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New Vaccine Shows Promise in Treating Deadly Allergies, Scientists Say
A novel mRNA vaccine prevented food and seasonal allergens from spurring on life-threatening immune reactions and anaphylaxis in mice, according to new research from Penn Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center. Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family Professor...
Read Moreabout New Vaccine Shows Promise in Treating Deadly Allergies, Scientists Say33rd Annual Jay Sigel Invitational Benefits Cancer Research at Penn Medicine
Last week, the Jay Sigel Invitational honored the memory of the late golf legend while raising funds for cancer research. Now in its 33rd year, the golf tournament has raised over $5.2 million for prostate and breast cancer research at...
Read Moreabout 33rd Annual Jay Sigel Invitational Benefits Cancer Research at Penn MedicineHow Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Will Use Jeffrey Lurie’s $50M Gift for Autism Research
In June, Philadelphia Eagles Owner and CEO Jeffrey Lurie donated $50 million to Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to establish the Lurie Autism Institute. Daniel Rader, MD, interim director of Lurie Autism Institute, said that he’s enthusiastic...
Read Moreabout How Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Will Use Jeffrey Lurie’s $50M Gift for Autism ResearchmRNA Nobel Laureate Debunks Claims About COVID Vaccine Safety
As political claims and misinformation about COVID mRNA vaccines continue amidst new guidance from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Nobel Prize winner Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research, detailed key pieces of...
Read Moreabout mRNA Nobel Laureate Debunks Claims About COVID Vaccine SafetyTold He Would Die, He Found His Own Cure and Now He’s Saving Others
David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, an associate professor of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, survived multiple life-threatening episodes of Castleman disease while he was a student in the Perelman School of Medicine by identifying a drug already on the market...
Read Moreabout Told He Would Die, He Found His Own Cure and Now He’s Saving OthersWhat Happens If Vaccine Mandates End in Florida?
Despite the urging of medical experts and decades of data on the efficacy and safety of childhood vaccinations, a new plan in Florida would remove vaccine requirements for children to attend schools. Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family...
Read Moreabout What Happens If Vaccine Mandates End in Florida?Beneath the Surface: Navigating the Rapidly Changing World of Dermatology
Not only is technology leading to new dermatologic treatments and breakthroughs, it’s also helping clinicians stay abreast of the latest research. Joel Gelfand, MD, the James J. Leyden, M.D. Endowed Professor in Clinical Investigation and medical director of the...
Read Moreabout Beneath the Surface: Navigating the Rapidly Changing World of DermatologyJeffrey Lurie Has Built the Eagles into a Model NFL Franchise
In addition to leading the Philadelphia Eagles through two Super Bowls championships, the team’s chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie has also made a philanthropic splash, including donating $50 million to fund a new joint venture at Penn Medicine and Children’s...
Read Moreabout Jeffrey Lurie Has Built the Eagles into a Model NFL FranchiseProof That COVID Vaccines Work Is Easy to Find
President Trump recently questioned the effectiveness of COVID vaccines, but research demonstrates they continue to have a significant impact. Between late 2023 and August 2024, the vaccines prevented more than 107,000 hospitalizations and nearly 7,000 deaths in the United States....
Read Moreabout Proof That COVID Vaccines Work Is Easy to FindAs mRNA Falls Out of Favor for HHS, Are Cancer Vaccines Next?
One of the most promising avenues toward new cancer treatments are vaccines, but oncologists worry that research into them will hit federal resistance, given the Health and Human Services Department’s actions to cancel grants and contracts for mRNA vaccine research....
Read Moreabout As mRNA Falls Out of Favor for HHS, Are Cancer Vaccines Next?A Blood Cancer Treatment Targeting Proteins The Blood Doesn’t Need
Although healthy blood cells can do without—and produce almost no—ARHGAP45 proteins, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells depend heavily on them for their growth and survival, according to new work from Junwei Shi, PhD, of Cancer Biology, and colleagues. A...
Read Moreabout A Blood Cancer Treatment Targeting Proteins The Blood Doesn’t NeedAncient antibiotic clues
César de la Fuente of the Perelman School of Medicine, School of Engineering and Applied Science, and School of Arts & Sciences led a team of researchers harnessing artificial intelligence to uncover hidden compounds in Archaea, some of Earth’s most...
Read Moreabout Ancient antibiotic cluesPenn Spinout Interius BioTherapeutics to be Acquired by Kite Pharma
A University of Pennsylvania spinout that is developing a faster and cheaper way to modify immune cells to fight cancer will be sold to Kite Pharma, a unit of Gilead Sciences Inc., for $350 million. Cofounded by Saar Gill, MD,...
Read Moreabout Penn Spinout Interius BioTherapeutics to be Acquired by Kite PharmaCutting mRNA Research Could Be Our Deadliest Mistake Yet
Thanks to pioneers like Nobel Laureates Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family Professor of Vaccine Research, and Katalin Karikó, PhD, an adjunct professor of Neurosurgery, the United States has been at the forefront of mRNA vaccine development,...
Read Moreabout Cutting mRNA Research Could Be Our Deadliest Mistake YetAmerica Needs More Organ Donors
In a guest essay, James Markmann, MD, PhD, vice president of Transplant Services and the William Maul Measey professor in Surgical Research, highlights a concerning decline in Americans registering as organ donors. With more than 106,000 people awaiting transplants...
Read Moreabout America Needs More Organ DonorsNew research seeks an mRNA therapy for heavy menstrual bleeding
Every minute in the U.S., a woman requires a blood transfusion because of her period. “Heavy menstrual bleeding affects one in three women, but our resources for treating it are incredibly limited,” said Kathleen O’Neill, MD, an assistant professor...
Read Moreabout New research seeks an mRNA therapy for heavy menstrual bleedingPenn Medicine Opens $376M Immunology Center Boosting Research in Philadelphia
Penn Medicine leaders and staff celebrated the opening of a reimagined space at 3600 Civic Center Blvd., bringing together key researchers and technologies in Immune Health, the Colton Center for Autoimmunity, and infectious diseases to drive breakthrough science. As more...
Read Moreabout Penn Medicine Opens $376M Immunology Center Boosting Research in PhiladelphiaAntibody Drug Triggers Tumor Disappearance in Early Trial
In a small study, two patients with metastatic cancer who received an engineered antibody that targets CD40, a protein that plays an important role in the immune system, experienced complete remission. It’s an “encouraging moment,” according to Gregory Beatty, MD,...
Read Moreabout Antibody Drug Triggers Tumor Disappearance in Early TrialWorries that ‘Many Will Suffer’ from mRNA Vaccine Research Cuts
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday that it will cancel $500 million worth of projects dedicated to designing messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines for pandemic preparedness. “We are working on about 30 different mRNA vaccines, including...
Read Moreabout Worries that ‘Many Will Suffer’ from mRNA Vaccine Research CutsCould Cancer Vaccines Get Held Up by HHS’s Stance on mRNA?
One of the most promising avenues toward new cancer treatments are vaccines, therapies designed to prompt an immune response against a patient’s tumors. Oncologists worry that cancer vaccine research will hit federal resistance, given the Health and Human Services Department’s...
Read Moreabout Could Cancer Vaccines Get Held Up by HHS’s Stance on mRNA?