Focus: Hidden - Pennsylvania

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Decorated humanitarian and outspoken advocate for women’s rights, Dr. Denis Mukwege, will receive the 2016 Penn Nursing Renfield Foundation Award for Global Women’s Health for his work in treating and highlighting the plight of women in the war-torn eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The award comes with a $100,000 cash prize. Mukwege will receive the honor during an event at the University of Pennsylvania on March 24, 2016.

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Some people with glaucoma-related binocular (both eyes) vision loss can pass a standard driving test by adopting increased visual scanning behavior, reports a study in the October issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Kojo S.J. Elenitoba-Johnson, MD, has been named the founding director of Penn Medicine’s Center for Personalized Diagnostics and chief of the newly created division of the Molecular and Genomic Pathology. He is an international leader in the field of hematopathology, molecular pathology, and mass spectrometry-driven proteomics.

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Research on the genetic factors contributing to neuropathic pain has been hindered by the lack of a standard approach to assessing its clinical characteristics or “phenotype.” Now, a report from an expert panel published in the journal PAIN® presents a consensus approach to assessing the phenotype of neuropathic pain. The journal is the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) and is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Hematology researchers have safely and effectively treated children and young adults for autoimmune blood disorders in a multicenter clinical trial. Patients had a durable, complete response in one of those conditions, called ALPS.

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Anthony A. “Tony” Nichols Sr. ’67, Chairman Emeritus of Brandywine Realty Trust and a leader in the Philadelphia real estate marketplace for nearly 60 years, will receive the Shield of Loyola from Saint Joseph’s University at its alumni association’s 35th annual Alumni Gala on Saturday, Nov. 14 at the Hyatt at the Bellevue in Center City Philadelphia.

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Jefferson College of Health Professions is now accepting applications for a post-graduate certificate in medical family therapy. This growing field supports families who have been affected by a medical diagnosis or treatment within an interprofessional healthcare environment. The certificate program is a unique collaboration between Jefferson’s Department of Couple and Family Therapy and the Council for Relationships and emphasizes hands-on clinical experience.

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A minimally invasive implant procedure is highly effective in reducing pain and disability for patients with sacroiliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction, reports a clinical trial in the November issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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A system incorporating a smartphone app may help adolescents and young adults with spina bifida to improve their daily self-management skills, suggests a paper in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, the official journal of the Association of Academic Physiatrists. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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The American Cancer Society’s new breast cancer screening guidelines could cause many women to wonder when they should have their first mammogram. A Penn State Hershey physician says the answer is simple: age 40.

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Cats have at least seven functional bitter taste receptors, according to a new Monell Center study. Further, a comparison of cat to related species reveals little relationship between biter receptor number and the extent to which a species consumes plants. The findings question the common hypothesis that bitter taste developed primarily to protect animals from ingesting poisonous plant compounds.

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In the past two decades there has been little to no adherence to the recommendations published by U.S. and European regulatory agencies on the manner in which translational research is conducted in large animal models used to study cartilage repair. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania detailed their findings in a paper published in Science Translational Medicine.

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Nancy A. Speck, PhD, a widely recognized international leader in the field of blood-cell development, has been named chair of the department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Workers who feel emotionally attached to and identify with their work have better psychological well-being, reports a study in the November Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

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Girls from families with a history of breast cancer, or genetic mutations that increase the risk of a breast cancer diagnosis, seem to adjust just as well as other girls when it comes to general anxiety, depression and overall psychosocial adjustment, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. However, the study also found that girls from at-risk families tend to worry more about breast cancer, particularly when their mothers have the same worries. The results are published online today in the journal Pediatrics.

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New data from clinical trials conducted at the Robert Proton Therapy Center demonstrate the technology’s potential advantages over conventional radiation, including less side effects and survival in some cases, for several harder-to-treat tumors: pancreatic, late-stage, non-small cell lung and chordoma and chondrosarcoma, two rare cancers found in bone or soft tissue.

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As part of the annual Mind of the Food Worker study, the CRPP polled more than 1,200 food workers at all stages of the food supply chain, including farms, processing plants, cafeterias, restaurants, and grocery stores across the U.S. and Canada. The independent survey was commissioned by Alchemy Systems, which works with companies and organizations across the food system to improve safety and operations.

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More than $10,000 in scholarships and cash prizes are at stake for high school students who showcase the most effective health-conscious social media campaigns at the sixth annual Healthy Lifestyles Scholarship Competition at University of the Sciences.

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Penn Medicine’s Innovation Accelerator Program, now in its third year, has announced funding for eight new projects aimed at improving health care delivery and patient outcomes. The program, run by leaders in the Center for Health Care Innovation, has been redesigned to support a larger group of thought leaders from across departments and in roles across the University of Pennsylvania Health System in their efforts to develop, test, and implement new approaches to health care.

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Researchers find a protein that's involved in helping control the architecture of connections between neurons – a basic process involved in both healthy and diseased brains.

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The recent publication of the manuscript entitled “Body mass index and treatment outcomes in metastatic breast cancer patients treated with Eribulin”, which has just appeared in the “Journal of Cellular Physiology”, has newly brought metastatic breast cancer to the attention of our cancer research community.

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New visual tool illustrates five dimensions of value within NCCN Guidelines

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Could looking at the eyes provide a new way of studying how anesthesia affects the developing brain? The retinas of immature mice exposed to one widely used general anesthetic show evidence of "programmed cell death," or apoptosis, reports a study in Anesthesia & Analgesia.

