June 27, 2008
Did You Know... that Robert Ghrist has been named the seventh Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at Penn? Ghrist, one of the world's leading applied mathematicians, will be the Andrea Mitchell University Professor. His appointment, effective September 1, will be jointly shared between the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Department of Mathematics in the School of Arts and Sciences. Penn President Amy Gutmann remarks, "Rob Ghrist is a singular math and engineering sensation whose infectious love of teaching and groundbreaking research in robotics, topological hydro-dynamics and other fields will make him a great PIK Professor and a huge hit with Penn students and faculty alike."
June 20, 2008
Did You Know... that PennMOVES, a new University initiative that is socially and environmentally aware, helps Penn students discard unwanted items they don't want to bring home? As students move out, they can donate any unwanted but still usable items to PennMOVES for distribution to a host of nonprofit organizations throughout the city of Philadelphia, including homeless shelters, food banks and literacy centers.
Learn more about the PennMOVES project, and view a recent article on the PennMOVES program.
June 16, 2008
Did You Know... that the movie Transformers 2 is being filmed on Penn's campus this week? Filming is taking place in the Quad as well as inside and outside of the Psi Upsilon fraternity house (also known as the Castle).
For more information, please read this blog.
June 6, 2008
Did You Know... that Anne and Jerome, W'53, Fisher are donating $50 million to Penn for a new eight-story biomedical research center dedicated to translational medicine? The Anne and Jerome Fisher Center for Translational Medicine is slated to open in 2010 and will be adjacent to Penn's two new state-of-the-art outpatient-care facilities that will begin operations this year and in 2009. These three facilities will enable Penn to offer the most advanced treatments for cancer, cardiovascular disease and other serious health conditions.
Jerome is founder and chairman emeritus of the Nine West Group, Inc. He and his wife Anne have been active supporters of Penn for many years. This most recent Fisher contribution to Penn is the largest capital gift to the University's "Making History" fund-raising campaign. It is one of the largest gifts in the history of Penn and the second largest gift to PENN Medicine.
Learn more about this extraordinary gift.
June 2, 2008
Did You Know... that Penn biologists expanding on "prior research" at the University of Pennsylvania have determined that faulty RNA, the blueprint that creates mutated, toxic proteins, contributes to a family of neurodegenerative disorders in humans? The current study, which appears in the journal Nature, demonstrates that faulty RNA, the blueprint for the toxic polyglutamine protein, also assists in the onset and progression of disease in fruit fly models.
Nancy Bonini, professor in the Department of Biology, believes that "the challenge for many researchers is coupling the power of a simple genetic model, in this case the fruit fly, to the enormous problem of human neurodegenerative disease". According to Bonini, "by recreating in the fly various human diseases, we have found that, while the mutated protein is a toxic entity, toxicity is also going on at the RNA level to contribute to the disease."
For more information, view the press release and prior research.
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