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Penn Medicine’s Collaboration with Regeneron on COVID-19 Antibody Cocktail

A new University of Pennsylvania research collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will investigate whether Regeneron’s casirivimab and imdevimab investigational antibody cocktail can prevent COVID-19 infection when delivered intranasally via Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) vectors. Regeneron’s antibody cocktail (casirivimab and imdevimab administered together) is being studied in clinical trials for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and was recently granted an Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in certain high-risk patients with mild to moderate COVID-19.

caption: James WilsonGene therapy pioneer James Wilson, professor of medicine and director of the Gene Therapy Program and the Orphan Disease Center at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, and his team will work with Regeneron to study the safety and effectiveness of using AAV vectors to introduce the sequence of the cocktail’s virus-neutralizing antibodies directly to nasal epithelial cells. This new collaboration will introduce the application of AAVs, which have traditionally been used for gene therapies against deadly genetic diseases, to the fight against a virus that has infected more than 50 million people across the globe and taken the lives of 1.25 million to date.

“The fight against COVID-19 requires the most creative approaches for the prevention, testing, and treatment of this disease,” Dr. Wilson said. “Early clinical data from Regeneron show that their investigational antibody combination may play a role in helping treat the disease and reduce severity in those who are infected. We hope to leverage the virus-neutralizing ability of this antibody cocktail for prevention of COVID-19 using a novel delivery mechanism, as well.

“The advantage of AAV in this application is that [it] can achieve sustained expression of the antibodies in the nasal mucosa, which is the site of infection, following a single administration,” he continued. “In contrast to traditional vaccines, AAV delivery of antibodies provides a rapid onset of response and no reliance on the need for the recipient to mount an immune system response over time. This latter feature may be particularly attractive in people with weakened immune systems, like the elderly, or people who need rapid protection, like frontline healthcare workers.”

One of Dr. Wilson’s major goals throughout his career has been to develop new methods for delivering genes to cells. He led his lab at the GTP to discover the AAV family of viruses, found in primate tissues, that can be engineered to ferry healthy DNA into the correct cells. AAV vectors—the most commonly used viral vectors today—were developed by Dr. Wilson’s laboratory at Penn, largely to treat rare and orphan diseases. In 2019, the Wilson lab celebrated the FDA approval of Zolgensma, the first approved drug for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy. The early development of this drug was enabled by the discovery of an AAV isolate in Wilson’s lab. In the biopharma industry, at least 90 preclinical programs and 40 clinical programs use Dr. Wilson’s AAV vectors.

“Regeneron scientists specifically selected casirivimab and imdevimab to block infectivity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and we have been encouraged by the promising clinical data thus far,” said Christos Kyratsous, Vice President of Research, Infectious Diseases and Viral Vector Technologies at Regeneron. “In the quest to use cutting-edge science to help end this disruptive and often very devastating disease, we are excited to explore alternate delivery mechanisms, such as AAV, that may extend the potential benefits of this investigational therapy to even more people around the world.” 

The collaboration between Dr. Wilson and Penn’s GTP and Regeneron will have two phases. The first phase will include the validation of the effectiveness of the antibodies delivered via AAV in a large animal model challenge study, where animals will be given the antibody cocktail via AAV and exposed to the novel coronavirus. If that study is successful, the research team will complete studies to support filing of an investigational new drug (IND) application with the FDA, which is a necessary step before clinical trials in humans can begin.

Kimberly Kessler Ferzan: Earle Hepburn Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Institute of Law & Philosophy

caption: Kimberly FerzanKimberly Kessler Ferzan, L’95, has been named the Earle Hepburn Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Institute of Law & Philosophy at Penn’s Carey Law School. She will teach Criminal Law, Evidence, and a seminar on the theory and practice of criminal law. She is co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Law and Philosophy and serves on the editorial boards of Legal Theory, Criminal Law and Philosophy, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, and Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy. She was elected to the American Law Institute in 2015.

Dr. Ferzan writes in criminal law theory. She has co-authored two books and co-edited three as well as authoring over 50 book chapters and articles. She received the American Philosophical Association’s Berger Memorial Prize in 2013 for “Beyond Crime and Commitment: Justifying Liberty Deprivations of the Dangerous and Responsible” (Minnesota Law Review, 2011), and was selected for the 2006 Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum for “Beyond Intention” (Cardozo Law Review, 2008). Her recent papers, “The Reach of the Realm” and “#BelieveWomen and the Presumption of Innocence: Clarifying the Questions for Law and Life,” are forthcoming in Criminal Law and Philosophy and NOMOS: Truth and Evidence, respectively.

Before joining the Law School faculty in 2020, Dr. Ferzan was the Harrison Robertson Professor of Law and the Joel B. Piassick Research Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, where three different graduating classes recognized her with their highest teaching honor at graduation. Prior to her time at Virginia, Dr. Ferzan was a member of the faculty at Rutgers Law School, where she was twice awarded Professor of the Year and received the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

Dr. Ferzan has served as a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, an International Visiting Fellow at the University of Warwick’s Institute ofAdvanced Study, and a Laurance S. Rockefeller Fellow at the Princeton University Center for Human Values.

Karen Tani: Seaman Family University Professor

caption: Karen TaniKaren Tani, L’07 GR’11, is the Seaman Family University Professor and holds a joint appointment with the department of history in the School of Arts and Sciences. She is the University of Pennsylvania’s 24th Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor. Dr. Tani is co-teaching a 1L elective course on Law and Inequality with Presidential Assistant Professor of Law Shaun Ossei-Owusu.

A celebrated legal historian, Dr. Tani’s work addresses poverty law and policy, disability, administrative law, federalism, and rights. Her book, States of Dependency: Welfare, Rights, and American Governance, 1935-1972 (Cambridge University Press, 2016), won the 2017 Cromwell Book Prize from the American Society for Legal History. The book sheds new light on the nature of modern American governance by examining legal contests over welfare benefits and administration in the years between the New Deal and the modern welfare rights movement. Her most recent work has explored historical examples of “administrative constitutionalism” and the history of disability law and sexual violence and rights.

Before joining the Law School faculty, Dr. Tani was a Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. She was the first graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s JD/PhD program in American Legal History and was a clerk for Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Two New Endowed Chair Appointments in Nursing

Tanja Kral has been named the Ellen and Robert Kapito Endowed Professor in Nursing Science and Jianghong Liu has been named the Marjorie O. Rendell Endowed Professor in Healthy Transitions, effective September 1, 2020.

caption: Tanja KralDr. Kral is professor of nutrition science and associate program director of the Graduate Nutrition Certificate, with a secondary appointment as professor in the department of psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine. One of many multi-disciplinary faculty in the Penn Nursing family, she is a nutrition scientist with training in the study of human ingestive behavior. Her research focuses on the cognitive, sensory, and nutritional controls of appetite and eating in children and adults and their relevance to obesity. In predominantly minority children from low-resource environments, Dr. Kral studies protective factors within families for mitigating behavioral and socioeconomic risk factors for obesity development.

Dr. Kral has a strong record of funding and publication. Currently, she is chair of the PhD Progressions Committee and Chair-Elect of the Graduate Group. She is the recipient of the Alan Epstein Research Award from the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the executive editor of Appetite journal; and recipient of the Dean’s Award for Undergraduate Scholarly Mentorship from Penn’s School of Nursing. She is an associate fellow of the Center for Public Health Initiatives and a member of the Interdisciplinary Research Network.

caption: Jianghong LiuDr. Liu is professor of nursing, co-director of the Global Health Minor at Penn Nursing, and the Associate Editor of Research in Nursing and Health. She uses her training in maternal-child nursing, environmental health, and psychology to explore early health factors that affect children and adolescent’s cognitive and emotional/behavioral development. Her research integrates population-based epidemiological analyses with laboratory tests of cognition and psychophysiology to understand the mechanisms driving behaviors and emotions. As director of the NIH-funded China Jintan Child Health Project, Dr. Liu is following more than 1,000 children in Jintan city, China from pre-school into adolescence to understand the influence of exposure to environmental lead, nutrition, and psychosocial factors on their behavior.  She mentors and advises doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate nursing students as well as students studying across multiple majors, including medicine, public health, education, business, engineering, and visiting scholars from China.

Dr. Liu has been widely funded and published. Career highlights include recipient of the NIH Independent Scientist Award and, from Penn, the Trustees Council of Penn Women Award for Undergraduate Advising, the Dean’s Teaching Award for Undergraduate Scholarly Mentorship, and the Barbara J. Lowery Doctoral Student Organization (DSO) Faculty Award for Mentorship. She is a senior fellow at both the Penn Center for Public Health initiatives and the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program.

Penn’s Progress in Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY20 Annual Report

caption: FY20 progress includes a solar power purchase agreement (PPA).

