Penn Medicine is proud to support its faculty and staff in sharing their knowledge, scholarship, and expertise with the news media and through other public forums such as educational seminars and engagement with elected government officials. Penn Medicine Public Affairs professionals – comprised of Communications and Government & Community Relations teams – are available to provide assistance and guidance on these matters.
Use of the University of Pennsylvania name is carefully regulated by University policy, and special provisions are required for certain faculty and staff engagements with the news media and other public engagements. During these activities, faculty and staff must ensure compliance with Penn policies and federal, state and local laws and policies regarding the release of information on institutional activities and employees, students, patients or research subjects, including those pertaining to privacy and patient confidentiality, such as HIPAA.
Faculty of the Perelman School of Medicine are always permitted to use their institutional affiliation (ie, “a professor of Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania”) when submitting opinion pieces -- such as op-eds or columns -- for the lay press. When using institutional affiliations, faculty are also asked to include the following language: “The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the University of Pennsylvania Health System or the Perelman School of Medicine.”
Similarly, language acknowledging that the faculty member is not speaking on behalf of the institution nor speaking to institutional policies and practices should be included in any written or verbal testimony submitted to legislative bodies.
Staff requesting to use their institutional affiliation in media or governmental activities should contact Public Affairs for guidance.
Faculty and staff of Penn Medicine are not authorized to speak on behalf of UPHS or the PSOM without written permission from the Vice President for Public Affairs or their designee.
All faculty and staff who are contacted by members of the news media are asked to contact the Penn Medicine Communications Department at 215-662-2560 for guidance. For assistance with requests for testimony before elected officials or other outreach from government offices, please contact the Penn Medicine Government & Community Relations Department at 215-349-5408.