2002 - 2000

Changing the Future of Research: After the tragic death of a volunteer in one of its genetherapy trials, the University of Pennsylvania made a commitment to improve the way clinical trials involving humans are conducted and regulated. One tangible result is the Office of Human Research, which assists researchers in developing protocols and monitoring the trials. Top administrators describe the changes as a "revolution"; standards are now much more rigorous.

Brain Injury: The Silent Epidemic: Tracy K. McIntosh has been the first person on the scene of an automobile accident a half dozen times in his life, and he knows how often the human brain suffers traumatic injury in such events. As director of Penn's interdisciplinary Head Injury Center, he also knows how research can help in the prevention, understanding, and treatment of brain injury.

The Science of Addiction: In his 30 years as director of Penn's Treatment Research Center, Charles P. O'Brien, MD, GME '69 PhD, has witnessed changes in the way scientists understand addiction, thanks to advances in neurochemistry, neurophysiology, and genetics. Despite resistance among many who deliver treatment, the trend in research today is to focus on using medication to treat addiction.

A Man of Many Parts: Early in his career in Ireland, Dr. Garret FitzGerald may have struggled to establish his own reputation – he shared a name with one of that nation's most famous politicians. Now, FitzGerald, a busy department chair at Penn Med, has made a name for himself through his medical and pharmacological research. But he believes in the necessity of collaboration, arguing "Art is I; science is we."

Studies show that, even today, women in academic medicine are severely underrepresented in the ranks of tenured professors and in leadership positions. Achieving equity is a not-so-simple matter of changing the culture of medical schools. A recent grant will help Penn investigators explore strategies for doing exactly that.