A power purchase agreement, collaborations with campus wellness initiatives, and increased transportation options are areas of significant achievement toward the goals of the University of Pennsylvania’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0, outlined in the latest Climate and Sustainability Action Plan.

The Penn Sustainability Office has just released the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY20 Annual Report, based on data and metrics from fiscal year 2020 gathered from across many academic and administrative units at the University. The Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY20 Annual Report documents Penn’s progress towards the goals of the 2019 Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 (CSAP 3.0), tracking metrics in Academics, Utilities & Operations, Physical Environment, Waste Minimization & Recycling, Purchasing, Transportation, and Outreach & Engagement.

“With this sustainability report, Penn is tracking progress on our Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 goals, and providing public, transparent reporting of our sustainability initiatives,” explained Anne Papageorge, Penn’s Vice President for Facilities & Real Estate Services.

This report offers an annual, comprehensive, graphic, and concise presentation of progress in key metrics during the previous fiscal year. Some FY20 highlights include:

Academics

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Expand tracking and reporting of student enrollment in sustainability-related majors, minors, and concentrations.

FY20 Progress: Supporting Penn’s goal of increasing student enrollment in sustainability courses, this past year saw nearly 30% of Penn students enrolled in a sustainability-related course.

Utilities & Operations

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Reduce Penn’s overall carbon footprint towards our 2042 carbon neutrality goal.

FY20 Progress: Penn signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) designed to offset carbon emissions equal to 75% of total campus electricity demand for the academic campus and the University of Pennsylvania Health System (Almanac April 21, 2020).

Physical Environment

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Improve Penn’s Landscape Ecology Practices.

FY20 Progress: Penn’s Landscape Architecture staff, along with Student Eco-Reps, developed bird-friendly campus design guidelines to reduce the number of bird strikes on campus (Almanac August 4, 2020).

Waste Minimization & Recycling

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Increase Penn’s Overall Waste Diversion and Minimize Waste Sent to Landfill.

FY20 Progress: With most students, faculty, and staff working remotely, Penn has reduced its solid waste by 23% in FY20 compared to its baseline year of 2009.

Purchasing

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Increase procurement of sustainable food products.

FY20 Progress: Penn Purchasing Services launched a new catering website “Catering@Penn” which includes sustainability criteria in vendor ranking (Almanac January 28, 2020). The new and interactive webpage is hosted on the Purchasing Services website.

Transportation

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Have an accessible and safe campus for bicyclists and pedestrians.

FY20 Progress: Two new Indego bike share stations were installed at 34th and Chestnut and 34th and Spruce Streets. The Penn Community now has access to 6 Indego stations near campus.

Outreach & Engagement

CSAP 3.0 Goal: Expand and Strengthen Existing Outreach Programs.

FY20 Progress: Environmental wellness has been incorporated as a formal component of the Wellness at Penn Initiative. The Wellness at Penn website (Almanac January 30, 2018) provides a number of resources related to sustainability and the environment.


A PDF of the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0 FY20 Annual Report is available on the Penn Sustainability website.

Penn Sustainability is a University-wide initiative to advance environmental sustainability at the University of Pennsylvania, and coordinate programs to develop a more sustainable campus. Visit sustainability.upenn.edu.

—Penn Sustainability

caption: A vegetable garden on campus.

Nancy A. Hodgson: Chair of Penn Nursing Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences

caption: Nancy HodgsonNancy A. Hodgson, the Anthony Buividas Term Chair in Gerontology and professor of nursing, will be the next chair of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s (Penn Nursing) department of biobehavioral health sciences (BHS), effective January 1, 2021.

Dr. Hodgson is an internationally recognized nurse scientist, with a strong program of research focused on incorporating evidence-based findings into geriatric nursing practice to conquer challenges in palliative care for persons living with dementia and their families such as promoting dignity, minimizing symptoms, and honoring peoples’ preferences for end-of-life care. She has been a leader and innovator in her work co-founding the Palliative Care Program at the Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center (formerly the Philadelphia Geriatric Center)—one of the first nursing-home based palliative care programs in the nation. Her research has been well funded and widely published.

“Dr. Hodgson is a well-respected colleague, collaborator, mentor, and faculty member, and brings all of her past teaching and administrative experience to the department,” said Penn Nursing Dean Antonia Villarruel. “I know Nancy will bring her highly collaborative spirit to BHS and lead faculty and staff to a new vision for the department in line with the School’s strategic goals.”

Penn Medicine and Comcast/Independence Health’s Quil: New Collaboration on Digital Patient Education

A new partnership between Penn Medicine and Quil will give patients access to digital tools that will help them educate and prepare themselves for important health care needs. These tools will give them an opportunity to more confidently approach their own care in partnership with their trusted healthcare providers.

By joining forces with Quil, a company formed by Comcast and Independence Health Group, Penn Medicine hopes to deliver a “digital front door” for a better patient experience before and after surgeries and other medical procedures, and in managing long-term health conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Doctors can recommend the Quil Engage app to their patients, who will then receive notifications for their personalized guides, called “journeys,” leading them to instructional step-by-step videos, interactive quizzes and checklists, links to schedule necessary appointments, and FAQs, among other helpful tools and resources. The tools will be easily accessible through whichever device a patient chooses, and each notification is timed to meet the patient at the exact point in their health care journey when they will need the information.

“We are committed to offering new solutions to help our entire patient community at all points in the continuum of care. Our mission to provide outstanding patient care throughout the world requires a focus on health literacy, which we know is tightly linked to patients’ ability to manage their care and make the choices to keep them well,” said University of Pennsylvania Health System CEO Kevin B. Mahoney. “Importantly, this partnership widens the door to maintaining health at home, which is an increasing focus of our work to prevent and manage chronic conditions and ensure safe recoveries after hospitalizations.”

Quil began its partnership with Penn Medicine in 2018 while developing what would become Engage. In April 2019, a pilot program testing the platform with surgeons in the Penn Medicine department of orthopaedic surgery enrolled more than 900 total hip and knee replacement patients. Among them, the total length of time they stayed in the hospital after their procedures was 14 percent shorter than the goal, and the rate of discharge to home instead of physical rehabilitation facilities was 22 percent better than the department’s goal.

The system aims to provide education on procedures, like the joint replacements in the pilot program, life events such as pregnancy, and programs to support health goals like nutrition and weight loss. All of these paths are designed to guide patients through their health care experiences in partnership with family and friends.

“It’s a great privilege to continue to build our partnership with Penn Medicine and get digital tools in the hands of more patients and their caregivers,” said Quil CEO Carina Edwards. “We are excited to keep acting on our shared vision and are dedicated to bringing this work forward to serve our community. Offering a personal, empowering, and inspiring experience is at the heart of what we do.”

An example of a typical patient “journey” in the platform for someone having knee replacement surgery includes pre-op messages from Quil weeks in advance that include videos on, for instance, what to expect during the hospital stay and guides for caring for the incision site, as well as pre- and post-op surveys. Immediately after surgery to support bedside care the patient receives instructional videos on getting in and out of bed and using a cane. Later, messages will be timed to reach the patient when they progressively reach different stages of physical rehabilitation, including videos showing exactly how to properly perform exercises such as heel slides or mini squats without aggravating the joint.

As a patient engages with a “journey” like this on Quil, their care team will be able to track their progress and receive notifications of benchmarks or setbacks to track patients’ progress and potentially intervene to stave off complications. For example, if they learn that a patient hasn’t watched a video on a certain exercise, the team can send a message to the patient ensuring that they’re taking part in the exercise, or to ascertain why they may not be.

Together, Penn Medicine and Quil look forward to improving patient outcomes like these across a wide swath of specialties. Ultimately, they hope to develop Engage to the point that it can become the standard of care for patient education across the entire health system—and drive adoption of the technology at other hospitals nationwide.

Deaths

Saul Katzman, SAS

caption: Saul KatzmanSaul Katzman, former executive director of administrative affairs in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, died December 6 from complications from COVID-19. He was 73.

In 1970, Mr. Katzman joined the School of Medicine’s Johnson Research Foundation as a business administrator. A year later, he moved to the department of biology in the School of Arts and Sciences, where he also served as a business administrator. Mr. Katzman stayed in that role until 1979, when he was promoted to director of administrative affairs in SAS. He later took on the role of executive director of administrative affairs before he retired from Penn in 2003. After leaving Penn, he took a position at Temple University Ambler and served as director of finance and operations before retiring in 2018.

Mr. Katzman was an active member of the Penn community. He served for several years as a Penn’s Way Campaign coordinator and was on the team for the Classification Redesign Project, a University-wide initiative to review the job evaluation system that Penn uses to classify staff positions. He was a board member of the A-1 Assembly, on the steering committee of the Association of Business Administrators, and a Faculty Club officer. He also served on several University Council committees, including the Library Committee and Bookstore Committee. He became a member of Penn’s 25-Year Club in 1995.

