News Releases

University of Pennsylvania geneticist Sarah A. Tishkoff, PhD is among 18 recipients of the 2009 National Institutes of Health's Pioneer Award.

While scientists have known for several years that our body's internal clock helps regulate many biological processes, researchers have found that the reverse is also true: Many common biological processes - including insulin metabolism - regulate the clock, according to a new study by investigators at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, and the University of California at San Diego.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered a molecular circuit involving heme that helps maintain proper metabolism in the body, providing new insights into metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes.

Penn Medicine and the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia announce the opening on September 16 at 6PM of an exhibition of contemporary sculpture in the atrium of the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. The exhibition, Interplay: Art ● Audience ● Architecture is the first in a series highlighting the role that the arts can play in health care.

In conjunction with its 40th Biennial Convention in late October, the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) will present its prestigious 2009 Computer-Based Public Education Technology Award to Carolyn Vachani, RN, MSN, AOCN.

Shirin Karsan, a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine's Masters of Bioethics program, has been awarded a Fulbright Grant for the 2009-2010 academic year. The Fulbright Program, established in 1946, is an international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government designed to improve understanding and relationships between U.S. citizens and residents of other countries.

James Shorter, PhD, assistant professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics has received a 2009 Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholar Award in Aging. New Scholar candidates are investigators who are nominated by U.S. medical institutions and universities for their outstanding promise in aging research. The award provides funding up to $100,000 per year for a four year period to a maximum of 25 scholars.

Brian Strom, MD, Chair and Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology and Director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, has been named Editor-in-Chief of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, the official journal of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.

The nation's home foreclosure epidemic may be taking its toll on Americans' health as well as their wallets. Nearly half of people studied while undergoing foreclosure reported depressive symptoms, and 37 percent met screening criteria for major depression, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published online this week in the American Journal of Public Health. Many also reported an inability to afford prescription drugs, and skipping meals. The authors say their findings should serve as a call for policy makers to tie health interventions into their response to the nation's ongoing housing crisis.

A tissue-repair-and-regeneration pathway in the human body, including wound healing, is essential for the early lung to develop properly. Genetically engineered mice fail to develop lungs when two molecules in this pathway, Wnt2 and Wnt2b, are knocked out. The findings are described this week in Developmental Cell.