2013 Facts and Figures Highlights a Year of Progress at Penn Medicine

Penn Medicine continuously builds on its tradition of pioneering discoveries and innovations, excellence in training tomorrow’s physicians and scientists, and safe and compassionate patient care. Many of these advances are concisely outlined in the 2013 edition of Facts & Figures.

 

Facts & Figures offers background information and quick information at a glance, including:

• Expansions at Penn Medicine Campuses: Penn Medicine at Washington Square in will open in Summer 2013, the New Advanced Care hospital Pavilion at Penn Presbyterian in Winter 2015, and the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine expansion in Fall 2014.
• Community Benefit: Every day, Penn's physicians, nurses, medical students, and staff volunteer their knowledge and skills to benefit residents in our community.
• Education: Offering interdisciplinary educational programs and dual degrees, unique and valuable clinical experiences, and opportunities for global health education are some of the ways the Perelman School of Medicine stands at the forefront of medical education.
• Research advances, including:

- A novel immunotherapy turns patients' own T cells into "serial killers" aimed at tumors in adults and children with blood cancers

- A spinal fluid "signature" chemical test, positron emission tomography, and arterialspin labeling are improving early detection of Alzheimer's disease

- A dendritic-cell vaccine triggers complete tumor eradication in about 20% of women with ductal carcinoma in situ, a breast cancer that makes up more than 25% of new cases

- Understanding the molecular basis for hundreds of rare and orphan diseases is helping to expedite the development of novel therapies

- New findings about the molecular cues that tell young cells what to become are being used to develop new treatments in such areas as dermatology, pulmonology, and gastroenterology

 

Read full version online at the Penn Medicine News site!