“Saul was responsible for being a pioneer in hiring women and underrepresented minorities into positions handling finances,” says former colleague Lory Eighme, Life Sciences Business Manager for Biology, Psychology and BBB. He had a keen sense of humor and was very kind in his dealings with all staff.”

“He was professional and people trusted him and looked to him for his wisdom and perspective,” says Elyse Saladoff, former director of fiscal operations for SAS, and Mr. Katzman’s niece. “He valued the people (faculty and staff) and genuinely took time to engage them. He could not walk across campus without people stopping to talk to him.”

Janet Conway, former business administrator in economics and senior director in the Office of the Deputy Dean at the Wharton School, said, “Saul was at heart a teacher and imparted knowledge generously. I know that I became a better administrator for my time with him, as I know many others did. He will be missed.”

Mr. Katzman is survived by his wife of 51 years, Faye; sons, Marc (Donna) and Larry (Liz); and five grandchildren, Samantha, Alex, Felicia, Macy and Riley.

Services and interment are private due to COVID-19 restrictions. Contributions in his memory may be made to Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation at http://www.alzdiscovery.org/ or Old York Road Temple-Beth Am at www.oyrtbetham.org.

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To Report A Death

Almanac appreciates being informed of the deaths of current and former faculty and staff members, students and other members of the University community. Call (215) 898-5274 or email almanac@upenn.edu.

Governance

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Actions

The following is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Among other purposes, the publication of SEC actions is intended to stimulate discussion among the constituencies and their representatives. Please communicate your comments to Patrick Walsh, executive assistant to the Senate Office, either by telephone at (215) 898-6943 or by email at senate@pobox.upenn.edu

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Actions
Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Special Note: The Town Hall held on December 9, “From Campus Access to Testing and Vaccination: What to Expect for Penn’s COVID-Era Spring Semester,” is available for viewing at https://provost.upenn.edu/senate/faculty-senate-seminar-series. Written responses to the remaining questions will also be available at the same page upon their finalization.


Chair’s Report. Faculty Senate Chair Kathleen Hall Jamieson reminded Senate Executive Committee (SEC) members that Provost Wendell Pritchett will return to SEC in January 2021 and invited questions for him to be submitted to the Senate Office. Senate Committees will also be invited to share questions. Provost Pritchett is prepared to discuss questions on the relationship between Penn and the surrounding community.

On January 20 at 4 p.m. ET, SEC will also convene a virtual, interactive workshop on “Interrogating and Re-Imagining Expressive Public Space on the Penn Campus” during the second half of its meeting; this session will be open to all faculty members. 

Past Chair’s Report. No report was offered.

Resolution in Appreciation of Penn’s Contributions to Doctoral Education at Penn and to the School District of Philadelphia through the Penn Compact. Following a motion and discussion, SEC members voted unanimously to adopt the Resolution, which appears as an appendix to these minutes.

Feedback on Engaged Scholarship and Teaching Prioritization in Schools and Departments. Prof. Jamieson reminded SEC that departments are asked to clarify their specific positions on whether and how engaged scholarship should count in their department’s promotion and tenure processes. Developments to-date were presented by SEC members.

Initial Discussion of Proposed Amendments to Faculty Senate Rules. A select committee consisting of the three current Faculty Senate Tri-Chairs along with two former Senate Chairs—Jennifer Pinto-Martin and Santosh Venkatesh—was convened to offer revisions to the existing Rules. Most of the proposals are likely to be non-controversial and serve to bring the Rules into alignment with existing practicalities and customs. A full meeting of the Faculty Senate is expected to convene on March 17, 2021, to vote on whether to adopt the final slate of revisions. 

Resolution in Appreciation of Penn’s Contributions to Doctoral Education at Penn and to the School District of Philadelphia through the Penn Compact

Whereas Benjamin Franklin recognized the importance of education to the wellbeing of a republic by founding the University of Pennsylvania;

Whereas Penn has affirmed its commitments to advanced education dating to the founding of the Perelman School of Medicine as the first medical school in the United States;

Whereas institutions of higher education are called upon to cultivate the next generation of creative, thoughtful, and engaged leaders;

Whereas Penn recognizes that student and teacher health and wellbeing are prerequisites for quality education and learning;

Whereas Penn is an integral part of the greater Philadelphia community;

Whereas Penn and the Faculty Senate within it have committed themselves to creating and sustaining a healthy environment for everyone in our community; and

Whereas Penn has long been committed to the education of Philadelphia’s students through investments such as those in the School District of Philadelphia’s Penn Alexander School, Henry C. Lea Elementary School, and more than 500 other initiatives across 248 schools throughout the School District;

Therefore, be it resolved, that:

We, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee of the University of Pennsylvania, commend President Gutmann and her leadership team as well as the Board of Trustees for having the foresight to raise funds for discretionary use through the Penn Compact 2022 to make it possible for the President to respond to urgent needs of the University and its community during exceptional times; and

We express our gratitude for the $30 million commitment to support doctoral education at Penn and for the historic $100 million gift to the School District of Philadelphia in support of the elimination of asbestos and lead in the City’s public schools.

Initiated: Faculty Senate Tri-Chairs [November 18, 2020]
Endorsed: Faculty Senate Tri-Chairs [November 20, 2020]
Endorsed: Faculty Senate Executive Committee [December 9, 2020]

Trustees Executive Committee Meeting Coverage

The Executive Committee of the Penn Board of Trustees met virtually on December 10 for a brief Stated Meeting at which time a resolution was passed to appoint Scott L. Bok and Ann Reese to the Penn Medicine Board and the Penn Medicine Executive Committee.

Scott L. Bok, a University Trustee, was appointed to the Penn Medicine Board, for a three year term as Term Member, effective November 13, 2020 until November 12, 2023, and was appointed to the Penn Medicine Executive Committee, effective November 13, 2020, to serve in accordance with the Bylaws.

Ann Reese, a University Trustee, was appointed to the Penn Medicine Board, for a three year term as Term Member, effective January 1, 2021 until December 31, 2023, and be appointed to the Penn Medicine Executive Committee, effective January 1, 2021, to serve in accordance with the Bylaws.

Honors

2021 Marshall Scholarships for Penn Senior and May Graduate

caption: Annah Cholletcaption: Yary MunozUniversity of Pennsylvania senior Annah Chollet and May graduate Yareqzy (Yary) Munoz have been named Marshall Scholars. Established by the British government, the Marshall Scholarship funds up to three years of study for a graduate degree in any field at an institution in the United Kingdom.

Ms. Chollet and Ms. Munoz are among the 46 Marshall Scholars for 2021 representing 35 institutions in the United States, chosen from a record 1,180 applicants. The prestigious scholarship, meant to strengthen U.S.-U.K. relations, is offered to as many as 50 Americans each year.

Ms. Chollet, who is from Boston, is pursuing a double major in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies, and biological basis of behavior with a concentration in health and disability, as well as a minor in chemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences. She is a 2020 Truman Scholar.

With a dual passion for health care and criminal justice reform, Ms. Chollet has completed laboratory internships at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University, and the Wistar Institute. She has served as a lab assistant in organic chemistry at Penn and is currently a teaching assistant for the Women and Incarceration course in the School of Nursing.

Her volunteerism includes advocacy for women at the Riverside Correctional Facility, service as student coordinator for the From Cell to Home project at Penn’s Ortner Center on Violence & Abuse in Relationships, and the campus volunteer coordinator for Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

A student wellness advocate, Ms. Chollet is president of Project LETS (Let’s Erase the Stigma), an advocacy group at Penn dedicated to erasing stigma around mental illness. She serves on the Student Advisory Board at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. She also plays electric guitar and sings as part of the Bloomers Band in the all-female student comedy troupe.

Ms. Chollet plans to pursue a doctoral degree in evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation at the University of Oxford in England. A certified doula, she intends to attend medical school in the U.S. and devote her career to improving incarcerated women’s health.

Ms. Munoz, who is from Chicago, earned her bachelor’s degree in urban studies and minors in Latin American and Latinx Studies and Hispanic studies from the College. She currently works for Legal Aid Chicago as a litigation paralegal with the Fair Housing Investigation and Enforcement Initiative.

At Penn, Ms. Munoz was a Questbridge Scholar and a Civic Scholar. She earned the inaugural Joseph “Beau” Biden Scholarship for public service, the Hassenfeld Summer Grant for Undergraduate Research in Urban Studies, and the Urban Studies Award for Commitment to Social Justice in the City.

Ms. Munoz volunteered with Moder Patshala, a Bangladeshi-American education center in West Philadelphia, and developed the Penn Civic House’s Community Engagement Program.

