Fighting Poverty With Cash
Several decades since the last big income experiment was conducted in the US, School of Social Policy & Practice assistant professor 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 to see if guaranteed income can lift their residents out of poverty. Will it work? And will policymakers listen?
The Vaccine Trenches
Key breakthroughs leading to the powerful mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 were forged at Penn. That triumph was almost 50 years in the making, longer on obstacles than celebration, and the COVID-19 vaccines may only be the beginning of its impact on 21st-century medicine.
Webside Manner
Virtual healthcare by smartphone or computer helps physicians consult with and diagnose patients much more quickly, while offering them convenience and flexibility. The potential to save lives and improve efficiencies is tremendous. But can uncertain regulations and reimbursements, equity and access disparities, and shaky internet connections be surmounted?
The Discard Pile
Sourdough secrets from Hannah Dela Cruz C’12.
Alumni Notes
Jan|Feb 2021
After the Storm
In the pandemic, pondering its impact.
Running on Empty
How campus food trucks are faring.
Wellness Warriors
In response to a rash of suicides in recent years, Penn students have fought to take charge of their own mental health, creating new peer-to-peer counseling groups and collaborating more closely with the administration on wellness initiatives. Is it enough to combat the pandemic stresses, burnout, and social isolation that afflict “the loneliest generation”?
New Director for ICA
Introducing ICA’s new director, Zoë Ryan.
Discomfort Zone
A living lesson in multiculturalism.
Against “Community”
Community is more than a place.
New Awakening
In multiple roles, Gina South Gr’12 fights racism in medicine.
Sniffing Out an Invader
Penn Vet is training dogs to sniff out spotted lanternfly eggs.
The Museum Prescription
Doctors are worn down by paperwork and long hours, forced to focus on computer screens instead of their patients, plagued by feelings of eroding autonomy, traumatized by a pandemic—and trained to endure suffering with stoicism. What ails physicians bodes ill for their patients. Can the visual arts help revive their well-being? A year-long initiative from Penn Medicine and Philadelphia’s flagship art museums aims to test the theory at internet scale.
Back to (Virtual) School
What the fall semester will be like.
Connecting the Data
Penn’s Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice is pioneering a systemic, data-driven approach to criminal justice reform. Its executive director, John Hollway, started with the idea that the law should function more like science—less argument, more truth seeking.
The Future Is Coming—Fast!
In a new book, Wharton professor and “globalization guy” Mauro Guillén breaks down the key factors that will combine to radically transform the world over the next decade (and SARS-CoV-2 is only speeding things up).
Penn and the Pandemic
How the University and alumni have responded to the current crisis.
Power of the Pup
Therapy dogs are reducing stress and bringing joy to patients and staff across the Penn healthcare community.
Shielding the Frontlines
Meet the four alumni entrepreneurs who, after pausing their own ventures, are mass-producing PPE for local hospitals.