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Penn Medicine has performed more than 1,200 Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacements (TAVR) on patients with severe aortic stenosis. Today, at the Transcatheter Cardiac Therapeutics conference in San Francisco, Howard C. Herrmann, MD, the John Winthrop Bryfogle Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases and director of Penn Medicine’s Interventional Cardiology Program in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, will present promising findings from the PARTNER II Trial, which examined one-year clinical outcomes among high-risk or inoperable patients who received TAVR with the latest generation of balloon-expandable (SAPIEN 3) device.

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Former first daughter Barbara P. Bush, CEO and co-founder of Global Health Corps (GHC), will headline the sixth annual Lois K. Cohen Endowed Lecture Series in Global Health at University of the Sciences on Thursday, Oct. 22.

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For patients with limited English proficiency (LEP), errors in medical interpretation are common—especially when the interpreter is a family member or other untrained person, reports a study in the October issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Researchers have discovered details of the abnormal molecular signals and biological events that drive a high-risk form of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma. The findings may lead to more effective targeted treatments.

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Mystical experiences are frequently labeled as indescribable or ineffable. However, new research suggests that when prompted, people who have had a mystical, spiritual or religious experience can describe the event.

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Researchers have identified, for the first time, an association between two microbial signatures and triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the disease.

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Children with the genetic disorder tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) often need epilepsy surgery for severe, uncontrollable seizures. A new study finds that seizure control is improved for patients undergoing more extensive surgery, reports the October issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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For most, pregnancy is a joyful time of anticipation of the arrival of a child. Unfortunately for some, the arrival is of painful loss.

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Although the public and private sectors are currently engaged in an unprecedented array of efforts to improve end-of-life care, too many of these programs are not evidence-based, according to a scholar from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Scott Halpern, MD, PhD, associate professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Medical Ethics and Health Policy, says that despite recent federal decisions that signal a renewed interest in improving end-of-life care, investigators and research sponsors must be more involved to “identify, develop and rigorously test interventions so they can offer guidance” on implementing programs that work among the terminally ill.

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A surprising, paradoxical relationship between a tumor suppressor molecule and an oncogene may be the key to explaining and working around how breast cancer tumor cells become desensitized to a common cancer drug.

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An international team has mined non-protein-coding RNA sequences to identify segments whose expression is linked to 13 different types of cancer.

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Different treatments for Crohn's disease in children affects their gut microbes in distinct ways, which has implications for future development of microbial-targeted therapies for these patients.

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PHILADELPHIA – Epilepsy affects more than 65 million people worldwide. One-third of these patients have seizures that are not controlled by medications. In addition, one-third have brain lesions, the hallmark of the disease, which cannot be located by conventional imaging methods. Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have piloted a new method using advanced noninvasive neuroimaging to recognize the neurotransmitter glutamate, thought to be the culprit in the most common form of medication-resistant epilepsy. Their work is published today in Science Translational Medicine.

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SmartTots today released an updated consensus statement that emphasizes a need for more research into the safety of anesthetics and sedatives administered to infants and young children under the age of 4. The statement was endorsed by 19 leading U.S. and global health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia.

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The Sbarro Health Research Organization, Inc. (SHRO), in collaboration with the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), Temple University’s College of Science and Technology and the Giovan Giacomo Giordano Foundation, will organize the Medical Conference “Health and Research: Beyond the Eyes” that will be held in Exhibition Hall C of the Washington Marriot Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC on Saturday, October 17th, 2015 at 9:00 am.

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Language used in everyday social media posts may have a strong connection to an individual’s health. In the first study of its kind, the new results suggest that not only are many adult Facebook and Twitter users willing to share their social media data and medical data for research purposes, but that by building a language databank, it may be possible to link social media content to health outcomes.

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The Association of American Cancer Institutes will present the AACI Distinguished Scientist Award to Lewis Cantley, PhD, on October 26, during the 2015 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting, in Washington, DC.

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New studies from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania clarify how two crucial features of audition are managed by the brain.

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New research from Penn Medicine infection control specialists found that ultraviolet (UV) robots helped reduce the rates transmission of the common bacterial infection known as Clostridium difficile among cancer inpatients – mostly blood cancer patients, a group more vulnerable to hospital-acquired infections – by 25 percent. The interventions also saved about $150,000 in annual direct medical costs.

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Materials scientists have just discovered a way to give the workhorse transistor a big boost, using a new technique to incorporate vanadium oxide, one of a family of materials called functional oxides, into the device.

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Scientists have more precisely calculated heritability--the influence of underlying genes--in 9 autoimmune diseases that begin in childhood. The research may strengthen risk assessment for associated autoimmune disorders.

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Hershey bars, Snickers and Reese’s may be trick-or-treat night staples, but for children who have food allergies, these type of treats can be dangerous.

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Sezary syndrome, an aggressive leukemia of mature T cells, is more complicated at a molecular level than ever suspected. The team’s results uncover a previously unknown, complex genomic landscape of this cancer, which can be used to design new personalized drug regimens.

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Press Conference and Media Panel: NCCN Guidelines with NCCN Evidence Blocks: A View of the Patient-Empowered Cancer Conversation

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Disabling a cancer-causing pathway and administering an immune-molecule-based mop-up therapy eradicated a specific type of breast tumor in mice

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When it comes to treating blood cancers like leukemia and lymphomas, new research shows that a half-matched donor bone marrow transplant may be just as good as a full match, in the first apples to apples type comparison of its kind.

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A potential treatment for a serious clotting condition that can strike patients who receive heparin to treat or prevent blood clots may lie within reach by elucidating the structure of the protein complex at its root.