When the news broke of the FDA approval of a gene therapy for the treatment of a form of retinal blindness, some medical students at Penn had an insider’s perspective. Not only was the therapy initially developed by researchers at Penn and CHOP, but a medical student group called Penn HealthX had hosted in-depth conversations about bringing that scientific discovery to the marketplace.

Penn Medicine is proud to have employees who are committed to making a meaningful mark on their local communities, and while their enthusiasm for sharing their knowledge, expertise, and compassion spans all year round, there is undoubtedly something especially "magical" about giving back during the "most wonderful time of the year."

Over-consumption of calories has been a key driver of rising rates of obesity. By May 2018, restaurants, grocery stores, and other food establishments with 20+ locations will be required to post calorie information on their menus. The hope is that making such information more visible will encourage consumers to choose – and restaurants to offer – lower-calorie items. But will it work?

Service to community takes many unique forms among Penn Medicine staff. These are just a few stories of work members of our community perform beyond the walls of our hospitals, clinics and classrooms year round. In honor of the season of giving, Penn Medicine debuts four new short videos of Penn Medicine CAREs-funded initiatives making a difference all year long.

Anticipating the birth of her first child, Brea Cox thought she was prepared, but things don’t always go as planned. Her daughter, Paxtyn, was born at 28 weeks and spent the first 61 days of her life in the NICU, but what surprised Cox the most was what many of us take for granted. Paxtyn needed help learning how to coordinate sucking, swallowing, and breathing – all essential skills for eating.

Drug overdoses, mostly from opioids, are killing an average of 142 Americans each day. In Chester County, deaths related to opioid overdoses are up 38 percent for the first half of this year compared with 2016. The crisis is affecting both urban and community hospitals alike. Chester County Hospital is taking steps to meet the challenges this crisis presents.

A little over 10 years ago, Abramson Cancer Center director Robert Vonderheide, MD – then an assistant professor of Hematology/Oncology – and his colleagues at Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine, told a room full of local reporters about an immunotherapy vaccine to treat lymphoma in pet dogs, which they hoped would someday help children with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The bacteria are winning. That’s what happens when they’re excessively attacked with the same antibiotics for 70 plus years. About two million people became infected with resistant bacteria this year in the United States, and at least 23,000 of them died as a direct result, according to CDC estimates. The future looks even grimmer: By 2050, resistant bugs will account for 10 million annual deaths around the world.

We’re smack in the middle of the Holiday season – the time of year when just about every media outlet begins rolling out tips for keeping stress down, maintaining diet and exercise routines, and starting the New Year off right. While these can be helpful, they’re not always foolproof. In fact, this year for many Americans, some heath pitfalls may be unavoidable – specifically, high blood pressure.

I’ve apparently got a “great” heart murmur. I think it’s some mix of loudness and clarity that makes it a particularly good murmur. It’s actually kind of charming, how much doctors and residents tend to nerd out about it. They’ll tell me, “Ah, that’s a really wonderful murmur!” and I’ll react with a “Thank you,” as if they’d complimented my fastball.