Archives

A new study by Dr. Ricardo Castillo identifies stark rabies inequities in Arequipa driven by neighborhood socioeconomic status.

Kenneth M. Lee, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics whose work centers on palliative care and statistical methods for cluster-randomized trials. In this Q&A, he reflects on the motivations behind his research and his experience within the DBEI community.

A new study by Dr. Ricardo Castillo identifies stark rabies inequities in Arequipa driven by neighborhood socioeconomic status.

Penn researchers have received NIH/NIBIB funding to develop robust and interpretable multi-modal AI models that integrate genomics, imaging, and electronic health data to advance cancer and Alzheimer’s disease research.

Congratulations to Drs. Jason D. Christie and James P. Guevara on their election as Fellows of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, recognizing their impactful contributions to medicine and public health.

Penn researchers have received NIH/NIBIB funding to develop robust and interpretable multi-modal AI models that integrate genomics, imaging, and electronic health data to advance cancer and Alzheimer’s disease research.

Kwangmoon Park, PhD, is a researcher in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics whose work focuses on gene regulation using large-scale single-cell data. In this Q&A, he shares insights into his research and his experience in the DBEI community.

A new method helps prevent “preference collapse” in AI training, offering a fairer, more balanced approach to aligning large language models.

Before joining DBEI as an Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Joshua F. Baker, MD, MSCE, completed his MSCE at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Hongzhe Li’s team developed RCANE, an AI tool that predicts cancer copy-number aberrations from RNA-seq data, offering a faster, lower-cost alternative to DNA sequencing.

Natalia Irvine, MPH, is a Research Project Manager for the Center for Health Innovations in Reproductive and Perinatal Population Research (CHIRP). Her work supports studies focused on advancing reproductive and perinatal health. In this Q&A, she shares her experience joining the DBEI community.

Before joining Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as a Director of Medical Affairs Biostatistics, Shaun Bender, MS, PhD, completed his PhD in Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Penn researchers have developed an innovative approach for detecting AI-generated text that remains accurate even after human edits.

Jagadeesh Puvvula, PharmD, PhD, MPH, is a trainee in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, whose work explores how early-life environmental exposures impact human health. In this Q&A, he shares insights into his research, the real-world relevance of environmental health studies, and the value he finds in mentorship and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Nandita Mitra, PhD, was honored with two 2025 Penn Medicine Awards of Excellence for her outstanding contributions to research and education.

Dr. Qi Long and collaborators have received NIH/NIBIB funding to advance neurosymbolic AI for smarter, more trustworthy healthcare.

A new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases shows that COVID-19 reinfection in children significantly increases the risk of long COVID and other serious health complications.

DBEI Chair Enrique Schisterman, PhD, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the most prestigious honors in health and medicine.

Michael Harhay, PhD, MPH, leads the newly launched Center for Clinical Trials Innovation, a hub dedicated to advancing clinical trial methods and improving research outcomes worldwide.

A new study by Dr. Hongzhe Li and AMCS PhD student Haoshu Xu introduces a machine learning framework that enables large-scale analysis of single-cell data, offering new insights into how gene co-expression networks shift with age.

Penn faculty Dr. Yong Chen and Dr. David Wolk have received a landmark NIH U24 award to lead national efforts to improve data quality and advance Alzheimer’s research.

Dr. Nandita Mitra has been elected President-Elect of ENAR, a leading professional society for biostatistics and quantitative research.

We're excited to share that Li Shen, PhD, has agreed to serve as Interim Director of the Division of Informatics.

DBEI proudly welcomes Sunni Mumford, PhD, as the new Director of the Division of Epidemiology.

Penn researchers developed a highly accurate model to predict who is most at risk of overdose from stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine—offering a promising tool to guide early intervention and prevention efforts.

Dr. Anne Marie McCarthy has co-authored a new article examining how body mass index (BMI) and breast density interact to influence breast cancer risk among Black and White women.

Laura Ellen Ashcraft, PhD, MSW, introduces GUIDE—a new tool that turns complex implementation science theory into practical steps for early-career researchers.

