedicine Benchmarks e-newsletter.
- Lab Watch: Research Frontiers in Diabetes
19 Nov 2009
Why do we eat? Rexford Ahima, MD, PhD, is trying to answer that question by studying the hormones that regulate hunger and appetite. "Our main research question is how fat cells communicate with the brain, liver and muscle," said Ahima, who directs the obesity unit of the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. Disrupting these messages can cause overeating, obesity and diabetes. "Drugs targeting ghrelin are being developed," Ahima said. They may help people who have lost their appetites - and a dangerous amount of weight - due to aging, cancer or infections. In a recent study, Ahima's colleague Anne Cappola, MD, ScM, assistant professor of Medicine in Endocrinology, showed that frail elderly women with unexplained weight loss ate more after receiving ghrelin. - Gene Therapy Transforms Eyesight of 12 Born with Rare Defect
26 Oct 2009
A study in The Lancet conducted by researchers from Penn and CHOP used gene therapy to safely improve vision in five children and seven adults with Leber’s congenital amaurosis, a hereditary blinding disease. The greatest improvements occurred in the children, all of whom are now able to navigate a low-light obstacle course. Senior author Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, F.M. Kirby professor of Ophthalmology, and co-first authors Albert M. Maguire, MD, associate professor of Ophthalmology and Katherine A. High, MD, director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, at CHOP, as well as the youngest patient, Corey Haas, appeared in numerous national and international outlets, including the Los Angeles TImes. - Cheating Death: The Documentary
19 Oct 2009
HUP's role as a national leader in the field of cardiac arrest and resuscitation science was highlighted in “Another Day: Cheating Death,” an hour-long documentary hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent. The program, which featured the story of Chris Brooks, a 22-year-old who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in his parents home and was treated at HUP, includes interviews with Lance Becker, MD, professor of Emergency Medicine and director of the Center for Resuscitation Science; Benjamin Abella, MD, an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and clinical research director of the Center for Resuscitation Science; and Cardiac Care Unit nurse Simone Watson, RN, BSN. - Penn Researcher Among 11 Winners of Franklin Institute Awards
19 Oct 2009
Peter Nowell, MD, the Gaylord P. and Mary Louise Harnwell Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Science, will receive the Franklin Institute medal in life science, for the discovery of a genetic cause of leukemia and research that led to successful therapy. Nowell discovered the "Philadelphia chromosome,” along with the late David Hungerford of Fox Chase Cancer Center. This is a chromosome abnormality that causes chronic myelogenous leukemia, the first evidence for a genetic cause of cancer. As described in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the latest group of Franklin Institute laureates will come to Philadelphia for a week of seminars and ceremony in April. - Cheating Death: Advances in CPR
16 Oct 2009
Saturday at 8 p.m., the CNN cardiac arrest special “Another Day: Cheating Death” hosted by Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta will feature Penn Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine physicians. Advance coverage of the special appears on CNN.com, featuring Lance Becker, MD, a professor of Emergency Medicine and director of the Center for Resuscitation Science, discussing advances in resuscitation care and the shifting boundaries defining life and death.