Archives

George Demiris, PhD, FACMI, has been named the Mary Alice Bennett University Professor. He cites Dr. Bennett’s pioneering policy of respectful care for patients as a great inspiration. Read more.

“Pregnant women CAN drink coffee – it could even slash risk of disease for mum and baby,” proclaimed a headline in the English paper The Sun about a recent study […]

Jeffrey Morris, PhD, commented on how expanded reporting requirements and intense scrutiny of the hundreds of millions administered COVID-19 vaccine doses have driven record-high reporting of potential side effects to […]

Epidemiology PhD candidate Katherine Strelau reached a new understanding when she tested positive for Covid-19: We have entered a new era of the pandemic, she wrote in an opinion piece. […]

“We may have underestimated our ability to pivot and change rapidly,” Peter Merkel, M D, MPH, comments about the many ways Covid-19 has reshaped the way we conduct clinical trials ” […]

Low to moderate caffeine intake during pregnancy may lower gestational diabetes risk without increasing risks for preeclampsia or hypertension, a Penn Medicine study finds, offering reassurance to pregnant coffee drinkers.

Hospitals in Philly are facing a bad blood shortage. During a pandemic, people still get into accidents and get cancer that requires transfusions, says Meenakshi Bewtra, MD, PhD, MPH.  Read […]

Many human diseases start out with single cells, which establish the problem by spreading out. Spatial transcriptomics, a groundbreaking method, allows scientists to take advantage of that activity, measuring all […]

It’s frustrating when vaccine opponents use the government’s VAERS database to stoke false concerns about safety, says Susan Ellenberg, PhD, “especially when they interfere in such major ways with critical […]

A new study showed that older Israelis who received a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine are much less likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 or to develop severe COVID-19 […]

Some evidence that the protection of the Covid19 vaccine wanes comes from observational studies ” and so we must view our inferences critically, says Jeffrey Morris, PhD. In everyday life, […]

Given rising rates of obesity in the U.S. and the many associated health problems, researchers have tested various strategies for weight loss. Both financial incentives and environmental changes — such […]

The experience of a Covid-19 breakthrough infection can range “from being asymptomatic to feeling pretty lousy, but typically it’s a shorter course than what we’re seeing for COVID without the […]

Measuring blood pressure is hard, and getting it right is critical. Can we do it with a smartwatch? That technology is “not ready for primetime yet,” says Jordana Cohen, MD, […]

An analysis by Jeffrey Morris, PhD, showed how Israel’s Covid19 data were easily misinterpreted: the elderly are both most vaccinated and most at risk for severe illness. The findings were […]

Covid-19 vaccines work, but a statistical illusion makes some people think they don’t. This perspective piece prominently cites work by Jeffrey Morris, PhD.   Read the perspective in the Washington Post

To slow spread of the Covid-19 delta variant, Philadelphia needs an even greater, on-the-ground push for more vaccination, comments Michael Levy, PhD: “This thing is just about momentum.” Read the […]

Michael Z. Levy, PhD, warned that the looming return of evictions comes at a time when COVID-19 vaccination rates in the U.S. have plateaued and while the highly transmissible Delta […]

Can a music festival be safe during the Covid-19 pandemic? It’s not so much about attendees’ personal risk, comments Michael Levy, PhD. It’s about what happens when they bring the […]

Although mammography reduces breast cancer mortality by 15 to 20 percent, the diagnosis in many cases — approximately 15 percent of all breast cancers — occurs after a patient has […]

M. Kit Delgado, MD, MS, commented on evidence-based tips to help teens reduce distraction when driving. Read the article in the Wall Street Journal

While many studies have looked at how to limit patients to a short course of opioids, few have examined the other side of the issue: Are there some patients for […]

A good clinician consultant should be able to explain why they arrived at a particular recommendation, and explainable artificial intelligence should also be possible, writes Jason Moore, PhD ”   […]

Pennsylvania isn’t tracking all Covid-19 cases in vaccinated residents, but other states’ data show a clear, relevant trend, says Jeffrey Morris, PhD: “The vaccines are really working, and the unvaccinated […]

