Focus: Hidden - Pennsylvania

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As many as 16.5 million adults in America suffer from a skin disease known as atopic dermatitis, an inflammatory disease that results in red, itchy skin. The estimate comes from a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, which also projected 6.6 million of these adults have disease that would be classified as moderate to severe, leading to a decrease in quality of life.

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PHILADELPHIA — A $17.5 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) will propel Penn Medicine research efforts to prevent Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Harold I. Feldman, MD, MSCE, chair of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics and director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and J.

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Penn Medicine and Wharton are joining forces to launch an executive health care leadership program that will offer participants a strategic toolkit to cement their ability to lead at a time when science, technology, and economics are reshaping the practice of medicine.

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When it comes to biology, fiction often predates reality, sometimes by centuries. Since the first paper describing a brain organoid (a miniature, simplified version of a human organ) published in 2013, many new technologies – no longer the stuff of Gothic novels – have continued biomedical science down the path of innovation.

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Jefferson scientists identify key interaction controlling calcium’s access to the cell’s powerhouse.

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Fitness trackers, smart watches, and other wearable technology are the number one fitness trend for 2019, according to an annual survey of health and fitness professionals published in the November issue of ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal®, an official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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As researchers learn that more health conditions have genetic links, knowing your personal and family health history becomes more important than ever.

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Patrick McDaniel, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Penn State College of Engineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Frontier grant to establish and lead the Center for Trustworthy Machine Learning.

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Wolters Kluwer, Health announced today that the Chief Nurse of Health Learning, Research and Practice, Anne Dabrow Woods, will explore the critical role nurses play in addressing the global challenge of care variability and how it impacts patient outcomes at the 2018 ANCC National Magnet Conference. The thought leadership educational vendor session, “Improving Healthcare Outcomes—The Business of Caring for People,” outlines three effective ways healthcare practitioners can access information to put clinical evidence into practice. The presentation takes place on October 24, 2018 at 1 p.m.

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Careful sample preparation, electron tomography and quantitative analysis of 3D models provides unique insights into the inner structure of reverse osmosis membranes widely used for salt water desalination wastewater recycling and home use, according to a team of chemical engineers.

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The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) has established a national initiative to advance the use of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies (CAR T). Joseph McGuirk, DO, division director of the Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics program at The University of Kansas Cancer Center, is leading the effort.

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People who were exposed to the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center (WTC) have elevated rates of alcohol- or drug-related death, reports a study in the October Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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Why are some people’s nightmares other people’s joyrides?

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Research scientists find that a gene involved in the immune system called IDO2 plays a significant role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common type of pancreatic cancer. The discovery may help physicians provide better treatment options for patients.

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Community health workers—trusted laypeople from local communities who help high-risk patients to address social issues like food and housing insecurity—can help reduce hospital stays by 65 percent and double the rate of patient satisfaction with primary care, according to new study results published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

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Wolters Kluwer, Health announced today the launch of an online solution that allows its medical society partners to expand beyond traditional clinical content by providing members with streamlined access to comprehensive digital libraries encompassing journals, books, videos and other multimedia resources curated by specialty. The Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) became the first to offer the online resource center with the unveiling of OTA Online Trauma Access, which provides members with access to a wealth of orthopaedic trauma information and education.

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The National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Oncology Research Program received a grant to investigate effectiveness of trifluridine and tipiracil for treatment of people with colorectal, gastric, and other cancers

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new program project grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will fund research by the Translational Center of Excellence for Lung Cancer Immunology at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania to improve the effectiveness of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy at fighting solid tumors.

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Researchers have discovered a way to grow human stem cells destined to become mature sperm in an effort to provide fertility options later in life to males who are diagnosed with cancer and undergo chemotherapy and radiation as children.

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Progression free survival in triple-negative breast cancer increased when immunotherapy-chemotherapy treatment combination is used as the first treatment option.

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As part of its Homecoming tradition, Temple attempts to earn Guinness World Records titles while simultaneously serving the community. This year, Temple snagged the title for most backpacks stuffed with school supplies in one hour.

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Viral vectors used to deliver gene therapies undergo spontaneous changes during manufacturing which affects their structure and function. As gene therapy approaches become more common for treating disease, managing consistency of the molecular makeup of the virus particles that deliver genes is a key concern in manufacturing on a larger scale.

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Overactive bladder (OAB) is a common form of urinary incontinence that is widely treated with pelvic floor muscle (PFM) training. A new laboratory study lends insights into how PFM training works: by reducing contractions of the detrusor muscle of the bladder, reports 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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E-cigarette brand JUUL’s Twitter handle is attracting adolescents to the point that at least a quarter of its followers appear to be under age 18. Many of these minors – to whom it is illegal to sell nicotine-delivery products – are retweeting JUUL’s messages, amplifying its advertisements.

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The Air Force Office of Scientific Research has awarded two Penn State College of Engineering faculty members funding totaling more than $823,000 for a three-year program to develop and use a facility to study the use of beamed microwave energy to launch space vehicles off the surface of Earth.