As a research assistant for Domenic Vitiello, associate professor in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, she conducted interviews with leaders of community organizations serving immigrants. She also was an intern for U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and an intern in the Philadelphia district attorney’s Major Trials Unit.

Ms. Munoz plans to attend the University of Manchester in England, where she will pursue a master’s degree in international development with a focus on poverty, inequality, and development, followed by a master’s degree in global urban development and planning. After completion, she intends to conduct research in Latin America on the role of community organizations serving immigrant communities.

Ms. Chollet and Ms. Munoz applied for the Marshall Scholarship with assistance from the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. Penn has had 19 Marshall Scholars since the scholarship’s creation in 1953.

Penn’s Four New Schwarzman Scholars

caption: Christina Pogorevicicaption: Paulina Rutacaption: Cecilia Wangcaption: Annie SunUniversity of Pennsylvania seniors Cristina Pogorevici, Paulina Ruta, and Yixi (Cecilia) Wang and 2019 graduate Annie Sun have received the Schwarzman Scholarship, which funds a one-year master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

They are part of the sixth class of Schwarzman Scholars and will enroll at Tsinghua in August 2021. This year, 154 Schwarzman Scholars were selected from more than 3,600 applicants and include students from 39 countries and 99 universities. More than 400 candidates were invited to interview, this year virtually, before panels based in Beijing, London, New York, or Singapore. The core curriculum focuses on leadership, China, and global affairs, according to the Schwarzman program. The academics are refined each year to align with current and future geopolitical priorities.

Ms. Pogorevici, from Bucharest, Romania, is concentrating in business analytics and management, in the entrepreneurship and innovation track in the Wharton School. She is president of the Wharton Council, a member of the Wharton Junior-Senior Advisory Board, and a Penn World Scholar. Her interests in entrepreneurship and development have taken her to Hong Kong, Uganda, Moldova, and Ukraine during her time at Penn. As a Schwarzman Scholar, she says she hopes to learn to drive socioeconomic development by leveling global access to entrepreneurship.

Ms. Ruta, from Arverne, New York, is concentrating in finance and behavioral economics at Wharton with a minor in Spanish. She is CEO of Global Platinum Securities, an international, intercollegiate student-run hedge fund, and is currently working for Asia Pacific Land, focusing on infrastructure investing. Last summer she worked for PJT Partners in its restructuring division. She says she is passionate about increasing collaboration between U.S. and Chinese business leaders, as she hopes this will transcend financial transactions and help shape foreign policy.

Ms. Wang, from Chengdu, Sichuan, China, is in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences & Management program, administered through Wharton and the School of Arts & Sciences, and is majoring in computational biology, health care management, and statistics, with a minor in computer science. She is simultaneously pursuing a master’s degree in data science through the School of Engineering and Applied Science. She is completing her honors thesis comparing COVID-19 policy responses in different provinces in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea. She also currently leads a research and outreach effort coordinating an international team translating articles from the Chinese Medical Journal Network for global dissemination. Ms. Wang has interned in the Office of Disease Prevention at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. She has worked on global initiatives, including a hospital management project in Kenya, a social entrepreneurship program in Ghana, and an NGO in China to help promote awareness of preventable genetic diseases. At Penn, she is the president of the Wharton China Association, a member of the Penn Equestrian Team, and has been a teaching assistant for the Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science course. After completion of the Schwarzman Scholarship, she plans to pursue a master’s in public health and work with an international organization to improve global health.

Ms. Sun, from Rochester, Minnesota, received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of Arts & Sciences in 2019 and wrote her honors thesis on nation branding. Ms. Sun currently is an associate at L.E.K. Consulting in Boston and is active in pro-bono consulting, leading two project teams in her first year. She recently founded Oraculi, a non-profit mentorship organization that connects young STEM professionals with middle school students. At Penn, Ms. Sun was involved in mental wellness reform as chair of the Penn Undergraduate Health Council. She also was captain of Penn Latin and Ballroom Dance and continues to compete in ballroom dancing.

Penn has had 15 Schwarzman Scholars since the scholarship’s origin in 2016.

Hannah Cao, Jennifer Bulcock: SP2 Race and Social Justice Fellows

Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) is pleased to announce the selection of two exemplary MSW students as the School’s Inaugural Race and Social Justice Fellows: Hannah Cao and Jennifer Bulcock.

In this newly-established fellowship, Ms. Cao and Dr. Bulcock will be working with Associate Dean for Inclusion Jerri Bourjolly and the Advisory Committee on Race and Social Justice to implement critical School-wide projects centered on diversity, inclusion, intersectionality, and social justice.

With a keen emphasis on the School’s One Book, One SP2 initiative, Ms. Cao and Dr. Bulcock will develop a multidisciplinary resource guide that includes specific classroom strategies and techniques, readings, videos / documentaries, guest speakers, in-class activities, assignments, and other innovative resources that would be published online. This year’s selection for the School-wide initiative was Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions by Valeria Luiselli, which compassionately and poignantly sheds light on the experiences of undocumented youth from Central America who face possible deportation.

During her time as a fellow and an SP2 student, Hannah Cao, a first-generation Vietnamese American, seeks to address not only the inherent racism present throughout the country, but also the xenophobia that she says has only become more apparent since the pandemic’s start. Prior to being selected for the fellowship, Ms. Cao has been a Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA) representative on SP2 Student Government and possesses a wealth of experience planning events, creating activities, working in interdisciplinary teams, and building networks.

Jennifer Bulcock is approaching the fellowship with a distinct enthusiasm for engaging the School community on matters of intersectionality, inclusivity, and impact. Her vast range of experience includes developing inclusive curriculum, expertise in immigration and immigrant rights, and planning immigration-oriented events. Outside of the MSW program, she is an assistant professor of philosophy, the assistant director of the Center on Immigration, and the director of the Honors Program, all at Cabrini University.

Aaron Chalfin, John MacDonald, Adrian Raine: Academy of Experimental Criminology Awards

Three faculty members from the department of criminology were recognized by the 2020 Division of Experimental Criminology (DEC) and Academy of Experimental Criminology Awards.

Aaron Chalfin, assistant professor of Criminology, won the Young Experimental scholar Award, which recognizes exceptional early career scholarship.

Adrian Raine, Richard Perry University Professor, is the recipient of the Joan McCord Award for distinguished experimental contributions to criminology and criminal justice. Dr. Raine has appointments in the departments of criminology and psychology and in the department of psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine.

John MacDonald, professor of criminology and Sociology, is part of the team that won the Outstanding Experimental Field Trial Award. Dr. MacDonald’s team also includes members from Columbia, the Perelman School of Medicine, and UCLA.

The Division of Experimental Criminology is one of 16 divisions in the American Society of Criminology. The DEC seeks to promote and improve the use and development of experimental evidence and methods in the advancement of criminological theory and evidence-based crime policy. The Academy of Experimental Criminology was founded in 1998 in order to recognize scholars who have done influential research in the field of experimental criminology.

Ingo Helbig: Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award

caption: Ingo HelbigIngo Helbig, a pediatric neurologist in the Division of Neurology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), director of the genomic and data science core of the CHOP Epilepsy Neurogenetics Initiative (ENGIN), and assistant professor of neurology and pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been named a recipient of a 2019 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award.

The Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award provides support for innovative, early-stage biomedical research with the potential to benefit children of the United States, specifically seeking to fund innovative and cutting-edge applied research that has not yet qualified for funding from traditional outside sources. The award is made possible by The Hartwell Foundation and provides funding for three years at $100,000 in direct costs per year. Dr. Helbig was funded for his research proposal entitled “Delineating Subgroups and Outcomes in Neurodevelopmental Disorders through Computational Phenotypes.”

Dr. Helbig has a strong interest in neurogenetics, combining bioinformatics and data science approaches to understand childhood epilepsies and neurodevelopmental disorders. He is one of 11 researchers recognized nationwide in 2020 as a Hartwell Investigator by The Hartwell Foundation. Penn has participated for seven years in the Hartwell competition and four Penn researchers have received Individual Awards.

Dr. Helbig’s project aims to understand how large-scale clinical information, including data derived from thousands of patients from their electronic medical records, can be meaningfully combined with genomic data to understand the causes, outcomes, and natural histories of neurodevelopmental disorders, including conditions such as developmental delay, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, intellectual disability, and epilepsies. Approximately 15% of children in the United States between the ages of 3 to 17 are affected by neurodevelopmental disorders, which represent a significant burden to children and their families, as symptoms can last well into adulthood.

Mary Mazzola: NDDSWA Service Award

caption: Mary MazzolaMary Mazzola, associate dean of enrollment management and global outreach at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), has been named as the recipient of the National Deans & Directors of Social Work Admissions (NDDSWA)’s 2020 Years of Service award.

