Magnolia Wang
The top of the HUP Pavilion lit up in colors for the first time this winter to support causes that matter to Penn Medicine, glowing in loops of red for heart disease awareness; blue, green, pink, and purple for patients with rare diseases; and blue and yellow in solidarity with Ukraine.
The Pavilion building, which opened in October, has two segments equipped with LED lights: the roofline of the 15th floor and the roofline of the mechanical towers in the center of the building, known as the mechanical penthouse. Together, they are called the Pavilion’s halo.
“The halo was incorporated into the design of the Pavilion to allow Penn Medicine to light up along with other buildings in the city,” said Alyson Cole, HUP’s associate executive director. “We are excited to join in showing our support and shine as a beacon for causes important to Penn Medicine and our community.”
The LED lights are programmed by the HUP physical plant team in conjunction with the hospital’s lighting vendor.
As a proud executive board member of the Philadelphia Go Red for Women initiative of the American Heart Association of Greater Philadelphia, Cole initiated the Pavilion’s first colored lights on Feb. 4 to support National Wear Red Day, which focuses on the prevention and awareness of heart diseases, especially among women. The halo remained red for most of February, joining many other buildings in Center City and University City in promoting heart disease awareness.
On Feb. 28, the lights switched to blue, green, pink, and purple – the colors of the National Organization for Rare Disorders – for international Rare Disease Day, in recognition of people with rare conditions and the need for equity and access to medical treatments.
Magnolia Wang, a junior biology major at Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences, led that light-up initiative in partnership with Stephanie Byers Asher, MS, CGC, associate director of genetic counseling for Penn Medicine’s division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics.
Magnolia, the editor-in-chief of the PennScience Journal of Undergraduate Research, is also the founder of STAC3.org, an organization devoted to Native American Myopathy (NAM), a genetic disorder affecting members of the Lumbee Tribe in North Carolina.
Showing support for Ukraine
“I was eager to raise awareness for NAM and the rare disease community in my home campus and local community,” Magnolia said. “It was truly exciting to be one of the first ‘light up’ organizations on the new hospital building.”
Later that week, the halo turned blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, joining landmarks around the world showing support for the nation and people of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion. The act of solidarity coincided with a fundraising campaign in which the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine matched employees’ contributions to raise more than $300,000 toward relief efforts for Ukrainians.