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Graduate Students

Mentorship strategies to boost diversity in paleontology
Scientists Erynn Johnson and Aja Carter use a 3D printer to make shell shapes

Erynn Johnson and Aja Carter both earned their doctoral degrees in paleontology from Penn, employing pioneering techniques, such as 3D printing to replicate the forms of ancient creatures. In a new publication, they share advice for attracting and retaining students and trainees from underrepresented groups to paleontology. 

Mentorship strategies to boost diversity in paleontology

Drawing on research as well as their experiences as women of color in paleontology, Aja Carter and Erynn Johnson, who earned doctoral degrees from Penn, coauthored a paper offering advice for making the field more inclusive.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Who, What, Why: Annenberg doctoral student Ava Irysa Kikut
Ava Kikut in front of the Annenberg School for Communication

Ava Kikut, a 2020-22 Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellow, focuses on health communication. 

Who, What, Why: Annenberg doctoral student Ava Irysa Kikut

Through a Netter Center ABCS course, Kikut worked with high school students and Penn undergrads to develop media messages that speak to the health needs and inequalities pertinent to adolescent Philadelphians.

Kristina Linnea García

Identities in harmony: How Beth Burton integrates the personal with the professional
A woman with purple hair sits at a piano and stares off into the distance.

Beth Burton, a graduate student at the Perelman School of Medicine, has degrees in both music and science. Even as a full-time researcher, she still finds time to play piano. Image: Courtesy of Beth Burton.

Identities in harmony: How Beth Burton integrates the personal with the professional

The doctoral candidate in the Perelman School of Medicine is a scientist studying the genetic causes of Alzheimer’s. She’s also a musician, a queer woman, and a voice for those with genetic disorders.

Luis Melecio-Zambrano

Penn Dental’s Penntorship connects with the West Philadelphia community
Two smiling women stand in blue medical scrubs on a sunny day.

Kylie Schlesinger (left) and Julie Berenblum (right) founded the Penntorship program to connect mentors from the Penn Dental school to students from West Philadelphia High School. (Image: Courtesy of Kylie Schlesinger and Julie Berenblum)

Penn Dental’s Penntorship connects with the West Philadelphia community

Amid the COVID lockdown, Penn Dental Medicine students Kylie Schlesinger and Julie Berenblum founded a mentorship program for high schoolers in West Philadelphia.

Luis Melecio-Zambrano

Incarceration associated with negative mental health risks for Black men
The door of a prison cell open, with closed cells behind it.

Incarceration associated with negative mental health risks for Black men

A review of literature from the past decade found that for this group in the U.S. such a detention was linked to higher levels of psychological distress, more severe symptoms of PTSD and depression, and more.

Michele W. Berger , Ed Federico

‘Oft-delayed but never deterred,’ Class of 2020 and 2021 grads celebrate
graduates toss caps at commencement

(Homepage image) An in-person Commencement, held at Franklin Field on May 22, represented a long-awaited milestone for the Class of 2020 and graduate students from the Class of 2021.

‘Oft-delayed but never deterred,’ Class of 2020 and 2021 grads celebrate

Embodying adaptability and persistence, themes of the speech by Angela Duckworth, alums from the classes of 2020 and 2021 returned to campus to make up for a missed milestone.

Katherine Unger Baillie , Brandon K. Baker , Michele W. Berger , Lauren Hertzler , Louisa Shepard

A celebration of the ‘resilient creativity’ of the Class of 2022
graduates celebrate on franklin field Penn held its 266th Commencement celebration on Monday, May 16. The ceremony was held at Franklin Field and honored the Class of 2022.

A celebration of the ‘resilient creativity’ of the Class of 2022

Penn’s 266th Commencement showcased graduates who Interim President Wendell Pritchett said demonstrated an “advanced ability to roll with the challenges.”
27 students and recent graduates awarded 2022 Fulbright grants
18 headshots of students

University of Pennsylvania’s Fulbright grant recipients for the 2022-23 academic year include 18 graduating seniors, from left: (top row) Aishwarya Balaji, Lilian Chen, Ria Chinchankar, Amira Chowdhury, Luke Coleman, Sonali Deliwala; (middle row) Alice Heyeh; Robin Hu, J’Aun Johnson, Jordyn Kaplan, Erin Kraskewicz, Shaila Lothe; (bottom row) Brendan Lui, Rebecca Morse, Kaitlyn Rentala, Anyara Rodriguez, Stefan Tomov, Irene Yee.

27 students and recent graduates awarded 2022 Fulbright grants

Twenty-seven Penn students and alumni have been awarded Fulbright grants for the 2022-23 academic year, including 18 seniors who will be graduating May 16.

Louisa Shepard

Centuries of Penn Med student stories
A group of Penn Med students in white coats standing on the steps outside Penn Commons.

Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine

Centuries of Penn Med student stories

Medicine has changed immensely throughout the school’s more than 250 years of history, and so has the process of becoming a doctor.

From Penn Medicine News