In the Media

Penn undergraduates assist Beth Leong Pineles, MD, PhD with a study of activity restriction during pregnancy with the goal of “deimplementation” in the Penn Medicine system and ultimately nationwide.

In a recent Undark feature, Dr. M. Kit Delgado, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, discusses how behavioral science and nudge theory are transforming health care decision-making.

Can cash incentives make roads safer? A Penn Medicine study led by Dr. M. Kit Delgado reveals how rewards and feedback can significantly cut down handheld phone use while driving.

The latest cancer statistics report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) paints a complex picture of our struggle against the disease. While cancer mortality rates are declining, a worrying trend […]

Joel Gelfand, MD, the James J. Leyden, M.D. Endowed Professor in Clinical Investigation of Dermatology and Epidemiology, and colleagues at Penn found that adults and children with atopic dermatitis (AD) […]

Elizabeth Nesoff, PhD, MPH discusses her recently published study in the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI) blog investigating neighborhood features that were correlated with fatal opioid overdoses among the […]

Anne Marie McCarthy, PhD was featured on the Real Pink Podcast where she discussed the development of new ways to identify people with high risk of aggressive breast cancer.  Understanding your breask cancer risk

Penn Medicine has opened a Center for Living Donation, bringing under one roof its services for patients who receive kidney, liver, and uterus transplants with organs donated by living people. […]

Advanced spatial transcriptomics techniques are advancing our understanding of cancer and other diseases at the cellular level: “You can zoom in, you can look at the tissue-specific features, how many […]

In a review of current facts about the antiviral drug Paxlovid, Susan Ellenberg, PhD, comments on Pfizer’s unusual release of interim results during an ongoing clinical trial. Read the article […]

For medical researchers who aim to understand the patient experience, “collecting abundant social-media data is cost-effective, does not involve burdening participants, and is available in real time,” Graciela Gonzalez Hernandez, […]

If Philadelphia’s masking policy aims to prevent spread of Covid-19, emphasizing hospitalization numbers, a lagging indicator, over case numbers isn’t wise, comments Michael Levy, PhD. “It’s like instead of using […]

Amid the omicron surge, more patients are coming into the hospital for other reasons but testing positive for Covid-19 once they arrive. M. Kit Delgado, MD, MS, says that many […]

A diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis finally explained Christi Taylor-Gentry’s throbbing joint pain. But as recently as 2006, when Alexis Ogdie-Beatty, MD, MSCE, became a doctor, she was taught that the […]

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 […]

“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 ” […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Susan Ellenberg, PhD, said that by the time most participants were vaccinated, there was less COVID-19 going around ” possibly making the vaccines seem a bit more effective than they […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]