Benjamin Franklin and Dr. John Morgan at Medical Alumni Weekend In his 18th-century coat, his dark breeches, his white cravat, and his three-cornered hat, he was quite a presence during this spring’s Medical Alumni Weekend. He could be glimpsed helping to carry the Perelman School of Medicine banner during the...

As I get out of the elevator on a Friday morning at Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse, I follow angelic voices to the unit’s volunteer Threshold Singers practicing for a day of spreading comfort to patients. Since 2012, when co-director Doris Mogen began the all-volunteer, 15-member chapter, she and other members...

Since the 1940s, antibiotics have significantly reduced morbidity and mortality, but their widespread – and sometimes excessive -- use have come at a price: an alarming rate of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Indeed, in this country, at least two million people become infected annually with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics; more...

University of Pennsylvania founder Ben Franklin once said, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” That may have been true back in Mr. Franklin’s time, but today, it seems having questions about health insurance plans and policies is just as certain. Even Penn...

Cultivating a career in biomedical research is basically a series of experiential steps: Most times, but not always, it starts with a knack and interest in STEM subjects -- science, technology, engineering and math -- in high school, a relevant major in college, eventually earning a PhD, and securing a...

Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., have new laws that allow the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes, thus spurring an increase in the use of the drug for a variety of medical conditions, including chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), epilepsy, sleep problems, nausea during cancer treatment, and more. But...