2010

As a summer volunteer at Sulayman Junkung General Hospital in The Gambia, Kathryn Hall witnessed how sorely the hospital needed dependable power. For patients, electricity could mean the difference between life and death. Now a Penn medical student, Hall founded an organization that has funded construction of a lifesaving solar-energy system for the Gambian hospital.

Autism is very much in the news, but today there is still no cure for it and no significant understanding of its causes. The Center for Autism Research, which brings together experts from Penn Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, integrates a variety of specialties to better understand and treat a complex neurological disorder.

As the national debate on health care reform continues, experts at Penn Medicine have been following the issue closely. The CEO of Penn's Health System discusses reform's likely impact on academic medical centers – and beyond. Faculty members engaged in comparative effectiveness research explain what part CER can play in reforming health care.