News Features

To celebrate February as American Heart Month, the News Blog is highlighting some of the latest heart-centric news and stories from all parts of Penn Medicine. From lifesaving AED research to advances in multiorgan transplants, heart health is a priority across Penn Medicine.

This summer, several Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania students will travel to Botswana as part of the Botswana-UPenn Partnership. The program is designed to share the expertise of a world-class university with our partners in Botswana to build capacity and excellence in clinical care, education, and research. Read a first-hand account here of this exciting journey from one Penn Medicine student.

In the spring of 2011, Penn is celebrating the opening of the Translational Research Center (TRC) – a new home for Penn Medicine's emphasis on translating breakthroughs in the lab to clinical therapies for patients. This series of stories describes a selection of translational research projects and efforts underway at Penn Medicine.

Each year, Penn Medicine students and medical students across the country count down to the third Thursday in March, known as “Match Day.” On that fateful day, the wait is over as the fourth-year medical students at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and nationwide, find out where they will be completing their residencies. See stories and first-hand accounts here from Penn Medicine students participating in Match Day in 2010 and 2011.

Each year, Penn Medicine celebrates National Patient Safety Awareness Week with activities and training initiatives designed to get staff members talking about and learning more about something that’s at the heart of what Penn Medicine stands for: Keeping patients safe while they’re in our hospitals. For Safety Week in 2011, we're featuring stories that highlight some of Penn Medicine's most innovative initiatives for meeting -- and exceeding – important patient-safety goals.

The relationship between chromosome alterations and cancer had been debated for more than one hundred years. The first direct link between chromosomal abnormalities to any malignancy came with the discovery of the Philadelphia Chromosome in 1960 by Peter Nowell at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the late David Hungerford from the Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Institute for Cancer Research.

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of this discovery, in 2010, Dr. Nowell is being honored with the Franklin Institute’s Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science and an honorary doctor of science degree from Penn. Nowell is also a recipient of the Albert Lasker Award for Medical Research.

Following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, Penn Medicine's responses have included an outpouring of charitable support; a team of medical professionals who went to Haiti on a two-week relief mission; and more. See stories and first-hand accounts from Penn Medicine's responders in Haiti in this section.