LauraEllen Ashcraft and collaborators outline a seven-step framework in BMJ Open Quality to strengthen evaluation planning and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Dr. Mingyao Li co-authored a study demonstrating iSCALE, a method that maps large human tissues at molecular and spatial resolution, uncovering disease features previously invisible.

Jordana Cohen, MD, MSCE, contributed to the 2025 AHA/ACC Hypertension Guideline–the first national update since 2017–introducing major changes in risk assessment, screening, and treatment. Her work was featured in an NPR interview highlighting these advances.

Drs. Nadir Yehya and Michael Harhay received a 5-year R01 grant from NICHD to lead the PARMA trial, a study advancing treatment strategies for pediatric ARDS.

Congratulations to Dr. Todd Miano, recipient of the American College of Epidemiology’s 2025 Early Career Epidemiologist Award. This honor recognizes his outstanding contributions to advancing drug safety research and shaping the future of acute care pharmacoepidemiology.

Dr. Samantha Piekos’ study shows how placental biology varies across pregnancy complications, highlighting the power of a systems biology approach to distinguish complex pregnancy syndromes.

Dr. Andrea Schneider’s study finds that vascular risks, particularly diabetes, are linked to slower cognitive recovery after traumatic brain injury.

Dr. Mary Putt and her team contributed to new research exploring how sleep drive impacts seizure severity and identifies a potential way to reduce them.

Join us in congratulating Dr. Nandita Mitra on her appointment to Penn’s Academic Planning and Budget Committee, where she will help guide the University’s academic and financial planning.

Ricardo Castillo’s new study identifies critical barriers to mass dog rabies vaccination campaigns and proposes strategies to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies by 2030.

Congratulations to Dr. Adam Naj, honored with the Publication of the Year Award for a major study on PSP genetics published in Nature Communications.

Dr. Danielle Mowery’s new study explores how patients engage with SMS systems after hospital discharge and what those patterns reveal about future care needs.

Dr. Jeffrey Morris was featured in The Atlantic and New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, where he discussed major flaws in widely cited vaccine studies and the risks of bias in study design.

Sarah Schrauben, MD, MSCE, led a 7-year study showing how urine biomarkers may help noninvasively track kidney disease in diabetic patients.

LauraEllen Ashcraft, PhD, MSW, is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology whose research focuses on implementation science, equity, and translating evidence into sustainable practices in real-world health care settings.

Julia DiTosto, MS, is a PhD student in Epidemiology whose research explores how gynecologic conditions like fibroids and PCOS may impact long-term heart health. Using real-world data and causal inference methods, she aims to generate insights that improve care for reproductive-age populations.

A new study co-authored by Dr. Jordana Cohen explores the risks of white coat hypertension and emphasizes the importance of out-of-office blood pressure monitoring for accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Carmen Guerra, MD, MSCE, is launching a mobile mammography program on July 13 to expand access to mammography for communities in and around Philadelphia.

Congratulations to Dr. Ellie Caniglia on receiving the Brian MacMahon Early Career Epidemiologist Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to epidemiology.

Dr. Alexis Ogdie co-authored a study published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases that explores distinct patient groups and treatment responses in psoriatic arthritis.

A new study in Arthritis Care & Research, co-authored by Dr. Alexis Ogdie, explores patient-defined treatment goals in psoriatic arthritis.

Dr. Alexis Ogdie joins Medscape’s InDiscussion podcast to talk about digital tools for psoriatic disease, including the development of the Psorcast app and the future of technology in rheumatology care.

Congratulations to Dr. Joel M. Gelfand on being honored with a gala celebrating his groundbreaking contributions to dermatology, epidemiology, and patient-centered research.

Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH, is the George A. Weiss University Professor with joint appointments in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and School of Nursing. Her work focuses on translating theory into practice to address critical public health issues like physical activity, obesity, and health equity.

Congratulations to Dr. Alisa Stephens Shields on her recent JAMA Network Open publication evaluating the impact of COVID-19 self-test kit distribution in underserved communities.

Before joining Brown University as an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Arman Oganisian, PhD, completed his PhD in Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Congratulations to Basam Alasaly, from Penn Medicine’s AI4AI Lab, for presenting at the AMIA 2025 Clinical Informatics Conference.