To maintain public safety and trust in vaccines, we need an agile, internationally harmonized surveillance system, argue Vincent Lo Re III, MD, MSCE, and colleagues. Read the commentary in BMJ […]

Michael Z. Levy, PhD, commented on the potential public health consequences of a federal judge’s ruling (later staid, temporarily, by the US Justice Deptl) to end the CDC’s national eviction […]

Where vaccination rates are highest, we see fewer Covid-19 cases. But if virus activity increases in winter, areas with low vaccination rates will be at higher risk, commented Jing Huang, […]

As Pennsylvania nears a Covid-19 vaccination benchmark, Jeffrey Morris, PhD, says county-level variations won’t be a big problem: While we may see some local brush fires, we won’t have a […]

Some people do misinterpret events reported in the public Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), says Susan Ellenberg, PhD. “But without public access, I think it’s worse. Because then you […]

Susan Ellenberg, PhD, sorted out recent news about COVID-19 vaccines, and how the public can evaluate various facts. Listen to the Stats + Stories podcast

“That first month was really hard,” commented Alisa Stephens-Shields, PhD, about the COVID-19 lockdown. Her infant daughter’s day care was closed, and her five-year-old was at home, not at school. […]

The CDC’s order prohibiting evictions in fall ” winter 2020 likely prevented thousands of COVID-19 infections per million metropolitan residents, showed a study co-led by Michael Z. Levy, PhD. Dr. […]

It will be hard to say when the COVID-19 pandemic is “over” in the United States, says Michael Z. Levy, PhD. “These things don’t necessarily end cleanly,” he said in […]

A new study found that living in a majority-Black neighborhood in Philadelphia is linked to increased maternal health issues. Mary Regina Boland, MA, MPhil, PhD, commented. Read the coverage on […]

Susan Ellenberg, PhD, discussed the risks of blood clots connected with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and weighed whether it was necessary to suspend use. Hear the coverage on the BBC

Susan Ellenberg, PhD, said some reports of post-vaccination symptoms may actually be unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine. “Vaccines protect against one thing: the infection or the infection plus disease,” she […]

“When you have the whole world working on something at the same time “the evidence evolves fast,” Meghan Brooks Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM, commented about COVID-19 care. “Every time I […]

“People can make the argument: I volunteered to be in the trial”¦I should be able to get the vaccine right away even if I’m young and healthy,” Susan Ellenberg, PhD, […]

Jason Moore, PhD, shares his understanding of his field: Data science, at its heart, is about solving a problem with whatever tools you have at your disposal. Read the article […]

The parallels between AIDS and Covid-19 are striking, comments Robert Gross, MD, MSCE. Both are spread asymptomatically, and shaming over whether one does or doesn’t wear a mask is not […]

Typically underserved groups are underrepresented in therapeutic clinical trials” so the findings may be less applicable for them. Sean Hennessy, PharmD, PhD, describes how experimental treatment has benefited his wife […]

Artificial intelligence and machine learning can help us fight COVID-19, Jason Moore, PhD, told The Washington Post. But if you study only populations that are primarily Caucasian, that may not […]

Across the United States, black Americans are dying from COVID-19 at disproportionately higher rates than their white counterparts. If the data from other large cities hold true in Philadelphia ” […]

We believe that as many as one million Americans will need the support of ventilators ” five times the number we have, writes critical care physician Meghan Brooks Lane-Fall, MD, […]

The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Statistical Association” the world’s largest community of statisticians” has honored  Hongzhe Li, PhD, with its Award for Reseach Excellence. Read more about Dr. Li.

With the proliferation of multi-site neuroimaging studies, there is a greater need for handling non-biological variance introduced by differences in MRI scanners and acquisition protocols. Such unwanted sources of variation, […]

The award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute enables Rebecca Hubbard (pictured) and colleagues Yong Chen and Jinbo Chen, all CCEB senior scholars, to sketch a patient’s true profile. New […]