Where 275 years of medical history come to life
The future of medicine grows from understanding its past, and Pennsylvania Hospital’s museum brings that history to life in a milestone anniversary year.
A meeting of the minds drives discovery in the brain
Using organoids as models of human brains and brain cancer, Hongjun Song, PhD, and Guo-li Ming, MD, PhD, are making major scientific advances together.
Latest articles
A look into Penn’s historic hospital
The history of Pennsylvania Hospital’s Pine Building
The original structure of the nation’s first chartered hospital—home to early mental health and maternity care—is a living symbol of innovation.
Preserving Pennsylvania Hospital’s history ‘never gets old’
Stacey Peeples oversees the archives of the nation’s first chartered hospital, home to a nearly three-hundred-year collection of medical artifacts.
The evolution of the apothecary in a historic hospital
At Pennsylvania Hospital, tracing the history of the apothecary shows the importance of professionals helping patients with medicines, then and now.
Where compassionate care meets advanced care
Cancer survivor: Learning I had Lynch syndrome ‘saved my life’
Dennis Massimo was only 42 and symptom-free when he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer related to an inherited condition he didn’t realize he had.
A home away from home for transplant patients and families
The Clyde F. Barker Penn Transplant House offers a comforting and affordable refuge for transplant patients and families—with community and hope.
Cancer care for the mind and spirit
A program where cancer patients can get free mental health care addresses an underrecognized need: that cancer’s deepest wounds are often not physical.
Transforming health care delivery
A prescription for pharmacy innovation
The pharmacy system of the future is here at Penn Medicine: a powerful union of advanced tech with human expertise, improving patients’ health.
A 24/7 virtual care service means freedom from on-call hours
A new initiative frees Penn primary care doctors from most on-call duties after work hours, while patients still have 24-hour access to virtual care.
To deliver hospital-level care at home, practice makes perfect
Simulations and test runs helped Penn Medicine teams prepare for the launch of a Hospital at Home program at two of the system’s hospitals.
Breathtaking biomedical advances
Penn, CHOP team awarded Breakthrough Prize for blindness gene therapy
Jean Bennett, Albert Maguire, and Kathy High honored for trailblazing work on the first FDA-approved gene therapy for an inherited condition.
‘Cyborg’ implants help lab-grown pancreas cells mature
A new electronic implant system can help lab‑grown pancreatic cells mature and function properly, potentially providing a basis for novel, cell-based therapies for diabetes.
World’s first patient treated with personalized CRISPR therapy
In a historic medical breakthrough, a child with a rare genetic disorder has been successfully treated with a customized CRISPR gene editing therapy.
Stopping cancer before it starts
New frontiers in nipping cancer in the bud
The science of cancer interception is advancing at Penn Medicine with a new platform to develop cancer vaccines piling scientific strength upon strength.
New strategy targets pancreatic cancer before it forms
A new preclinical study in mice shows that precancerous cells in the pancreas can be eliminated before they have the chance to become tumors.
Volunteering for cancer research: an act of love
The Basser Center for BRCA is running an innovative cancer interception clinical trial that depends on volunteers with deep, personal ties to cancer.
Development matters
Walter and Anne Gamble: A legacy of compassion and possibility
The Gambles’ generosity helped hundreds of students attend medical school at Penn tuition-free since 1992, and today’s alumni continue to grow their vision.
Support for trainees ensures a bright future for BRCA science
Through the Basser Center for BRCA Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, the Sands are cultivating the next generation of discovery to intercept cancer.
Ushering in a bold new era of Immune Health discovery
A reimagined facility has been introduced as the epicenter for pioneering Penn research aimed at “breaking the immunological code” of autoimmune diseases and bringing them to heel.
People of Penn Medicine
Where peak performance meets progressive disease
A muscle science lab draws on personal experience at the extremes—world-class athleticism and muscular dystrophy—in seeking a safer gene therapy.
She helps patients find their words to cast a spell on cancer
Even before she experienced cancer herself, Deborah Burnham, PhD, had a knack for “magical” prompts to help cancer patients write through their illness.
Healer, educator, advocate: Meet Dr. Florencia Polite
At home and overseas, Florencia Polite, MD, is on a mission to help patients and physicians understand how RSV vaccines protect newborns.
Training our future physicians
The journey to medical residency
Medical students face a gauntlet of travel for interviews before their match—but Penn alumni mentors help out at this and other key career stages.
Penn Medicine to redesign physician training with landmark gift
The gift sparks curriculum transformation, new lectureship, and names Entrepreneurship Pathway in honor of alumnus Rod Wong, M03.
Can AI tools help train a more effective physician?
Penn Medicine is leveraging emerging technology to strengthen clinical reasoning skills and patient care among medical students and residents.
How cryoEM creates new views of life and medicine
Freeze, image, cure
Researchers are capturing images of the biology inside our cells using cryogenic electron microscopy to inform how we understand and treat disease.
Zooming into drug discovery with cryo-microscopic science
Penn is at the forefront of using close-up imaging techniques to suggest new ways to match drugs to biological receptors like a key with a lock.
Seeing the mechanisms of disease with cryoEM
Understanding how a disease starts and gets going is essential to finding treatments—and imaging with cryoEM and cryoET is leading to such insights.
