Making a Difference

Your generosity affects the care we offer. Each gift to Penn Medicine forges the way for newer and better methods to diagnose and treat illnesses; supports the construction of new facilities, like the Roberts Proton Therapy Center; and advances the cutting-edge research that leads to patient cures.

Your gift right now is so very important. Help continue successes such as:

CNN Airs Program Featuring Penn Physicians

"Another Day: Cheating Death" hosted by CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta featured Lance Becker, MD, professor of Emergency Medicine and director of the Center for Resuscitation Science, discussing advances in resuscitation care and the shifting boundaries defining life and death. 

In another segment, Benjamin Abella, MD, an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and clinical research director of the Center for Resuscitation Science, and Marion Leary, RN, BSN, a nurse research coordinator in the Center for Resuscitation Science, demonstrated how bystanders can perform CPR in an emergency situation.

Visit CNN's website for more information.

Art exhibit opens at the Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center

"Interplay: Art • Audience • Architecture," the first in a series of three sculpture exhibits that explore how art can create an uplifting environment for patients, their families, and caregivers debuted in the new Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine recently.
 
The exhibition is a collaboration between Penn Medicine and the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia. The exhibition is curated by Marsha Moss and will be displayed through February 26, 2010. Read more here.

Penn Study Shows Weight Lifting Recommended for Breast Cancer Survivors.

Breast cancer survivors who lift weights are less likely than their non-weightlifting peers to experience worsening symptoms of lymphedema, the arm- and hand-swelling condition that plagues many women following surgery for their disease, according to new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine research published in the August 13 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings challenge the advice commonly given to lymphedema sufferers, who may worry that weight training or even carrying children or bags of groceries will exacerbate their symptoms. Read more here.

Penn Medicine's Commitment to Stem Botswana's AIDS Epidemic

A front-page Philadelphia Inquirer story explores the genesis of Penn's Botswana program, which began its work with HIV and AIDS patients in 2001. Now, about 250 Penn doctors, medical school students, undergrads, and staff rotate in and out of Botswana each year, providing care, teaching and researching, and the program is praised by health officials for helping cut the mother-to-child transmission rate and helping more patients live longer with the disease.

Learn more and to support the progam.

Read the Inquirer article.

Top 10 in the Nation. Again.

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is now ranked eighth in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. This marks the second year in a row that HUP has ranked among the top 10 hospitals in the nation. The publication's prestigious annual "Honor Roll" of best hospitals in America places HUP as one of only 21 hospitals chosen from the approximately 4,800 facilities surveyed in 16 specialties and the only hospital in the Philadelphia area to achieve the ranking. Read more here.

Penn Presbyterian Medical Center Named One of the Nation's Top Cardiovascular Hospitals

Penn Presbyterian Medical Center is the only hospital in Philadelphia to be selected as one of the nation's "100 Top Hospitals" for cardiovascular care by Thomson Reuters, a leading news and information company. Each year, this award for cardiovascular services objectively measures performance on key criteria at the nation's top-performing acute-care hospitals. This is the sixth year that Penn Presbyterian has been recognized with this honor.

Appetite-Stimulating Hormone is First Potential Medical Treatment for Frailty in Older Women

Older women suffering from clinical frailty stand to benefit from the first potential medical treatment for the condition, according to a study presented by Penn Medicine researchers.

"As Americans are increasingly living into their 80s and 90s, we need to identify ways to prevent or treat common geriatric conditions, such as unexplained weight loss and frailty, which have serious health consequences," said senior author Anne Cappola, MD, ScM, Assistant Professor of Medicine in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. Read more here.

Personalized Therapies for Thyroid Cancer Patients Shown To Be Effective in Penn Study

First New Therapy in 30 Years for Patients with Advanced Disease

In what researchers are calling a breakthrough, patients with thyroid cancer that is resistant to radioactive iodine therapy were found to respond well to sorafenib, a University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researcher reported recently.

"This is not a transition, this is a breakthrough for our patients," says Marcia S. Brose, MD, PhD, assistant professor of hematology/oncology, who led the trial. "This is the first significant progress in 30 years, since doxorubicin was approved in 1974, which is toxic and produces responses in only five percent or patients." Read more here.