Research Highlights
For more news highlights about basic science research at PennMedicine, see the PennMedicine Benchmarks e-newsletter.
- Penn Medicine Receives $12 M NIH Grant to Probe Biology of Asthma, Find New Drug Targets
1 Aug 2013
The Perelman School Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has received a $12 million grant over five years from the National Institutes of Health to head up a multi-institutional study looking at the biology of asthma and other airway diseases. - Penn Medicine Microbiologist Receives $1.4 million from Avon Foundation to Study Viral Pathogens and Cancer
31 Jul 2013
Erle S. Robertson Ph.D., professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded $1.4 million from the Avon Foundation to develop technology for identifying microbial signatures in breast and ovarian cancers. - Penn's Basser Research Center for BRCA Names UK Breast Cancer Researcher Alan Ashworth Winner of First Annual Basser Global Prize
31 Jul 2013
The University of Pennsylvania’s Basser Research Center for BRCA has announced the recipient of its first annual Basser Global Prize. The honor will go to cancer biology and genetics expert Alan Ashworth, FRS, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Cancer Research in London and leader of the Gene Function team in the ICR’s Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre. - Penn Cancer Virology Group Receives $10 million, 5-year National Institutes of Health Grant
30 Jul 2013
The National Cancer Institute has awarded $10.3 million over five years to a group of Penn researchers to investigate the early events of Kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus infection and its implication for developing therapeutics in treating associated cancers. - Migraine is Associated with Variations in Structure of Brain Arteries, Penn Study Reports
26 Jul 2013
The network of arteries supplying blood flow to the brain is more likely to be incomplete in people who suffer migraine, a new study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania reports. Variations in arterial anatomy lead to asymmetries in cerebral blood flow that might contribute to the process triggering migraines. - Evolution on the Inside Track: Penn Study Shows How Viruses in Gut Bacteria Change Over Time
26 Jul 2013
By closely following and analyzing the virome of one individual over two-and-a-half years, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, led by professor of Microbiology Frederic D. Bushman, Ph.D., have uncovered some important new insights on how a viral population can change and evolve – and why the virome of one person can vary so greatly from that of another. - Henry R. Kranzler, MD, Named Director of Penn's Center for Studies of Addiction
26 Jul 2013
Henry R. Kranzler, MD, a professor of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania whose work has contributed to the identification of genetic risk factors and pharmacological treatments for drug and alcohol dependence, has been named the Director of the Center for Studies of Addiction. - Isolated Psychiatric Episodes Rare, but Possible, in Common Form of Autoimmune Encephalitis
25 Jul 2013
A small percentage of people diagnosed with a mysterious neurological condition may only experience psychiatric changes - such as delusional thinking, hallucinations, and aggressive behavior - according to a new study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. - Survey Says: Physicians Are Not Ready or Willing to Take Charge in Cutting Health Care Costs
24 Jul 2013
The results of a physician survey published this week in JAMA show that a majority physicians look to lawyers, insurance companies, drug and device manufacturers and even patients to bear the responsibility of controlling health care costs. - Study Explains Why Africans May be More Susceptible to Tuberculosis
24 Jul 2013
A researcher from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues have identified the genetic mutation in Africans with HIV that puts them at a much higher risk for tuberculosis (TB) infections. - Major Cities Often the Safest Places in the U.S., Penn Medicine Study Finds
23 Jul 2013
Overturning a commonly-held belief that cities are inherently more dangerous than suburban and rural communities, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found that risk of death from injuries is lowest on average in urban counties compared to suburban and rural counties across the U.S. - Common Stem Cell in Heart and Lung Development Explains Adaption for Life on Land, Connections Between Diseases, Penn Study Finds
21 Jul 2013
In a new paper published this week online in Nature, a team from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, shows that the pulmonary vasculature, the blood vessels that connect the heart to the lung, develops even in the absence of the lung. Mice in which lung development is inhibited still have pulmonary blood vessels, which revealed to the researchers that cardiac progenitors, or stem cells, are essential for cardiopulmonary co-development. - A Bad Alliance: Rare Immune Cells Promote Food-Induced Allergic Inflammation in the Esophagus, Finds Penn Study
21 Jul 2013
Until recently, the mechanisms underlying the development of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) were unclear, but a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) shows that a type of rare immune cell and specific reactions to allergenic foods team up – in a bad way – to cause EoE. However, this association does point to new ways to possibly treat inflammation associated with EoE. - Weight Loss Drug Helps Curb Cocaine Addictions, Penn Study Finds
