Research Highlights
For more news highlights about basic science research at PennMedicine, see the PennMedicine Benchmarks e-newsletter.
- First Your Big Idea Tournament Collected over 1,700 Ideas and 66,000 Ratings and Comments from Penn Medicine Faculty and Staff
24 May 2012
Two teams of employees were selected as winners in Penn Medicine's first employee Your Big Idea Innovation Tournament for projects aimed at improving the patient and caregiver experience at Penn Medicine. - New Research from Penn Medicine Challenges Established Concept that Raising HDL Helps Counter Heart Attack Risk
16 May 2012
A new study published by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Broad Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital, challenges the conventional concept that raising a person's HDL levels (good cholesterol) will always help lower their risk of a heart attack. - FDA-approved Drug Makes Established Cancer Vaccine Work Better, Penn Study Finds
16 May 2012
A team from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania found that the FDA-approved drug daclizumab improved the survival of breast cancer patients taking a cancer vaccine by 30 percent, compared to those patients not taking daclizumab. - Sundown Syndrome-like Symptoms in Fruit Flies May be Due to High Dopamine Levels
14 May 2012
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania researchers have discovered a mechanism involving the neurotransmitter dopamine that switches fruit fly behavior from being active during the day (diurnal) to nocturnal. - Black Cardiac Arrest Victims Less Apt to Receive CPR and Shocks to the Heart from Bystanders, Penn Study Shows
11 May 2012
Black cardiac arrest victims who are stricken outside hospitals are less likely to receive bystander CPR and defibrillation on the scene than white patients, according to research that will be presented by a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania today at the annual meeting of Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. - Lifesaving Devices Missing Near the Scene of Three Quarters of Cardiac Arrests, Penn Study Reveals
11 May 2012
More than 75 percent of cardiac arrest victims are stricken too far away from an automated external defibrillator for the lifesaving device to be obtained quickly enough to offer the best chance at saving their lives, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today at the annual meeting of Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. - Graduation and Mother's Day Combined: Perelman School of Medicine Students and Mothers Celebrate Major Milestones Together
11 May 2012
One hundred and thirty-nine Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania students will take the Hippocratic Oath for the first time as new doctors this Sunday, May 13, 2012. - Tool Helps Physicians Rethink Potential Risks, Benefits for Test Given to 14 Percent of All U.S. ER Patients
11 May 2012
A new electronic medical record tool that tallies patients' previous radiation exposure from CT scans helps reduce potentially unnecessary use of the tests among emergency room patients with abdominal pain, according to a study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today at the annual meeting of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. - Penn Medicine-Led Cardiovascular Health Screening Technology Receives Innovative Development Funding from American Heart Association
9 May 2012
The American Heart Association (AHA) announced today that they have made their first investment through the Science and Technology Accelerator Program into CytoVas, LLC. - Block Its Recycling System, and Cancer Kicks the Can, According to New Penn Study
8 May 2012
All cells have the ability to recycle unwanted or damaged proteins and reuse the building blocks as food. But cancer cells have ramped up the system, called autophagy, and rely on it to escape damage in the face of chemotherapy and other treatments. - Penn Receives $25 Million Gift to Create Basser Research Center for Inherited Cancers
8 May 2012
A $25 million gift to the University of Pennsylvania from alumni Mindy and Jon Gray will establish a center focused on the treatment and prevention of cancers associated with hereditary BRCA mutations. - Liver Fat Gets a Wake-Up Call That Maintains Blood Sugar Levels, According to Penn Study
7 May 2012
A Penn research team, led by Mitchell Lazar, MD, PhD, director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, reports in Nature Medicine that mice in which an enzyme called histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) was deleted had massively fatty livers, but lower blood sugar, and were thus protected from glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, the hallmark of diabetes. - Two Winners Take Grand Prize in Penn Medicine's MyHeartMap Challenge
3 May 2012
Two Philadelphia-area residents have been named the winners of Penn Medicine's MyHeartMap Challenge, the citywide crowdsourcing contest aimed at locating and mapping all of the lifesaving automated external defibrillators in Philadelphia. - Three Penn Faculty Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
3 May 2012
Perelman School of Medicine professors Gideon Dreyfuss, PhD, the Isaac Norris Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Beatrice H. Hahn, MD, professor of Medicine and Microbiology, along with Nancy Bonini, PhD, the Lucille B. Williams Professor of Biology in Penn's School of Arts and Sciences, have been elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, considered one of the highest honors accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer. - Genetically Modified T Cell Therapy Shown to be Safe, Lasting in Decade-Long Penn Medicine Study of HIV Patients
2 May 2012
HIV patients treated with genetically modified T cells remain healthy up to 11 years after initial therapy, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in the new issue of Science Translational Medicine. - NSAIDs and Cardiovascular Risk Explained, According to Studies from the Perelman School of Medicine
2 May 2012
After nearly 13 years of study and intense debate, a pair of new papers from the Perelman School of Medicine, at the University of Pennsylvania have confirmed exactly how a once-popular class of anti-inflammatory drugs leads to cardiovascular risk for people taking it. - Penn Medicine Physician Receives National Honor for Advancing Field of Urology
2 May 2012
Alan J. Wein, MD, PhD (Hon), has received the Keyes Medal from the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons (AAGUS) for his contributions to the field of urology. Wein is professor and chief of the division of Urology at the Perelman School of Medicine and Director of the Urology Residency Program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. - Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, Former Perelman School of Medicine Dean, Receives Prestigious Medal for Medical Service
1 May 2012
Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, was awarded the highest honor of the Association of American Physicians (AAP) the George M. Kober Medal, this week at the annual joint meeting of the AAP and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. - New Penn Study Confirms Two Treatments for Age-Related Macular Degeneration Provide Equal Improvements in Vision
30 Apr 2012
Two drugs commonly used to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD) yield similar improvements in vision for patients receiving treatments on a monthly or as-needed basis, according to a study from researchers at the Center for Preventive Ophthalmology and Biostatistics (CPOB) at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. - Newer, More Expensive Psoriasis Drugs Only Slightly More Effective Than Older Therapies Under Real World Conditions
27 Apr 2012
More expensive biologic treatments for psoriasis were only marginally more effective than standard treatments, according to a new study led by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers found that previously reported response rates from randomized controlled trials were higher than results in a clinical, real-world setting. - Perelman School of Medicine Researchers Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
24 Apr 2012
Perelman School of Medicine researchers Thomas Curran, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Gary A. Koretzky, MD, PhD, vice chair for research and chief scientific officer, Department of Medicine, and are among the 220 elected to the 2012 class of members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. - Gatekeeper of Brain Steroid Signals Boosts Emotional Resilience to Stress
24 Apr 2012
A cellular protein called HDAC6, newly characterized as a gatekeeper of steroid biology in the brain, may provide a novel target for treating and preventing stress-linked disorders, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. - Perelman School of Medicine Professor Elected to the Royal Society
23 Apr 2012
Garret FitzGerald, MD, chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Director of the Institute for Translational Medicine & Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, is among the 44 newly elected Fellows and eight newly elected Foreign Members to the Royal Society. - Penn Medicine Study Calls for Range of Diagnostic Spinal Fluid Tests to Help Clinicians Differentiate Concurrent Neurodegenerative Diseases
20 Apr 2012
In a series of studies being presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Penn researchers demonstrated that, while tests created for AD are effectively diagnosing the condition when it's clear cut, additional tests are needed to address the many cases with mixed pathology.