Jordana B. Cohen, MD, MSCE is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, a Senior Scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB), and a Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.

Congratulations to Dr. Mary E. Putt on her recent publication in Physician’s Weekly exploring how brain activity following electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) could hold new clues for improving treatment of severe, treatment-resistant depression.

Congratulations to Dr. Kevin B. Johnson on his publication in The Scientist highlighting the development and global impact of REDCap as a vital tool for clinical research data management.

Congratulations to Dr. Nandita Mitra on her election as President of the Society for Causal Inference. This leadership role recognizes her longstanding contributions to the field and her commitment to advancing research and collaboration in causal inference.

Congratulations to Dr. Anne Marie McCarthy on her recent publication in Radiology, highlighting how advanced imaging techniques can uncover subtle breast tissue patterns linked to cancer risk.

Congratulations to Dr. Rui Xiao on her Nature publication offering new guidelines to support rigorous and reproducible research using zebrafish, a key model in biomedical science.

Read about Dr. Mingyao Li's recent publication in Nature, which maps early human brain development using spatial transcriptomics. The study reveals that cortical layers and areas are specified earlier than previously thought, offering new insight into how the brain takes shape.

Penn researchers have published new findings in AIDS showing that HIV status may influence the risk of infection following abortion. The study focuses on patients in Botswana and underscores the importance of improving reproductive health care and equity for people with HIV.

Read about Dr. Sean Hennessy's recent publication in the American Journal of Epidemiology, which uses a new statistical method to better understand the real-world effects of testosterone therapy. The study offers valuable insights into balancing its potential benefits and risks in clinical care.

Read about Dr. Joshua Baker's invited review explaining the connection between rheumatoid arthritis and metabolism, and how this link affects patient care amid new obesity treatments and improvements in arthritis management.

Read about Dr. Jordana Cohen's editorial in Annals of Internal Medicine, where she highlights important considerations around diagnostic testing for primary aldosteronism and its impact on patient care.

Qi Long, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics—a prestigious honor awarded for his impactful work in advancing data science and applying statistics to improve biomedical research.

Alexis Ogdie, MD, MSCE, selected Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Fellow.

Dr. Yong Chen has been awarded $8 million to lead a national effort using AI to improve how mental health conditions are diagnosed and treated—part of a larger $150 million initiative to advance mental health research.

A new study led by James Lewis, MD, MSCE, finds that racial and ethnic gaps in IBD care are closely tied to socioeconomic factors—highlighting the need for more equitable access to treatment and specialist care.

Sleep issues are common in older adults–but vision problems may be part of the cause. A new study by Alan Y. Huang, Joshua R. Ehrlich, and Ali G. Hamedani finds that those with visual impairments are more likely to use sleep medications, highlighting a connection between eye health and sleep quality.

Flawed study designs in nutrition research may be leading to misleading advice about healthy eating. DBEI’s Mary E. Putt, ScD, and co-authors warn that many popular dietary trials are too short and poorly structured to give reliable results-putting future nutrition guidelines at risk.

Jinbo Chen, PhD elected 2024 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowof this post here.

Nandita Mitra, PhD has been awarded the Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Dr. Eric Tchetgen Tchetgen has been awarded the inaugural David Cox Medal for Statistics, which honors mid-career researchers for outstanding contributions to the field.

Penn researchers, including Drs. Halpern and Harhay, found that electronic nudges improved end-of-life care discussions in ICUs, increasing hospice discharges and comfort-care orders without shortening hospital stays.

Penn Medicine researchers, including M. Kit Delgado, MD, MS, found that small financial incentives using connected car data significantly increased seatbelt use—even after rewards ended—offering a low-cost, scalable strategy to improve driver safety nationwide.

Elizabeth Diemer, PhD, brings expertise in causal inference and mental health epidemiology to her new role as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology within the department.

The 2025 DBEI Research Day highlighted groundbreaking advancements in precision health and artificial intelligence. Attendees engaged in insightful discussions, showcasing innovative research and fostering collaboration to advance health, science, and education.

