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Coming together to solve the many scientific mysteries of COVID-19
Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (green) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (purple), isolated from a patient sample.

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (green) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (purple), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. (Image: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH)

Coming together to solve the many scientific mysteries of COVID-19

Putting some of their regular research projects on the back burner, researchers around Penn are digging into unknowns about the novel coronavirus from their deep and varied perspectives.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Language in tweets offers insight into community-level well-being
A person with arms crossed at the chest standing outside between two rock walls, in front of a glass building.

Lyle Ungar, a professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and one of the principal investigators of the World Well-Being Project, which has spent more than half a decade working on ways to grasp the emotional satisfaction and happiness of specific places.

  • Q&A

    • Language in tweets offers insight into community-level well-being

    In a Q&A, researcher Lyle Ungar discusses why counties that frequently use words like ‘love’ aren’t necessarily happier, plus how techniques from this work led to a real-time COVID-19 wellness map.

    Michele W. Berger

    Supporting agriculture and a safe food supply
    cows in a field at new bolton center

    In pre-Covid-19 times, the Marshak Dairy at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center was a place for teaching as well as research. Now an essential crew of workers remain to care for the cows, as other veterinarians in the School continue to care for livestock around the region. (Credit: Penn Vet)

    Supporting agriculture and a safe food supply

    Essential workers in the School of Veterinary Medicine are caring for livestock, keeping track of disease, ensuring product consistency, and communicating with farmers to ensure that farms can continue providing a reliable food supply for the community.

    Katherine Unger Baillie

    ‘Disease knows no borders’
    Lazaretto quarantine hospital

    ‘Disease knows no borders’

    From the history of science to medical anthropology, governance, and economics, Penn experts look at the history of global health from different perspectives to see what the future may hold.

    Kristina Linnea García

    Nature as a refuge in unsettling times
    A person sits reading in Penn's Biopond

    Spending time in nature has proven calming effects. Though not everyone can currently access campus green spaces like the scenic Kaskey Park, there are many other ways to safely interact with nature even while adhering to social distancing practices. (Image: Eric Sucar)

    nocred

    Nature as a refuge in unsettling times

    Even before the pandemic, campus initiatives like NatureRx@Penn and the 30x30 Challenge encouraged time outside. These efforts are continuing, now that restorative outlets are more important than ever.

    Katherine Unger Baillie

    Penn labs get creative to stay productive, connected
    thomas mallouk lab with researcher

    Penn labs get creative to stay productive, connected

    In the face of a pandemic that has shuttered most physical laboratories across campus, researchers have shifted gears, maintaining work and social ties through grant- and manuscript-writing, virtual journal clubs, online coffee breaks, and more.

    Michele W. Berger

    Rapid response to COVID-19 puts the power of innovation to the test
    stack of 3d printed face masks

    Rapid response to COVID-19 puts the power of innovation to the test

    With a critical need for equipment that can help protect frontline healthcare workers, the Penn community has come together to help fabricate 20,000 face shields by mid- to late-April.

    Erica K. Brockmeier

    How can hospitals address scarce resources during COVID-19?
    Drying medical masks hanging due to a scarcity of PPE in hospitals

    How can hospitals address scarce resources during COVID-19?

    Most hospitals have general contingency plans for resource allocation in times of medical scarcity, but not detailed guidelines for the process of actually making those allocation decisions. School of Arts and Sciences political scientist and LDI Senior Fellow Julia Lynch has created those guidelines.

    Hoag Levins

    A quick pivot turns an infectious disease class into timely education
    David Roos taking a selfie while teaching a class online, with scientific materials on the screen behind him

    David Roos shifted his infectious disease course online, as required when Penn’s campus closed. But he also adapted its content to tackle some of what is happening in the world around the novel coronavirus. (Image: Courtesy of David Roos)

    A quick pivot turns an infectious disease class into timely education

    Students in David Roos’ upper-level biology course had been studying pandemics. Now they get to learn in real time how public health scientists attempt to understand COVID-19.

    Katherine Unger Baillie