A national organization affiliated with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), the NDDSWA has established awards in an effort to recognize and honor exceptional individuals in the field of graduate recruitment and admission. The NDDSWA awards committee highlighted Dr. Mazzola’s achievements in recruiting and cultivating the next generation of leaders and educators, emphasizing her creative and innovative approach to admissions and the ongoing support and mentorship that she has provided to colleagues throughout her career. The Years of Service award recognizes Dr. Mazzola for her tenure of over two decades in the profession.

“Since I began my role as Dean nearly two years ago, I have grown to admire Dr. Mazzola, trust her as a colleague, and greatly enjoy working alongside her,” said Dean Sara S. Bachman. “I’m inspired by the ways in which she truly embodies social work values and principles, and her critical thinking and strategic analysis skills have proven to be invaluable. Moreover, as so many of our colleagues at the School and throughout the Penn community can attest, she is an absolute pleasure to work with.”

An alumna of SP2’s Master of Social Work (MSW) program, Dr. Mazzola earned her EdD in Higher Education Management at Penn’s Graduate School of Education. After practicing in the health care arena, she returned to Penn as a part-time lecturer in the MSW program and, in 2000, began her full-time administrative tenure at the School, which was seeking to extend its reach and impact beyond the greater tri-state area. As associate dean for enrollment management and global outreach, Mazola oversees recruitment and admissions for all five of SP2’s degree programs. Under her leadership, both overall enrollment and the international makeup of the School’s student population have grown significantly.

“Receiving the 2020 Years of Service Award was a complete surprise and an honor,” Dr. Mazzola said. “To be recognized my peers across the country was truly humbling.”

The honorees were recognized and celebrated at the virtual NDDSWA Awards Ceremony, held on Friday, November 20, 2020.

Michael Ostap, Qi Long: 2020 AAAS Fellows

caption: Michael OstapPenn Medicine’s E. Michael Ostap and Qi Long have been named 2020 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for their distinguished efforts toward advancing science and maintaining the highest standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity. This year, 489 AAAS members have been selected as fellows by their peers for their “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.”

E. Michael Ostap, professor of physiology and director of the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute, is being recognized for his contributions to the fields of biophysics and biochemistry, particularly for using single-molecule and biochemical techniques to study cytoskeletal motors. The Ostap Laboratory studies the molecules responsible for powering cell movements and shaping the architecture of cells and tissues. Their recent work also includes investigating the motor proteins responsible for pumping the heart and characterizing drugs and disease-causing mutations that affect cardiac contractility.

caption: Qi LongQi Long, professor of biostatistics in the department of biostatistics, epidemiology and informatics, director of the Center for Cancer Data Science, and associate director for cancer informatics of the Penn Institute for Biomedical Informatics, is being honored for his contributions to analysis of incomplete data, causal inference, and analysis of big data for advancing precision health. In addition to being named a Fellow of the AAAS, Dr. Long is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute.

The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science. Founded in 1848, the AAAS has maintained the tradition of naming Fellows since 1874. Members are eligible to become Fellows if they have had continuous involvement with the organization for four years. The 2021 AAAS Fellows will be inducted during a virtual ceremony on February 13, 2021.

Dean Richardson: ACVS Founders’ Award

caption: Dean RichardsonDean W. Richardson, Chief of Large Animal Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine’s (Penn Vet) New Bolton Center, has been selected as the recipient of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons’ (ACVS) prestigious Founders’ Award for Career Achievement. The recognition was first announced during the virtual ACVS Diplomates’ Annual Business Meeting held on October 20, 2020.

Established to recognize the service of ACVS Diplomates who have distinguished themselves in the pursuit of surgery, the award is bestowed to those who have made significant contributions to the development of surgical techniques and methodology, and disseminating knowledge to colleagues, residents, and students.

“In selecting Dr. Richardson, the [ACVS] membership recognizes a world-renowned leader in the equine surgery field, whose contributions over the last 30-plus years have greatly impacted the art and science of veterinary surgery,” said the ACVS in a statement about its 2020 award recipients. “He is a talented surgeon, mentor, researcher, educator, and a role model for students, interns, residents, and clinicians around the world.”

Dr. Richardson’s contributions to fostering innovative, cutting-edge equine orthopedic surgical techniques are extensive. From developing uses of locking compression plates in horses and refining procedures to decrease infection associated with surgical implants, to pioneering novel imaging techniques to diagnose, manage, and improve fracture repair outcomes, Dr. Richardson has “continued to relentlessly push the field of equine surgery into the future,” added the ACVS.

“This recognition from the AVCS membership is a tremendous honor and I am humbled to receive it,” says Dr. Richardson. “I am immensely grateful to my extraordinary colleagues who have inspired me over the years, as well as the thousands of talented, ambitious veterinary students, interns, and residents who have done the same - watching them grow, learn, and succeed has been my greatest joy.”

Founded in 1965, the American College of Veterinary Surgeons is the specialty board that sets the certification standards for advanced professionalism in veterinary surgery and provides the latest in surgical educational programs. By fostering the highest standards of excellence in veterinary surgery, ACVS is helping the veterinary profession achieve its goals of providing outstanding service to the public and care to animals.

Maria Ryan, Bess Liu: American Musicological Society Awards

Two graduate students from the department of music received awards at the 2020 American Musicological Society conference.

Maria Ryan, a sixth-year graduate student, was awarded the Alvin H. Johnson AMS 50 Dissertation Fellowship for her dissertation, Hearing Power, Sounding Freedom: Black Practices of Listening, Ear-Training, and Music-Making in the British Colonial Caribbean, and the Paul A. Pisk Prize for the best graduate student paper presented at the conference for her paper, Enslaved Black Women’s Listening Practices and the Afterlives of Slavery in Musical Thought. Ms. Ryan’s research interests also include 20th- and 21st-century British opera.

Xintong (Bess) Liu, a fifth-year graduate student, was awarded a fellowship from the Ora Frishberg Saloman Fund for musicological research on music criticism and reception history for her project, Resonant China: Transnational Music-Making and the Construction of the Public (1934-1958). Ms. Liu’s past research includes female piano pedagogy in modern China, Chinese school songs (xuetang yuege) during the early Republican China, and the construction of the Eastern World in Puccini’s Orientalist operas.

Two SEAS Teams: NSF Grants

Two teams of Penn researchers have been tapped to drive “the future of manufacturing” with innovative, interdisciplinary projects supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grants come from the agency’s $40 million program to develop new technologies, processes and skills in the fields of “biomanufacturing, cyber-manufacturing and eco-manufacturing.”

One team will focus on “self-morphing building blocks,” inspired by evolutionary biomaterials. The team, featuring Shu Yang, professor in Penn Engineering’s departments of materials science and engineering (MSE) and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CBE), Liang Feng, associate professor in MSE and electrical and systems engineering (ESE), and Masoud Akbarzadeh, assistant professor of architecture in the Weitzman School of Design, will develop artificial structures that are load-bearing, lightwave-guiding, sound insulating, and self-morphing from the nano- to macroscales.

The 5-year, $4.6 million grant will see them collaborate with researchers at Princeton University, Rowan University and Rutgers University Camden. This research will not only push the envelope to achieve additional functions with reduced materials and cost, but also train an inclusive and responsible future Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) workforce.

The other team is also inspired by the manufacturing techniques the natural world has evolved, but is organized under its “cyber-manufacturing” initiative. It comprises Jordan Raney, assistant professor in the department of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics (MEAM) and Mark Yim, Professor in MEAM and Director of the GRASP Lab. Drs. Raney and Yim will develop a new paradigm for manufacturing in which structures are assembled by swarms of simple, tiny robots.

This project is a smaller, exploratory “seed” grant, which will provide roughly $500,000 toward the exploration of this new paradigm of additive manufacturing.

Features

Medical Miracles on 34th Street: Perelman School of Medicine

A Close Call with COVID-19 Ends in a Presby Proposal

“Funny” was the word 68-year old Robert Calandra first used when describing the symptoms that would eventually lead to a COVID-19 diagnosis. But soon, “funny” turned to “odd,” which turned to “very, very wrong.” The Ambler resident is a talented writer whose work has appeared in books, magazines, and newspapers, but he never expected that his own life would become the story.

He felt fine while playing ice hockey one day in early March, but by the following day, his temperature began inching up, and he felt increasingly tired and listless. “I actually went into my office and pulled out my will and medical power of attorney, wrote some notes, signed them, and left them prominently on my desk. I just had a feeling that something bad was happening,” he said. “From there, it spiraled.”

