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Boosting the frequency of sound waves to make the next generation of wireless devices
Researchers in a clean room pointing at a microscope.

Under the guidance of Yue Jiang(left), a Ph.D. candidate in the Charlie Johnson research group in the School of Arts & Sciences, Vincent Kerler (right) conducted this work through the Penn Undergraduate Researching Mentoring Program, a 10-week opportunity from the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. The program provides rising second- and third-year students with $5,000 awards to work alongside Penn faculty.

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Boosting the frequency of sound waves to make the next generation of wireless devices

Vincent Kerler, a second-year student in the College of Arts and Sciences, spent the summer running simulations as part of Charlie Johnson’s research on topological insulators.
How food moves around cities
Penn students walking through Norris Square Neighborhood Project’s community garden.

(On homepage) Students walk through the Norris Square Neighborhood Project’s community garden.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

How food moves around cities

Domenic Vitiello, an urban and regional planning expert, teaches classes that invite students to locations in and around Philadelphia to better understand how its denizens dine.

5 min. read

As the world warms, how are young people feeling?
A young person pouring water over their head.

Image: Courtesy of Environmental Innovations Initiative

As the world warms, how are young people feeling?

Climate scientist Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences and Annenberg School for Communication leads a research community that aims to understand climate anxiety and improve climate communication.

From the Environmental Innovations Initiative

The impact of small seminars for new college students
A Penn professor leading a seminar to a class of first-year students.

Melissa Jensen, a lecturer in the Department of English, in her first-year seminar Juvenilia, which ran for the first in the fall semester in 2023.

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The impact of small seminars for new college students

Sixty first-year seminars offer complex subjects in a comfortable group setting, as well as close connections to professors and peers. This year, 10 are also taking part in a pilot program focused on teaching students how to have respectful dialogue around difficult topics.

Michele W. Berger

Understanding the cellular mechanisms driving solid tumors’ robust defense system
A 3D rendering of the tumor microenvironment with cancer cells, T-Cells, nanoparticles, cancer associated fibroblast layer of tumor microenvironment normal cells, molecules, and blood vessels.

In a collaborative interdisciplinary study, Michael Mitchell of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Wei Guo of the School of Arts & Sciences, and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine show that solid tumors can block drug-delivery mechanisms with a “forcefield-like” effect but certain genetic elements that can effectively “shut down” the forcefield. Their findings hint at new targets for delivering cancer treatments that use the body’s immune system to fight tumors.

(Image: iStock / CIPhotos)

Understanding the cellular mechanisms driving solid tumors’ robust defense system

Researchers from Penn have identified a “forcefield-like” defense system in solid tumors and the genetic elements that can switch it off.
The mechanics of collaboration
Portrait of Xinlan Emily Hu

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The mechanics of collaboration

Penn Ph.D. student Xinlan Emily Hu leads a group of budding engineers and social scientists who study communication across teams. The group has developed a new toolkit aimed at helping researchers analyze and measure teamwork.
Doing the work to end health disparities
Ala Stanford.

Ala Stanford is a pediatric surgeon, a professor of practice in the department of biology in the School of Arts & Sciences, with additional appointments as director of community outreach for research activities in the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation, and as a research associate in the Annenberg School for Communication.

(Image: Courtesy of OMNIA)

Doing the work to end health disparities

Ala Stanford is a surgeon, a national leader in health equity, and professor of practice at Penn. Her new book chronicles her path from North Philly, how she served thousands during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her work to end health disparities.

Susan Ahlborn

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will investigate the history of galaxies
artist's concept of the Andromeda galaxy's stellar halo, depicted with exaggerated brightness and density, highlighting the extent of this faint and loosely connected collection of stars that surrounds the galaxy.

Robyn Sanderson and Adrien Thob of the School of Arts & Sciences are part of a team of astronomers using NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to uncover the “fossil record” of the universe as they look to clues to unearth key insights into its formation.

(Image: Courtesy of NASA, Ralf Crawford (STScI))

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will investigate the history of galaxies

Robyn Sanderson and collaborators are unearthing the history of the universe’s formation by looking for clues that reveal its “galactic fossil record.”
Telling the story of a Hispanic war hero
President Reagan presenting Roy Benavidez with the Medal of Honor in 1981.

President Reagan presenting retired Army Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez with the Medal of Honor in 1981.

(Image: The U.S. National Archives)

Telling the story of a Hispanic war hero

In his new book “The Ballad of Roy Benavidez,” Penn historian William Sturkey explores the life of this Hispanic war hero, his fight to maintain veteran disability benefits, and the ways in which Hispanic Americans have long shaped U.S. history with scant acknowledgement.

From Omnia