18 Jul 2013
The drug topiramate, typically used to treat epilepsy and more recently weight loss, may also help people addicted to both cocaine and alcohol use less cocaine, particularly heavy users, researchers in the department of Psychiatry at Penn Medicine report in a new study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Results from the double-blind, placebo-controlled trial adds to the growing body of evidence supporting topiramate as a promising medication to treat addiction. - "Not Your Madame's Isotope" – Safer Radium Therapy Provides Hope for Metastatic Prostate Cancer Patients
17 Jul 2013
A study of a new radiotherapeutic drug published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine brings fresh hope for a particular group of cancer patients that otherwise suffer and ultimately die from the disease -- those with prostate cancer that has spread to their bones and has failed to be controlled by hormone deprivation drugs. - AAIC: Path of Plaque Buildup in Brain Shows Promise as Early Biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease
17 Jul 2013
The trajectory of amyloid plaque buildup—clumps of abnormal proteins in the brain linked to Alzheimer’s disease—may serve as a more powerful biomarker for early detection of cognitive decline rather than using the total amount to gauge risk, researchers from Penn Medicine’s Department of Radiology suggest in a new study published online July 15 in Neurobiology of Aging. An abstract (#O4-07-03) on the topic was also presented July 17 at the 2013 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in Boston. - Penn Medicine Physician Receives Doris Duke Grant to Study Biological Underpinnings of How Pancreatic Cancer Spreads
17 Jul 2013
Gregory Beatty, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the division of Hematology/Oncology in the Abramson Cancer Center, has received a three-year Clinical Scientist Development Award (CSDA) for $486,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to support his clinical research efforts as he works to study the process by which pancreatic cancer spreads in the body and develop new therapies to treat the disease. - Highest Risk Alzheimer's Genetic Carriers Take Positive Steps After Learning Risk Status
16 Jul 2013
People who found out they carried an uncommon genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease did not experience more anxiety, depression or distress than non-carriers, and were more active in efforts to reduce their risk of Alzheimer's disease -by exercising, eating a healthy diet and taking recommended vitamins and medications - report researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania today at the 2013 Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC). - Penn Team Finds Molecular Relative of p53 Tumor Suppressor Protein also Helps Cancer Cells Thrive
16 Jul 2013
Researchers still do not know whether TAp73 enhances tumor cell growth and, if so, exactly how it may give an advantage to tumor cells. But, in a new study that appears in Nature Cell Biology, Xiaolu Yang, PhD, professor of Cancer Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, and colleagues found that TAp73 supports the proliferation of human and mouse tumor cells. - Penn Medicine Hospitals Recognized Among Nation's Top Hospitals By U.S. News and World Report
16 Jul 2013
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) has once again been ranked among the top hospitals in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The publication's annual ranking of hospitals in America lists HUP as one of only 18 hospitals in the nation to be recognized as an “Honor Roll” hospital for its exceptional performance, based on outstanding quality, expertise, technology, and experience. This year, HUP is ranked 11th on the list, which is culled from nearly 5,000 hospitals nationwide. - Penn Medicine Experts Team with Travelers, Hospitals and Community-Based Organizations for Free CPR Training in Hartford, CT
15 Jul 2013
Experts from the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, with support of a sponsorship by The Travelers Companies, Inc., have teamed up with the American Heart Association, Hartford area hospitals, community-based organizations and the City of Hartford to launch an innovative community project to train laypersons in CPR. - Penn Medicine Study Reveals Promise of "Human Computing Power" via Crowdsourcing to Speed Medical Research
12 Jul 2013
“Human computing power” harnessed from ordinary citizens across the world has the potential to accelerate the pace of health care research of all kinds, a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, writes in a new review published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. - Penn Study Shows Vascular Link in Alzheimer's Disease with Cognition
9 Jul 2013
Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that, across a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, cerebrovascular disease affecting circulation of blood in the brain was significantly associated with dementia. - Penn Medicine Study Sheds Light on Why Low-Income Patients Prefer Hospital Care to a Doctor's Office
8 Jul 2013
Patients with low socioeconomic status use emergency and hospital care more often than primary care because they believe hospital care is more affordable and convenient, and of better quality than care provided by primary care physicians, according to the results of a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.