At the encouragement of his primary care physician and friend Michael Cirigliano, a Penn Medicine internist, Mr. Calandra visited the drive-through coronavirus testing site in Radnor. But his longtime girlfriend Monica Hamill soon needed to call Dr. Cirigliano again—Mr. Calandra’s temperature had jumped to 102.5 degrees, and he was so weak that he could barely sit up, even with Ms. Hamill’s help. Cautioning Ms. Hamill to stay at home to contain the virus in case she was also infected, Dr. Cirigliano recommended that Mr. Calandra’s daughter, Lindsey Calandra, a nurse practitioner at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, go out and purchase a pulse oximeter for her father. If it showed his oxygen level was under 90 percent, they needed to go to the emergency room immediately. Mr. Calandra’s reading was a dangerously low 80 percent.

caption: Mr. Calandra during his battle with COVID-19.

“I was pretty out of it, but I did tell them that Penn Presby was the only place I wanted to go,” Mr. Calandra said, explaining that he had previously received exceptional care at PPMC when he experienced septic shock. “Monica bundled me into the car, and from there, I remember flashes—parts of the car ride, being helped into a wheelchair, arriving in the isolation room,” he recalled. “My last clear memory is of the doctor telling me I needed to be intubated immediately. And then... I began my magical mystery tour.”

For Ms. Hamill and Lindsey Calandra, the next several days were harrowing. Because they could not visit the hospital due to COVID-19 precautions, Lindsey Calandra established contact with his care team and regularly received a roller coaster of updates. Mr. Calandra was initially described as “very sick,” then seemed to be pulling through, only to suddenly become unstable again.

But the experience was very different for Mr. Calandra. While he was unconscious for most of his 13 days on a ventilator, he remembers a series of incredibly vivid dreams, some of which corresponded with his condition. “I was a 19th century ship’s captain for a while, and I remember having a ponytail and wearing a short green jacket and silk stockings,” he said. But when his blood pressure dropped and his fever spiked to 103 degrees, his dream state shifted to “a devilishly hot day in Atlantic City. I just kept saying, ‘We gotta cool off.’ I think that was the night they were putting ice packs around me to bring my temperature down.”

With an incredible care team on his side, Mr. Calandra steadily began to improve. Infectious disease expert William Short reached out to Lindsey Calandra about a clinical trial he was leading investigating the effectiveness of an antiviral drug, Remdesivir, in treating COVID-19, and she agreed to enroll her father. A few days passed, during which a foggy Mr. Calandra had FaceTime conversations with both his girlfriend and daughter that he does not remember, mistook Dr. Short for actor James Earl Jones, and, after being extubated, reveled in the perfection of the “gourmet meals from the gods”—applesauce and pudding.

But there was one thing that Mr. Calandra was not foggy about at all, and he shared it during his next phone call with Ms. Hamill. “Monica and I have been together for eight years. As I was laying there, I kept thinking that life is the blink of an eye—and I just blinked several times over 13 days,” he said. Indeed, not only had he faced a life-threatening illness, but during his hospitalization, Ms. Hamill’s father also passed away. “It was time to move things forward. So… I asked her to marry me. She was stunned, but eventually said yes! And it had nothing to do with the ICU drugs!”

“Amidst the chaos that COVID-19 has brought into our lives, it has also forced us to reflect on what’s truly important and to find ways to connect,” recalled internist Rani Nandiwada. “When our team met with Robert in the ICU, we told him that the gossip mill said he might be engaged. He laughed and told us that after everything he’d been through, he hit the point ‘where you just gotta do it.’ He made our day and brought so much happiness just by sharing his joyful moment.”

caption: Robert Calandra and Monica Hamill

After transitioning to the step-down unit, Mr. Calandra was finally discharged—nearly 30 pounds lighter, but alive and on the road to recovery. For the last several weeks, he has been working with Penn Medicine at home diligently via telemedicine, noting that he “can’t say enough good things” about occupational therapist Marisa Hart and physical therapist Sarah Penning.

“They’ve been fantastic. I came home on a walker, and now I’m walking on my own—still a bit shaky, but doing better than anyone expected.” The compliments extend to everyone who cared for him during his battle against COVID-19. “I tell everybody, ‘If you’re sick, you need to go to Presby,’” he said. “I’ve received nothing but great care. They saved my life.”

Thanks to the tireless efforts of PPMC’s doctors, residents, nurses, and respiratory therapists, Mr. Calandra has been able to put his will and medical documents away. Instead, his desk will soon be piled up with manuscripts detailing his story, song lyrics about his experience to share with his bandmates, and plans for the future.

This article was originally published in Penn Medicine News.

How a New York Times Medical Mystery—and a Determined Sister—Saved This Patient’s Life

It started with a cough. In the fall of 2019, months before a tickle in the throat would send anyone into COVID-19 panic, Susan Bosanko, 59, was unalarmed.

“I initially thought it was probably just allergies. It would come and go. I didn’t want to go to the doctor, because I’d be coughing really bad one day, and the next few days, I’d be fine,” said Ms. Bosanko, an insurance claims examiner who lives in Albany, New York.

Then, she started to cough up the “awful things”—soft, rubbery, branch-like structures, which she said resembled “baby umbilical cords.”

Ms. Bosanko, a former smoker, was accustomed to bouts of bronchitis. But she had quit the habit five years earlier, so the coughing seemed unusual. She was also dealing with other—seemingly more urgent—health issues, like lumps in her neck and her breast, and so, she decided to try her best to ignore the strange symptoms.

By December, her cough intensified, and she went to the doctor, bringing with her pictures of the foreign objects that had projected from her lungs. She was sent home with oral steroids and a nebulizer.

caption: Rubbery branches—a hallmark of plastic bronchitis.

Finally, in February, a work colleague brought her an oximeter to measure her blood oxygen levels. The reading said 80 percent—the point at which a person’s vital organs are in danger. She called her primary care doctor’s office and told a nurse about her reading over the phone. “That’s impossible,” the nurse said. A few hours later, an ambulance was transporting Ms. Bosanko to St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, where she was intubated and placed on a ventilator.

As Ms. Bosanko’s sister Marion Groetch would later understand, the lymphatic system is a network of tissues and organs that help rid the body of toxins. Its primary function is to transport lymph, a fluid containing infection-fighting white blood cells, throughout the body’s vessels. Most often in children, but sometimes in adult patients, something goes awry and that lymph fluid leaks from the thoracic duct into the lungs, where it hardens into casts that replicate the shape of the bronchial tree—a hallmark of plastic bronchitis. The “umbilical cords” that Ms. Brosanko had been coughing up for months? They were actually fluid molds of her own airways.

No one at St. Peter’s specialized in treating the rare disorder. The medical team’s main goal was to stabilize Ms. Bosanko. The untreated plastic bronchitis was causing acute respiratory distress.

“At one point, they had removed 400 mL of fluid from her lungs. I was scared to go into her room. I started thinking, ‘What if this doesn’t work?’”

For two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit, the team worked around the clock to stabilize Ms. Bosanko, with bronchoscopies, proning, oxygen therapy, and careful titrating of medications. That same week, The New York Times happened to publish a “Diagnosis” column, about a 65-year-old man with a relentless cough and shortness of breath. One of Ms. Groetch’s neighbors sent her the article.

The columnist, Lisa Sanders, reported that the cause of the man’s symptoms was an abnormal flow of lymph fluid into the lung, where it hardens to form casts that obstruct the exchange of oxygen. Ms. Groetch read, with interest and hope, about a team of interventional radiologists at Penn Medicine who had developed a way to visualize and repair the abnormal lymphatic flow.

Ms. Groetch and Ms. Bosanko’s extended family and friends searched on PubMed for studies authored by the doctor who had saved the man’s life: Maxim Itkin, a professor of radiology at the Perelman School of Medicine. They quickly came to realize that Dr. Itkin is one of the top doctors in the world specializing in the treatment of lymphatic disorders. Immediately, Ms. Groetch called Penn and connected with Dr. Itkin’s assistant.

“Can you have your sister’s doctor call him in the next 10 minutes?” the assistant asked her.

Ms. Bosanko’s doctor was not working that day, but she happened to be stopping by the hospital for a visit when Ms. Groetch called St. Peter’s. The doctor spoke with Dr. Itkin and consulted with Ms. Groetch and Ms. Bosanko’s boyfriend, Matt Magin. The group decided that it would be in Ms. Bosanko’s best interest for Dr. Itkin to treat her himself.

Soon after, Ms. Bosanko arrived by helicopter at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

“I’ve done this procedure 1,000 times,” said the interventional radiologist.

But if not for a discovery that Dr. Itkin himself helped to make nearly a decade ago, plastic bronchitis could still be a death sentence.

As far as researchers know, an abnormal lymphatic system is a condition that people are born with, and it often does not cause major medical problems. Doctors see it most commonly in children who have undergone a Fontan operation for congenital heart disease. But for adults like Ms. Bosanko, symptoms can appear out of the blue much later in life. For others, like the patient featured in The New York Times column, the coughing can go undiagnosed for years.