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For premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), skin-to-skin contact with parents influences levels of hormones related to mother-infant attachment (oxytocin) and stress (cortisol) – and may increase parents' level of engagement with their infants, reports a study in Advances in Neonatal Care, official journal of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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Saint Joseph’s University announced the appointment of Angus Murray, a seasoned nonprofit leader with deep experience in supporting children and young adults with autism and disabilities, as executive director of the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support, effective November 5.

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Hundreds of thousands of Americans get knee or hip replacements each year, and the procedures are becoming more common than ever. Luckily, the recovery from a total joint replacement, or arthroplasty, is improving.

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Contrary to the advice most cancer patients receive when they go through radiation treatment, topical skin treatments, unless applied very heavily, do not increase the radiation dose to the skin and can be used in moderation before daily radiation treatments.

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A large international research team has discovered a new genetic cause for a severe, difficult-to-treat childhood epilepsy syndrome. Spontaneous mutations in one gene disrupt the flow of calcium in brain cells, resulting in epileptic overactivity.

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A new study reveals that children with developmental delays, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are up to 50 percent more likely to be overweight or obese compared with the general population.

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Scientists who performed the largest-ever genetic study of a puzzling type of adult-onset diabetes have uncovered new connections to the two major types of diabetes, offering intriguing insights into more accurate diagnosis and better treatment.

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In the study, the researchers measured unhappiness by the conditional probability of committing suicide within groups that are facing a higher unemployment rate and those that are not. Using individual-level US data from 1989 to 2004, their findings indicate that individuals have lower rates of suicide or are ‘happy’ when they live in a state that has lower unemployment rate.

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An international working group has proposed a new set of terms to better describe and define cognitive changes related to surgery and anesthesia in older adults. The new consensus document has been simultaneously published by Anesthesia & Analgesia and five other international specialty journals.

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Jennifer W. Pegher, MA, is the new executive director of the Association of American Cancer Institutes. She is the second executive director in AACI's 19-year history, succeeding founding executive director Barbara Duffy Stewart, who retired earlier this month.

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Measuring the percentage of weight regained following the maximum amount of weight lost after bariatric surgery can help predict a patient’s risk of several serious health problems. The study also revealed that the rate of weight regained was highest in the first year following maximum weight loss.

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Stiffness of the aorta – more so than blood pressure or subclinical brain disease – is a key risk factor for dementia. Since aortic stiffness can be reduced by medication and healthy lifestyle changes, these results suggest that people can still lower their dementia risk well into old age.

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For some healthcare providers – especially those serving racial/ethnic minority and low-income patients – the costs of delivering a new Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP) may be much higher than the expected reimbursement, reports a study in the November issue of Medical Care. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

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Research from the Penn Medicine Center for Digital Health and the World Well-Being Project marries social media data with medical-outcomes data for the first time.

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Wistar researchers have characterized the function of neutrophils, a type of white blood cells, during early stages of tumor progression, showing that they migrate from the bone marrow to distant sites and facilitate tumor cell seeding and establishment of metastasis.

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NCCN publishes updated patient and clinical guidelines for breast cancer in conjunction with free webinars. New NCCN Harmonized Guidelines for the Caribbean released for breast cancer and other types. Global Summit on International Breast Health and Cancer Control begins.

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People who undergo Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, a common type of bariatric surgery, are at an increased risk for alcohol-related problems. However, common screening tools that help physicians identify patients at high risk for alcohol use disorder fail to work well in this population.

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As parents of any 8-year-old will tell you, fairness matters to kids. However, new research from investigators at Saint Joseph’s University, shows that perceived fairness is impacted by gender norms. The results were published online in Social Development, a Wiley Journal.

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Sbarro Health Research Organization, on the occasion of the medical conference “The impact of environment and healthy lifestyles in human health,” honoured Nathalie Dompé, CEO Dompé Holdings, with a special Award for Societal Impact in Business & Biotechnology, for her work and effort in promoting social responsibility.

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Despite thousands of surgeries taking place each day in the U.S., researchers still don’t know which areas of the brain are responsible for transitioning into unconsciousness and back. Ongoing research at Penn Medicine is looking to find the specific areas of the brain affected by anesthetics and how brains can go “offline” and subsequently come back “online” during a transition on and off anesthesia.

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Justin Schwartz, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering, Penn State, and the Penn State College of Engineering remain fully committed to achieving gender equity among the undergraduate student population within six years.

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In one of the largest clinical studies to ever examine the impact of using a blood test to detect treatable mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania found that they could identify significantly more mutations through liquid biopsy instead of a solid tissue biopsy alone. The findings also show that patients whose actionable mutations were detected by the blood based liquid biopsy responded favorably to targeted therapies.

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The inaugural Magee Prize was awarded to Pitt's Dr. Yaacov Barak to research in how placental defects may lead to congenital heart defects.

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Pediatric researchers have discovered common gene variants associated with migraines in African-American children. The research adds to knowledge of genetic influences on childhood migraine and may lead to future precision medicine treatments for African-American children with these intense headaches.

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A new Lassa fever and rabies vaccine shows lasting immunity and suggests a new way to test for protection.