News Releases

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that misfolded proteins called TDP-43 accumulate throughout the brain of patients with amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, not just in the motor neurons. This finding suggests ALS has broader neurological effects than previously appreciated and treatments need to take into account more than motor neuron areas.

Penn Presbyterian Medical Center has announced that Kenric Michael Murayama, MD, FACS will become the new Chief of Surgery, effective September 15, 2008. He joins Penn Presbyterian from the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu, where he was Professor of Surgery and Chief of General Surgery.

Sara Aton, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was awarded a grant from the L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Program. This prestigious fellowship provides support to postdoctoral women scientists who are undertaking cutting-edge research with practical applications.

A $50 million gift from philanthropists Jerome and Anne Fisher will support a new eight-story biomedical-research center at the University of Pennsylvania dedicated to the growing field of translational medicine, which emphasizes an accelerated pace for converting laboratory discoveries into medical therapies.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine will be presenting at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISCCR) as well as participating in a Workshop and an Evening Public Symposium on Stem Cell Biology. The meeting will be held from June 11-14, 2008 in Philadelphia, PA. The Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the School of Medicine Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and the ISSCR are hosting the free Workshop and Evening Public Symposium on June 10, just prior to the scientific meeting.

Zhe Lu, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Physiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was selected to be a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator last week. HHMI honors and supports some of the nation's most creative biomedical scientists by giving them the opportunity to tackle their most ambitious and risky research projects.

An alternative method for obstetric care, known as Active Management of Risk in Pregnancy at Term (AMOR-IPAT), has led to lower neonatal intensive care unit admission rates, higher uncomplicated vaginal birth rates, and a lower mean Adverse Outcome Index score, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and published in this month's issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that the effect of a protein deficiency, which is the basis of the neuromuscular disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), is not restricted to motor nerve cells, suggesting that SMA is a more general disorder.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown how Argos, a fruit fly protein, acts as a "decoy" receptor, binding growth factors that promote the progression of cancer. Knowing how Argos neutralizes tumor growth may lead to new drug designs for inhibiting cancer.