Public Health | Penn Today

5 tips to scare away cavities

Beyond the inevitable sugar high, what are the implications of consuming a glut of candy? Pediatric dentist Maria Velasco suggests coming up with a plan, then giving away the rest of the treats.

closeup of frozen hand holding lit cigarette

Gruesome photos on cigarette boxes can propel anti-smoking campaigns

Warning messages on cigarette packs are most effective when diseased body parts and testimonials are pictured.

Laurel Redding of the School of Veterinary Medicine writes on an easel as members of her table look on

Staging the plague

Eighty-one students training in a diversity of health professions worked with regional and federal agencies to confront an imagined outbreak scenario centered around bubonic plague in Philadelphia.

Dawn Bonnell, University of Pennsylvania's Vice Provost of Research, stands at a podium.

Promoting innovative, reproducible science: Penn’s Research Excellence Initiative

The two-year effort includes electronic research notebooks, a research symposium, and a task force of faculty and students, all spearheaded by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.

building blocks with prints of pills stethoscope and needle

Be in the know about your health, and be rewarded

From Human Resources’ 2018-19 “Be in the Know” campaign to details about diabetes, cancer, and other screenings recommended by a Penn Med expert, a breakdown of ways to make healthy living achievable.

‘Healthy Pequeños’ teaches young children about hygiene, germs, and food safety

Alaina Hall’s project, a 2018 Penn President’s Engagement Prize winner, is already making a difference for a residential childcare home in Miacatlán, Mexico.

Dieting is out. That poses a problem for a company named Weight Watchers as it rebrands itself WW

Kevin Volpp of the Wharton School and Perelman School of Medicine offered commentary on the “universal challenge” of dieting. “People generally speaking are much more successful in achieving initial weight loss than maintaining weight loss,” he said.

Depression often goes undiagnosed. Researchers are turning to Facebook to change that

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine co-authored a study on social media and mental illness. “Depression is a really debilitating disease and we have treatments that can help people,” said Raina Merchant. “We want to think of new ways to get people resources and identification for depression earlier.”

Smoking featured in half of hip-hop videos, study finds

The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Dan Romer offered commentary on a study of smoking in music videos. He noted that the study didn’t differentiate between marijuana and tobacco products or consider the role of product placement.

1 in 6 older black people have been homeless at some point in their life, study finds

Research from Dennis Culhane of the School of Social Policy & Practice suggests that baby boomers experienced higher rates of homelessness than other generations, though it was unclear how the rates among post-boomer generations were affected by the mortgage crisis of the mid-2000s.

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