Explore past issues' cover stories
Right place, right care
Penn Medicine is building better systems that help patients build health care around their lives instead of their lives around health care.
Keeping cancer conquered
Penn Medicine research is bringing the “sleeper” phase of cancer to light—creating hope that more cancers could be wiped out for good and never come back.
Health, greenery, and justice for all
Reversing racial inequities is a full-force effort rooted in research that includes gardens and parks, financial support, and lifting up local community members.
AI framework aids target discovery for CAR T cell therapy
The customizable, human-in-the-loop AI framework uses public data to find viable target antigens for CAR T cell therapy.
10-year remissions with CAR T therapy in B-cell lymphoma
Many patients with large B-cell lymphoma or follicular lymphoma were still living without a relapse, 10 years after receiving CAR T therapy.
New mRNA vaccine platform could expand global vaccine access
A Penn-developed nanoparticle platform could make mRNA vaccines easier to produce, store, and distribute.
AI reveals unexpected source of antibiotic candidates in prion proteins
A Penn Medicine AI study found 1,179 bacteria-fighting peptide candidates hidden in prion and prion-like proteins.
Penn Medicine health fair returns to West Philly June 28
The annual event offers free health screenings, mental health resources, eye exams, and more; walk-in mammograms available June 24 through July 1.
Immune activation predicts dual-target CAR-T success in GBM
Dual-target CAR T for GBM triggers immune activation with natural killer cells linked to better outcomes.
Cell subgroups could spur retinal cell transplant success
By finding retinal cell subgroups in mice, researchers hope to pinpoint an optimal cell type for transplants to restore vision in blinding conditions.
Nudge increases prescriptions of drinking medication
By prompting emergency medicine clinicians to consider naltrexone, researchers saw a 15-fold increase in prescriptions.
Molecular mechanics behind heart cell restructuring revealed
Two new discoveries shed light on how heart cells change their size and shape and how this may be important for understanding some common conditions.
New CAR T treatment opens doors for kidney patients
An early trial demonstrates CAR T cells can safely desensitize even the most challenging transplant candidates.
AI framework aids target discovery for CAR T cell therapy
The customizable, human-in-the-loop AI framework uses public data to find viable target antigens for CAR T cell therapy.
10-year remissions with CAR T therapy in B-cell lymphoma
Many patients with large B-cell lymphoma or follicular lymphoma were still living without a relapse, 10 years after receiving CAR T therapy.
New mRNA vaccine platform could expand global vaccine access
A Penn-developed nanoparticle platform could make mRNA vaccines easier to produce, store, and distribute.
AI reveals unexpected source of antibiotic candidates in prion proteins
A Penn Medicine AI study found 1,179 bacteria-fighting peptide candidates hidden in prion and prion-like proteins.
Penn Medicine health fair returns to West Philly June 28
The annual event offers free health screenings, mental health resources, eye exams, and more; walk-in mammograms available June 24 through July 1.
Immune activation predicts dual-target CAR-T success in GBM
Dual-target CAR T for GBM triggers immune activation with natural killer cells linked to better outcomes.
Cell subgroups could spur retinal cell transplant success
By finding retinal cell subgroups in mice, researchers hope to pinpoint an optimal cell type for transplants to restore vision in blinding conditions.
Nudge increases prescriptions of drinking medication
By prompting emergency medicine clinicians to consider naltrexone, researchers saw a 15-fold increase in prescriptions.
Molecular mechanics behind heart cell restructuring revealed
Two new discoveries shed light on how heart cells change their size and shape and how this may be important for understanding some common conditions.
New CAR T treatment opens doors for kidney patients
An early trial demonstrates CAR T cells can safely desensitize even the most challenging transplant candidates.
AI framework aids target discovery for CAR T cell therapy
The customizable, human-in-the-loop AI framework uses public data to find viable target antigens for CAR T cell therapy.
10-year remissions with CAR T therapy in B-cell lymphoma
Many patients with large B-cell lymphoma or follicular lymphoma were still living without a relapse, 10 years after receiving CAR T therapy.
New mRNA vaccine platform could expand global vaccine access
A Penn-developed nanoparticle platform could make mRNA vaccines easier to produce, store, and distribute.
AI reveals unexpected source of antibiotic candidates in prion proteins
A Penn Medicine AI study found 1,179 bacteria-fighting peptide candidates hidden in prion and prion-like proteins.
Penn Medicine health fair returns to West Philly June 28
The annual event offers free health screenings, mental health resources, eye exams, and more; walk-in mammograms available June 24 through July 1.
Immune activation predicts dual-target CAR-T success in GBM
Dual-target CAR T for GBM triggers immune activation with natural killer cells linked to better outcomes.
Cell subgroups could spur retinal cell transplant success
By finding retinal cell subgroups in mice, researchers hope to pinpoint an optimal cell type for transplants to restore vision in blinding conditions.
Nudge increases prescriptions of drinking medication
By prompting emergency medicine clinicians to consider naltrexone, researchers saw a 15-fold increase in prescriptions.
Molecular mechanics behind heart cell restructuring revealed
Two new discoveries shed light on how heart cells change their size and shape and how this may be important for understanding some common conditions.
New CAR T treatment opens doors for kidney patients
An early trial demonstrates CAR T cells can safely desensitize even the most challenging transplant candidates.