“It’s like a faucet that opens up, and it starts to leak,” he said. “Eventually the lymph leaks into the bronchial tree, and it gets harder and harder, until that fluid turns into casts—like an egg white that’s become dry.”

Dr. Itkin became interested in the lymphatic system while a medical resident in Israel, after he read a paper by Constantin “Stan” Cope. Dr. Itkin eventually ended up as a fellow at HUP, where

Dr. Cope serendipitously was on the faculty.

Dr. Cope became Dr. Itkin’s mentor, and then Dr. Itkin and colleagues later went on to make even greater improvements in lymphatic imaging, making treating cases like Ms. Bosanko’s a breeze.

When Ms. Bosanko arrived at HUP, she was too sick for an MRI, so Dr. Itkin began right away with the two-hour procedure to fix her lungs—called a thoracic duct embolization. During the minimally invasive procedure, Dr. Itkin first inserted a catheter into Ms. Bosanko’s thoracic duct and injected X-ray dye in order to identify the leak. To further confirm the leakage, Anthony R. Lanfranco, an assistant professor of pulmonary medicine, performed a technique called “blue bronchoscopy,” in which a special blue dye is injected into the patient while a pulmonologist looks at the airways through a thin, lighted tube, called a bronchoscope. Then, using a special glue, Dr. Itkin was able to close the thoracic duct and block the flow of lymphatic fluid that was leaking into her lungs.

“She’s fine. I fixed it,” Dr. Itkin said to Ms. Bosanko’s family as he entered the waiting room where they were pacing anxiously. Ms. Groetch hugged the doctor. Ms. Bosanko’s boyfriend burst into tears.

caption: Ms. Bosanko recovering with family and friends in New York.

Ms. Bosanko stayed in the hospital for two more weeks. In the months since the procedure, she has experienced some uphill battles, but her breathing is back to normal. She returned to her office job in May.

After her sister’s recovery, Ms. Groetch wrote to Lisa Sanders at The New York Times, thanking Dr. Sanders, Dr. Itkin, and Ms. Bosanko’s medical team in New York.

“I think about what they are all going through now during this global pandemic, how hard they work to ensure the best outcome for every patient, and how painful it must be for them to be fighting for so many patients who are just not recovering,” her email read. “Because I witnessed how much they really care.  I want them to know, and I want you and Dr. Itkin to know, that there is one 59-year-old woman who is alive today because of you.”

This article was originally published in Penn Medicine News.

Penn’s Gargoyles: Genial Gothic Gremlins

Penn has a varied enough selection of notable architecture from the last 150 years that certain sub-genres of it have slipped under the radar of most modern photographers and history buffs. Such is the case with Penn’s selection of gargoyles, which adorn the exteriors of nearly 20 buildings on campus. 

Penn’s gargoyles are actually bosses, uncut stones placed on outer edges of buildings to be carved into ornamental forms. (The word “gargoyles” originates from the French word “gargouille,” meaning “throat”; literal gargoyles serve as building gutters or downspouts. Bosses, meanwhile, serve a purely ornamental purpose.) Bossage (the art of carving these ornamental figures) came into being in the thirteenth century as an artistic device to conceal unevenly-laid stone; in the sixteenth century, bosses became an artistic hallmark of Elizabethan architecture. Bosses are also known as grotesques, named after figures found in ancient Roman cellars and grottoes.

In the 1890s and the first couple decades of the twentieth century, Penn engaged Philadelphia architects Cope and Stewardson to design several University buildings. With their design for the Quadrangle, whose first section opened in 1896, Cope and Stewardson emulated several vintage eras of English architecture in a style that became known as Collegiate Gothic. In a delightful homage to Elizabethan architecture, they incorporated several dozen bosses into their design. They worked with sculptors Henry Plasschaert and John Joseph Borie (a Penn architecture alumnus) and stone carvers Edmund Wright, Edward Maene and assistants to turn these uncut stones into sculpted figures. Cope and Stewardson approved elevation views and clay models of each proposed boss, which was then carved over a period of three to four days from a fourteen-inch square piece of Indiana limestone that had been incorporated into the Quadrangle.

Mr. Plasschaert and his carvers kept the mood of these bosses whimsical. Parodic figures are abundant, such as a grotesque animal biting the corner of a block of stone, or an architect dressed in an elf costume carrying a basket of fruit. A variety of mythical creatures and bizarre monsters are on display, as is the occasional reference to academic activity, like the creatures brandishing tragedy and comedy masks atop the Mask and Wig clubhouse, or a monkey clutching a scroll labeled “diploma.” Many bosses don mortarboard caps or carry shields in a reference to campus life. Others refer to classical sculptures or fairy tales. As the Quadrangle continued to be expanded, its architects continued to add bosses, though sections built after 1928 abandoned the tradition.

While the Quadrangle has the most concentrated usage of bosses on campus, it is by no means the only place on campus they can be found. As early as 1888, Frank Furness had incorporated gargoyle-like appendages into his design for the University Library (now the Fisher Fine Arts Library). John Windrim included a particularly dynamic series in his design for Penn Dental’s Evans Building (1911-1915), including figures reading books and pulling teeth from other creatures’ mouths. Cope and Stewardson incorporated bosses into the John Morgan Building (1904) and their successors, Stewardson and Page, included two bosses flanking the front doors of Fisher-Bennett Hall (1925). Contemporary accounts show that the public was delighted by these sculptures and that sightseers made them popular attractions on Penn’s campus.

After the 1920s, architectural fads nationwide shifted away from the ornamental and towards the modern, so bosses fell out of favor. Since then, weathering and ivy growth have caused some of Penn’s sculptures to deteriorate, but the majority of these unique sculptures are still preserved, mostly intact, for architecture buffs to enjoy. The Philomathean Society has estimated that some 450 gargoyles, grotestques and bosses can be found around the interior and exterior of the Quadrangle, and many more are visible elsewhere on campus. Katherine Kruger, a staff member in the Office of the University Secretary, has launched a photo series of Penn’s bosses that, so far, has encompassed nearly 20 buildings on campus. The photos on this page were taken by Ms. Kruger; to see more of her photos, visit https://www.instagram.com/penn_gargoyles/.

caption: Frank Furness designed this dragon-like creature (who guards the Fisher Fine Arts Library) as a true gargoyle, with water emerging from its mouth. In a 1990 renovation, the downspout was removed, and today the dragon is purely ornamental.

caption: This figure, which adorns the front entrance of Fisher-Bennett Hall, seems to depict a woman, which is apropos of the building’s original role as Penn’s College for Women.

caption: The grotesques on Penn Dental’s Evans building exhibit a sense of humor. In this scene, one creature extracts the tooth of another!

caption: In a sly reference to Cope and Stewardson’s role in designing the bosses and grotesques of the Quad, this figure holds a miniature representation of one of the Quad buildings.

caption: This football player, situated on the exterior of the Quad, visually represents the vigor of early-20th century collegiate life.

caption: In a representation of student life that is still relevant today, this figure on the exterior of the Quad drinks beer from a mug!

caption: Located outside the Quad, this figure is flying an airplane, a rare reference to current events (in this case, the Wright Brothers’ 1903 flight).

caption: This trio, who adorn a corner on the Quad exterior, hold aloft a P (for Penn) and the University’s motto from 1898 to 1932, Literae Sine Moribus Vanae (letters without morals [are] useless). Today’s motto is slightly different. The owl, a symbol of wisdom, is a common motif throughout Penn’s gargoyles and bosses.

caption: On the exterior of the Quad, two mythical creatures share a book.

caption: Two different bosses were sculpted based on this architectural drawing (top, courtesy University of Pennsylvania Architectural Archives). The frog shown above is located on the Quad exterior, and the one below is located on the Quad interior. Based on the drawing, the frog appears to be reading The Record, Penn’s undergraduate yearbook.

After More Than 40 years, Almanac’s Dedicated Leader to Retire

Lauren Hertzler

caption: Marguerite MillerMarguerite Miller reflects on her long tenure at Penn, reminiscing on a time of running the publication before voicemail messages, before computers, and before the internet existed.

Ms. Miller’s landing at Almanac as a temp employee in 1980 was a bit serendipitous, but the work she has done since is nothing short of pure passion.

“It was in my blood early on that I liked this sort of thing,” Ms. Miller says, chatting about her high school and college days involved with the student newspaper and yearbook.

Throughout the years, Ms. Miller has covered countless events. Almanac, which touts itself as the University’s “journal of record,” will say goodbye to its longtime editor and advocate at the end of the semester, when Ms. Miller retires after a truly impactful tenure at Penn.

