Blog Topic: Research

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  LVAD for Life

  October 25, 2012

  Two recent multicenter studies by Penn Medicine researchers have explored some of the issues involved in helping patients understand how receiving a destination LVAD will impact end-of-life planning and what is needed from a destination LVAD patient’s caregiver.

  Heart Patient Care Research Surgery

• Psychiatry and Eugenics

  October 23, 2012

  The forthcoming Fall 2012 issue of Penn Medicine will include Part 1 of Marshall Ledger’s engrossing article on psychiatry at Penn. The article is timed to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Medical Inquiries and Observations, Upon the Diseases of the Mind, by Dr. Benjamin Rush, considered the...

  Penn Medicine Magazine Research
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  First Look: Working Through OCD

  October 05, 2012

  A team of Perelman School of Medicine researchers, led by Edna Foa PhD, director of the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, are conducting the first study that examines whether one of the most effective forms of psychotherapy for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), exposure and ritual prevention (EX/RP), can help people with OCD achieve and maintain wellness after they stop taking the medications their doctors prescribe for their OCD.

  Brain and Behavior Patient Stories Research
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  Lowering the Age of Scientific Independence

  October 04, 2012

  Greg Sonnenberg, PhD, research associate in the Division of Gastroenterology and the Institute for Immunology, is one of 14 early-career scientists supported this year with an NIH Director's Early Independence Award. These support exceptional early-career scientists to move directly into independent research positions by essentially omitting the traditional post-doctoral training period.

  Basic Science Immunology Personalized Medicine Research Translational Research

• Deadly Choices: A Penn virologist takes on the anti-vaccine movement

  October 01, 2012

  Exhibit A: This year’s incoming class of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania was assigned to read Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All, by Paul A. Offit, MD. Issued by Basic Books in 2011, the book came out this year in paperback. During...

  Community Education Epidemiology Experts Immunology In the News Infectious Disease Patient Care Research
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  NIH MERIT Awards Give Researchers Long-term Stability

  September 20, 2012

  Earlier this summer, Sarah Millar, PhD, professor of Dermatology and Cell and Developmental Biology, received an unusual phone call from Carl Baker, MD PhD, Health Scientist Administrator at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

  Basic Science Cancer Dermatology Research Translational Research
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  Reconciling ENCODE and CODIS

  September 18, 2012

  The use of DNA in forensics is powerful yet subject to uncertainties. Jennifer Wagner, JD, PhD, a Research Associate at the Center for the Integration of Genetic Healthcare Technologies at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn CIGHT), and Sara Katsanis, MS, an Associate in Research at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy at Duke University (Duke IGSP) conducted an exhaustive search of the literature and genome databases to put forensic markers used in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) into a context of current understanding of the human genome. Their findings are available in an early online issue of the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

  About the Blog Experts Genetics Research Translational Research
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  Blinded by the Light

  September 14, 2012

  One man’s refusal to let choroideremia slow him down Image courtesy of E.J. Scott Earlier this year, the world paused to watch its greatest athletes take center stage and compete for the gold in the Games of the XXX Olympiad. The United States’ Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian...

  Basic Science Patient Stories Research
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  Football Season Begins as Study of Retired NFL Players Looks for Symptoms and Biomarkers of Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury

  August 24, 2012

  The fear that athletes who suffer repeated blows to the head may end up with a preventable cause of dementia called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is leading neurodegeneration researchers at Penn to join in a collaborative study of retired NFL players, to see if there are any clinical symptoms (such as depression, disinhibition, cognitive or motor impairment) and biomarkers present that can be measured and tracked over time. The ultimate goal is to use the clinical symptoms and biomarkers to be able to diagnose CTE during lifetime, as the only way to diagnose CTE currently is through an examination of brain tissue after death.

  Brain and Behavior Clinical Trials Neurodegenerative Diseases Research
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  The CPAP Conundrum

  August 17, 2012

  To CPAP or not to CPAP, that is the question that an estimated 100 million Americans who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) might face in their quest for a better night's sleep. And for many of these patients, this CPAP conundrum -- whether or not and when to wear...

  Mens Health Patient Care Research Womens Health