Drs. Christie, Halpern, and Harhay are to be honored by the American Thoracic Society (ATS) for excellence in research, humanism, and mentorship. Awards will be presented at the 2025 ATS International Conference in San Francisco (May 18-21, 2025).

Kevin B. Johnson, MD, MS, and Penn Medicine researchers conducted a study demonstrating how an AI-powered scribe technology reduces clinician workload, enhances patient interactions, and decreases after-hours documentation, improving efficiency and easing physician burnout.

Rising temperatures pose serious risks for people with type 2 diabetes, increasing the likelihood of heat exhaustion, blood sugar fluctuations, and cardiac issues. Charles Leonard, PharmD, MSCE, FISPE addresses these health threats with Yale Climate Connections.

A new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report, involving DBEI experts Brian Strom, MD, MPH and John Farrar, MD, PhD, finds that co-prescribing opioids and benzodiazepines to veterans increases the risk of death, highlighting critical implications for veteran health care.

Muscio Kit Delgado, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology, has been elected to the ASCI. His research blends behavioral and data science with insights gleaned from practicing emergency medicine in an urban trauma center to help promote smarter health choices and policy.

Kevin B. Johnson, and Li Shen—faculty in the Division of Informatics—were recognized by the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) at the AMIA 2024 Annual Symposium.

In a new study, Yong Chen, PhD and colleagues at Penn Medicine, used AI and latent transfer learning to analyze long-COVID data, identifying four patient sub-populations with distinct care needs, improving hospital resource allocation and tailoring treatment for diverse patient populations.

Mingyao Li, PhD and her Penn Medicine colleagues developed an AI-powered tool called MISO (Multi-modal Spatial Omics) that can detect cell-level characteristics of cancer by looking at data from extremely small pieces of tissue—some as small as the width of five human hairs.

Amid rising polarization and misinformation, Jeffrey Morris, PhD, of Penn Medicine tackles vaccine skepticism with evidence-based insights. In an interview with Undark, he advocates respectful dialogue that considers social and political dynamics.

The University of Pennsylvania Prevention Research Center has received a $6.5 million CDC grant to advance community-based prevention research, focusing on improving shared decision-making for older cancer patients. This five-year project will study interventions tailored to patients’ needs, enhancing outcomes in Philadelphia and beyond.

In Annals of Internal Medicine, Nicholas Seewald, PhD, introduces a framework for target trial emulation, enabling researchers to evaluate health policies with the rigor of clinical trials in nonexperimental studies.

Contact Blockley Hall (Room 114)423 Guardian DrivePhiladelphia, PA 19104 Office: 215-898-4691 glaffert@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Contact Blockley Hall (Room 818)423 Guardian DrivePhiladelphia, PA 19104 mark.chanel@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Penn and CHOP researchers receive a $50 million NIH grant to study how environmental exposures impact pregnancy and child health, aiming to reduce health disparities and improve maternal-child outcomes.

Contact Blockley Hall (Room 922)423 Guardian DrivePhiladelphia, PA 19104 Office: 215-746-8557 sabarile@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Contact Blockley Hall (Room 633)423 Guardian DrivePhiladelphia, PA 19104 Office: 215-573-4922Fax: 215-573-4865 vallejo@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Contact Blockley Hall (Room 633)423 Guardian DrivePhiladelphia, PA 19104 Office: 215-573-7393 mfox@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Joseph Romano, PhD, MPhil, MA is an Assistant Professor of Informatics in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Senior Fellow in the Institute for Biomedical Informatics (IBI) and an investigator in the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET).

Contact Blockley Hall (Room 923)423 Guardian DrivePhiladelphia, PA 19104 Office: 215-573-6167 natalya.levina@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Alisa Stephens Shields, PhD serves as an Associate Professor in the Biostatistics division of the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, and is recognized for her collaboration and impactful leadership in the realms of health, statistical education, and inclusion in the field.

For almost three years, Kacie Bogar, MS has served as a Research Project Manager for the Center for Real-World Effectiveness and Safety of Therapeutics (CREST) and the Epidemiology division in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics.

Alisa Stephens Shields, PhD, Associate Professor of Biostatistics, was selected by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to receive the 2024 Myrto Lefkopoulou Distinguished Lectureship.