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Gut cells sound the alarm when parasites invade
Black and white microscopic image of many cells clustered tightly

The parasite Cryptosporidium, transmitted through water sources, is one of the most common causes of diarrheal disease in the world. (Image: Muthgapatti Kandasamy and Boris Striepen)

Gut cells sound the alarm when parasites invade

A chain reaction led by cells lining the intestines tips the immune system off to the presence of the parasite Cryptosporidium, according to a study led by researchers in the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Vision researchers honored by End Blindness 2020
Trio of photos of vision researchers Gustavo Aguirre, Jean Bennett and Albert Maguire

Gustavo Aguirre, Jean Bennett, and Albert Maguire

Vision researchers honored by End Blindness 2020

The Outstanding Achievement Prize highlights the contributions of the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Gustavo D. Aguirre and the Perelman School of Medicine’s Jean Bennett and Albert M. Maguire toward a gene therapy for a form of blindness.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Uniting against an invisible foe
microscopic image of covid-19

A tiny virus has transformed life as we know it. But in nearly every corner of Penn’s campus, researchers are making remarkable progress to combat it.

(Image, also on homepage: National Institutes of Health)

Uniting against an invisible foe

All across the University, researchers have launched new areas of study, reaching across disciplinary boundaries to make stunning progress in combating COVID-19.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Parasitic worms offer ‘the missing link’ on the dual nature of a key immune regulator
Microscopic image of cell labeled with red, blue, and green

Samples of nasal polyps removed from patients with chronic rhinosinusitis revealed the perforin-2 protein (labeled in green) in the cellular plasma membrane. A pore protein, perforin-2 may be how IL-33, a key immune signaling molecule, is able to exit these cells to trigger an immune response, according to new work led by a Penn Vet-led team. (Image: Courtesy of De’Broski Herbert)

Parasitic worms offer ‘the missing link’ on the dual nature of a key immune regulator

Whether the signaling molecule IL-33 wakes up or turns down the immune response depends on what cell type releases it, School of Veterinary Medicine researchers found.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Five Penn faculty elected to the National Academy of Medicine
five faculty headshots and the Penn shield

The National Academy of Medicine welcomed 100 new members in their class of 2020, including five from Penn: from top left: William Beltran, Ronald Paul DeMatteo, Matthew McHugh, Raina Merchant, and Hongjun Song.

Five Penn faculty elected to the National Academy of Medicine

Five faculty from Penn are among the newest members of the National Academy of Medicine: William Beltran of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Matthew McHugh of the School of Nursing, and Ronald DeMatteo, Raina Merchant, and Hongjun Song of the Perelman School of Medicine.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Tracking the working dogs of 9/11
Veterinarians and handlers with their search-and-rescue dogs

Cynthia Otto (center) cared for search-and-rescue dogs during their work at the 9/11 disaster site, later studying the impact of their service on their health. (Image: Courtesy of Cynthia Otto)

Tracking the working dogs of 9/11

A study of search and rescue dogs led by the School of Veterinary Medicine showed little difference in longevity or cause of death between dogs at the disaster site and dogs in a control group.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Penn Vet expands timely dual degree during COVID-19 pandemic
Jennifer Punt stands with three students in a lab setting discussing a paper.

Jennifer Punt and One Health in Practice students. (Pre-pandemic image: Penn Vet News)

Penn Vet expands timely dual degree during COVID-19 pandemic

The interdisciplinary “One Health in Practice” curriculum positions veterinarians for new career pathways in human, environmental health.

From Penn Vet

Campus workers deliver a ‘team effort’
Man pushes hand cart carrying mail to be sorted with Penn Mail Services trucks in background.

Campus workers deliver a ‘team effort’

As Penn settles into Phase II of research resumption and the fall semester gears up, essential workers keep the campus running. Penn Today spoke with three workers about their “new normal.”

Kristina Linnea García