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Outreach

Game-changing gift announced at inaugural Penn Africa Research Symposium
A Zoom video event shows man in a traditional African print shirt with the words "Penn Africa Research Symposium" on the background behind him, as six participants are seen in video images on the right side of the screen, stacked vertically.

Ocek Eke, director of Global and Local Service-Learning Programs at Penn Engineering, speaks at the start of the Penn Africa Research Symposium.

Game-changing gift announced at inaugural Penn Africa Research Symposium

The $5 million gift creates the Holman Africa Initiative, expanding financial aid and enhancing opportunities for faculty and students to engage in research and teaching in and on Africa.

Kristen de Groot

Planning a greener future for Philadelphia’s historic Parkside neighborhood
Rowhouses in Philadelphia’s Parkside neighborhood.

Planning a greener future for Philadelphia’s historic Parkside neighborhood

This spring, students from the Department of City and Regional Planning at the Weitzman School consulted with the Centennial Parkside Community Development Corporation on ways to expand a community garden in the East Parkside neighborhood of West Philadelphia.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Building an illustrated children’s book collection with the community
Cartoon drawing of an adult reading a book to two children in a library.

“Library Tales” by Ashley Bryan. (Image: Courtesy of the Ashley Bryan Archive/Penn Libraries)

Building an illustrated children’s book collection with the community

The “Mirrors Collection,” curated by Penn students, is a list of illustrated children’s books chosen and reviewed especially for Philadelphia School District libraries and their diverse student populations.

From Penn Libraries

Guiding emergency medicine toward a North Star of racial justice
Eugenia South standing in a wooded area with arms folded surrounded by tree branches.

Eugenia South, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. (Image: Penn Medicine News)

Guiding emergency medicine toward a North Star of racial justice

Eugenia South, an assistant professor of emergency medicine and vice chair for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in Emergency Medicine, highlights the need to connect and act in support of equity and inclusion on many fronts.

From Penn Medicine News

Reviving Philadelphia’s nighttime economy
Philly cityscape at night.

Reviving Philadelphia’s nighttime economy

Even before COVID-19 curtailed public nightlife in Philadelphia, members of the Weitzman School’s PennPraxis have been working on a civic engagement project to articulate a better, more progressive Philly nightlife.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Vaccine house calls bring COVID protection home
A masked health care worker give a vaccine to a person in the upper arm who is wearing a face mask.

Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine Service in Action

Vaccine house calls bring COVID protection home

In an effort to reach residents who are elderly or disabled, Penn Medicine has put its COVID-19 vaccination efforts on wheels, taking shots directly to patients’ homes.

From Penn Medicine Service in Action

Penn seniors target eating disorder risk at Philadelphia public high schools
Portraits of Penn seniors Christina Miranda (left) and Amanda Moreno in the College of Arts and Sciences

Penn seniors target eating disorder risk at Philadelphia public high schools

President’s Engagement Prize-winning project Be Body Positive Philly, led by seniors Christina Miranda and Amanda Moreno, is designed to address eating disorder risk among Philadelphia high school students.

Louisa Shepard

Fighting poverty with cash
Illustration depicting basic needs like food, shelter, transportation, and dollar signs.

Image: Stephen Schudlich

Fighting poverty with cash

Amy Castro Baker has helped deliver promising data out of Stockton, California, about the effects of giving people no-strings-attached money every month. Now boosted by a new research center at Penn that she’ll colead, more cities are jumping on board.

With its flagship light device, Lumify Care improves patient experience from the frontline
Person in a blue button-down shirt, arms crossed, leaning against a tree outside. In the background are blurred out bushes and trees, a path and a streetlight.

The School of Nursing’s Anthony Scarpone-Lambert of Chalfont, Pennsylvania, earned a 2021 President’s Innovation Prize for Lumify Care. The company’s first product, uNight Light, is a battery-powered, hands-free light device that magnetically clips onto scrubs, has three modes, and is easily cleanable with hospital-grade disinfectant wipes. It offers nurses an alternative to turning on overhead lights overnight, helping patients rest and making a hospital stay more conducive to healing.

With its flagship light device, Lumify Care improves patient experience from the frontline

Penn Nursing senior Anthony Scarpone-Lambert earned a 2021 President’s Innovation Prize for his company and its first trio of products: uNight Light, the Sleep-First Education Initiative, and the uNightShift Community.

Michele W. Berger