Research and innovation

From the lab bench to the cloud, Penn Medicine is at the forefront of biomedical discovery—translating research into real-world impact. Explore the latest breakthroughs.
Albert Maguire, Jean Bennett, Katherine High on a red carpet at the 2026 Breakthrough Prize event

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.

A pharmacist enters instructions into a dispensing machine at the retail pharmacy in Penn Presbyterian Medical Center

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.

The life-saving cycle of scientific innovation

Eduart Cuka, sitting up proud and happy in an infusion chair, with Stephen Bagley, MD, at his side, looking at him

How discoveries become cures, in a virtuous cycle

Public investments in biomedical research have an outsized effect, driving new scientific insights, economic growth, and ultimately treatments and cures.

  • Nicole Sweeney Etter and Rachel Ewing
  • July 10, 2025
Stephen Bagley, MD, injecting CAR T cells into a male patient in a hospital bed while clinical research staff stand nearby observing and taking notes

How future cures begin as ideas in laboratories

The successes of CAR T research show the importance of the cycle of science—sparking new ideas and clinical trials that give patients better options.

  • Nicole Sweeney Etter and Rachel Ewing
  • July 10, 2025
A person holding a pipette and a small test tube

Academia and industry form powerful partnerships for impact

The Penn Medicine Co-Investment program spurs faculty innovation, creates jobs, and helps scale up ideas into large-scale clinical studies.

  • Nicole Sweeney Etter and Rachel Ewing
  • July 10, 2025

Breathtaking discoveries that can transform medicine

An FXN gene, in cyan, relative to the nuclear edge, in purple, in healthy and FRDA cells. The gene is positioned closer to the nuclear edge in FRDA cells

How DNA folding silences a key gene in Friedreich’s ataxia

Penn research into Friedreich’s ataxia reveals how DNA folding can silence a key gene.

  • May 12, 2026
An illustrated cross section of the kidneys

Blood test predicts kidney failure risk to Black Americans

A Penn Medicine study finds that a blood test predicts kidney failure risk to Black Americans years before onset.

  • April 15, 2026
Two brightly stained colorful images of mouse brain cells. The left image shows many yellow spots in the cytoplasm

Specialized RNA molecules could counter ALS neurodegeneration

Newly discovered molecules bind and restore function to the primary target of ALS in an animal model, pointing toward a new RNA-based therapeutic strategy.

  • Kristel Tjandra
  • May 7, 2026

Benchmarks: recent highlights of discovery science

Fighting cancer with CAR T cell immunotherapy

Research laboratory

New KIR-CAR T cell therapy shows promise in solid cancers

An early report of a new type of CAR T cell therapy, called KIR-CAR, was shared in a Clinical Trial Plenary session at the AACR Annual Meeting 2026.

  • April 20, 2026
Four Clinical Research staff members have a conversation around a cart in a hospital hallway

The compassionate team behind CAR T cancer breakthroughs

Clinical research professionals’ quiet work with patients and data behind the scenes is vital to moving innovative research forward.

  • Nicole Sweeney Etter
  • January 7, 2025
Carl June pointing to screen and talking to female researcher in lab

Carl June on the boundless potential of CAR T cell therapy

Carl June, MD, explains how CAR T cell therapy, which has been transformative for blood cancers, holds the potential to help millions more patients.

  • Meagan Raeke
  • August 22, 2023

Leading the way with innovative transplant methods

Luka Krizanac with Swiss surgeon Esther Vögelin and Penn Medicine’s Scott Levin in front of a VCA Symposium presentation

Bilateral hand transplant at Penn Medicine gives man new hands

Bilateral hand transplant at Penn Medicine gives Swiss man new hands 16 years after childhood amputations.

  • June 13, 2025
A group of mothers at a restaurant brunch pose for a photo with a gaggle of young children

Families formed and found via uterus transplant celebrate motherhood

Uterus transplant is still a rare procedure—but for the six moms who have had eight babies to date through Penn’s program, it means the world.

  • Alex Gardner
  • May 9, 2025
Bri Iacona sitting with her husband and son on a bench outdoors

Back on her feet and breathing

The Penn Lung Rescue team kept Bri Iacona alive for four months with the most advanced form of life support before she could have a double lung transplant.

  • Daphne Sashin
  • December 26, 2025

Our Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology

Kathleen O’Neill speaking to a person in a lab, displaying a computer screen with  research graphics.

New research seeks an mRNA therapy for heavy menstrual bleeding

Every minute in the U.S., a woman needs a blood transfusion due to her period. Kathleen O’Neill, MD, is working to develop a novel therapy to protect women.

  • Kirsten Weir
  • September 11, 2025
Artistic 3D render of a strand of DNA double helix

DNA-LNPs: A safer, longer-lasting gene therapy breakthrough

A new DNA delivery method could transform treatment for millions suffering from common chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

  • March 25, 2025
A woman wearing a lab coat, mask, and gloves, works at a lab bench doing mRNA research

How Penn Medicine is changing the world with mRNA

Biomedical innovations using mRNA could prevent, treat, or cure numerous diseases. Penn Medicine is advancing its Nobel Prize-winning technology worldwide.

  • Rachel Ewing
  • November 16, 2023

Intercepting cancer before it starts 

Maggie Gaines as a young woman with her mother, relaxed near water

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.

  • Meagan Raeke
  • May 20, 2025
An abstract illustration of a colorful flat space is marked with symbols resembling a football play diagram of an interception, arrayed around an image of a cell

Can we intercept cancer? A new frontier in cancer research

Penn Medicine researchers are at the forefront of new scientific efforts to interrupt the development of cancer at its earliest stages.

  • Kirsten Weir
  • February 28, 2023
A digital rendering of a pancreas, enclosed in a blue, glowing bubble

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.

  • March 12, 2026

Outstanding research leaders at the forefront

A headshot of Eric Morrow

Penn and CHOP name founding director for Lurie Autism Institute

Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have appointed Eric M. Morrow, MD, PhD, as the founding director of the Lurie Autism Institute.

  • April 29, 2026
Samuel Parry holding the 2026 Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award, standing next to Sindhu K. Srinivas, who presented the award

Samuel Parry awarded SMFM Lifetime Achievement Award

Samuel Parry, MD, the Franklin Payne Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Penn has been awarded the Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine (SMFM)’s 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award.

  • February 20, 2026
A hand holding a trophy against a grey background.

Four Penn studies named among nation’s top clinical research advances

Perelman School of Medicine papers win Clinical Research Forum’s 2026 Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards, highlighting the power of federal funding for science.

  • January 20, 2026

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