“As a faithful reporter on important moments and milestones in Penn’s history for four decades, Marguerite has illuminated and contextualized transformative changes on campus,” says Joann Mitchell, who, as Senior Vice President for Institutional Affairs, oversees the weekly publication. “Under her leadership, Almanac has a well-earned reputation of service that can be relied upon to provide news with fidelity and integrity.”

Ms. Miller celebrated her 40 years at Penn at a February Employee Recognition event hosted by President Amy Gutmann.

In loyal Miller fashion, she was actually slated to retire at the end of this past spring semester, at the height of COVID-19’s shock. But her dedication, especially amidst a worldwide pandemic, has ensured the publication’s success even during the most tumultuous of times.

Almanac, which morphed out of a monthly faculty-run newsletter, began its stretch as a weekly for faculty and staff early in the ’70s during Martin Meyerson’s presidency. A time similar to now—with misinformation and discontent writ large—Meyerson wanted to create a publication that showcased timely, credible, and reliable news and policies related to Penn, which also allowed for the right of reply and open expression. Almanac’s first editor of the weekly publication was Karen Gaines, who Ms. Miller still considers a mentor and friend. Ms. Gaines trained Ms. Miller as an assistant editor and later as an associate editor, and the two worked together for close to two decades before Ms. Gaines’ retirement in 1999. A nationwide search for Almanac’s successor landed right at home a year later: Ms. Miller became Almanac’s editor in 2000.

“While I waited to go in to speak with President [Judith] Rodin for my interview, I composed my thoughts and rubbed the foot of the Benjamin Franklin statue outside of College Hall,” says Ms. Miller, explaining the tale of how doing so “makes your wishes come true much faster.”

“I think Penn is part of Marguerite’s DNA at this point,” says Louise Emerick, Almanac’s associate editor. Look no further than Ms. Miller’s very own license plate. She calls her car the “Almanacmobile.”

When Ms. Miller, who first joined Almanac’s staff on a whim while her husband was attending graduate school at Penn, reflects on the past 40 years, she can’t help but become nostalgic. She tells stories about each of the four Penn presidents—and one interim president—she’s worked under, and can recall each and every building on campus Almanac’s staff has worked out of. She remembers how Almanac operated—“it was a lot of hurrying up and waiting”—before voicemail messages, before computers, and before the internet existed. She also reminisces on what it was like to be a working mother, raising her two children while keeping the publication afloat.

“Until I could find child care, I came back to the office after my maternity leave with baby and diapers and the whole shebang,” Ms. Miller says, remarking that she could “type and nurse and answer the phone at the same time.”

Touting her experience as a “family affair,” Ms. Miller notes how it’s been a pleasure to watch her children “grow up at Penn.” Her daughter, Roberta, now an alumna of Penn’s Graduate School of Education, and son, Andrew, would not only accompany their mother to the office on occasion, but they’d also enjoy summer camps every year at Penn, attend memorable Annenberg Center events together, and so much more. As her children moved up and on, Ms. Miller has stayed extremely active on campus, whether by taking classes on occasion and attending Human Resources’ wellness events for staff (her favorite was yoga), to serving on boards and executive committees of several University organizations, including the MLK Commemorative Symposium Executive Planning Committee and the University Club Board of Governors.

Ms. Miller remembers fondly her first time meeting Henry Daniell, a Penn professor of biochemistry, whose research at the Pennovation Center involves growing plants to treat and prevent disease.

“I think Penn is part of Marguerite’s DNA at this point,” says Louise Emerick, Almanac’s associate editor. “It’s a significant part of her identity in a very proud and good way. Whether she’s going to see talks, looking at sculptures on campus, or attending gallery exhibits, she gets involved in every piece of Penn and she loves it.”

Being in the know, of course, is a requirement of any Almanac editor. So has evolving with technology throughout the years. Almanac, before COVID-19, still existed as a print edition, but, for the past 23 years, has also been published online, with a weekly email newsletter sent out to its faculty, staff, trustee, overseer, emeritus faculty, retired staff, student, and alumni readers. More accessible than ever before, the publication serves as a way to keep folks abreast of new information, whether it involves coverage of Penn’s key governance components, new policies and programs, and annual reports, as well big donations, major hires, and honors and obituaries. In effect, Almanac is also an extremely important archive for researchers.

“It’s been an incredible journey, which is probably why it hasn’t seemed like so many years in the same place,” Ms. Miller says. “The ways we do things have evolved so dramatically. I think of President [Amy] Gutmann’s ‘Three R’s’: resourcefulness, resilience, and responsiveness. I love alliteration but it also resonated with me because those three words I could easily use to describe what we’ve had to do all these decades at Almanac.”

With a team of only three—Ms. Miller, Ms. Emerick, and web editor Alisha George—Almanac has always welcomed the wonderful assistance of the University’s work study students, some who served Almanac all four years of their Penn education. Ms. Miller estimates she has supervised at least 100 students, many of whom she’s still in touch with.

Ms. Emerick says one of her favorite things about Ms. Miller is her endearing love of birthdays. Work-study student or full-time staffer alike, without fail, Ms. Miller puts together cards and adds the special event to calendars.

“She even gives me presents for my kids on their birthdays,” Ms. Emerick says with a laugh. “She just loves personal connections; they are so important to her.”

When Ms. Miller talks about retirement, she notes how much she cares about Almanac and its future.

“She’s definitely Almanac’s strongest advocate,” says Ms. Emerick. “Almanac has stayed consistent because she fights for it, and she’ll prove its value to anyone who wants to know.”

Indeed, Ms. Miller says, “I’m not retiring because I don’t care anymore. I’m retiring because I almost feel that it is someone else’s turn.”

Looking ahead, Ms. Miller’s big plans for travel have been altered a bit, but she hopes to still be able to spend more time with family, especially her grandson, who just turned 1. She wants to continue to stay active and healthy, cook and bake, and read and write, too.

“It’s kind of an adventure, even though it’s not quite the one I imagined,” Ms. Miller says, noting her newfound interest in making bread from scratch.

As for Almanac, Ms. Emerick says its next leader will certainly have tough shoes to fill.

“The rolodex of information in Marguerite’s head—she has lived and breathed Almanac for so long—will be missed,” Ms. Emerick says. “We will definitely miss her dedication and ability to always pull it all together.”

AT PENN

Events

Update: December AT PENN

Children’s Activities

Penn Museum

For info and to register: https://www.penn.museum/

17        At-Home Anthro Live: Celebrate Winter with Light; noon.

22        At-Home Anthro Live: Baking Recipes: Traditions Through Time; 1 p.m.

Fitness & Learning

21        Creating a Career Development Plan; review tools for long-term career planning; noon; Zoom meeting; info: https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/calendar/ (Penn Nursing).

School of Social Policy and Practice

Online events. Info and to register: www.sp2.upenn.edu/sp2-events/2020-12/

17        NPL Holiday Trivia; 5 p.m.

Special Events

15        Academic Remembrance Event for Renee Fox; join colleagues and friends from Medical Ethics & Health Policy and Sociology; 1 p.m.; Zoom meeting; join: https://zoom.us/j/92144649872 (MEHP; Sociology).

Talks

15        Learning is Pruning; Dimitris Papailiopoulos, University of Wisconsin-Madison; noon; Zoom meeting; info: jbatter@seas.upenn.edu (ESE).

            The American Journal of Bioethics Anniversary Event: The Past, Present, & Future of Bioethics; panel of speakers; 2 p.m.; Zoom meeting; register: https://tinyurl.com/ajob-webinar-dec-15 (MEHP; American Journal of Bioethics).

Charity: Working Women and the Production of Dependence at Bridewell Hospital; Alicia Meyer, English; 4:30 p.m.; Zoom meeting; info: https://www.english.upenn.edu/events (English).

16        Care Continuity, Preventive Services, and Patient Satisfaction: Outcomes of a Specialized Patient-Centered Primary Care Facility for Autistic Adults; Brittany Hand, Ohio State University; noon; online event; info: cauleen.noel@pennmedicine.upenn.edu (ITMAT).

21        In Conversation (Milford Graves-A Mind-Body Deal); Jake Meginsky, filmmaker; Ashley Clark, author; 6:30 p.m.; Zoom meeting; register: https://tinyurl.com/meginsky-clark-dec-21 (ICA).

---

AT PENN Deadlines

The January AT PENN 2021 calendar is now online. You can still check the December AT PENN calendar for updates. The deadline for the February AT PENN calendar is January 11, 2021.

This is the final issue of the semester. The first issue of the spring semester will be January 19, 2021.

HR: Upcoming January Programs

Professional and Personal Development Programs

Open to faculty and staff. Register at http://knowledgelink.upenn.edu/.

Fundamentals of Strategic Planning; 1/26; 12:30-1:30 p.m. In today’s work environment, complex tasks and projects are more common than ever. By using strategic planning skills, you’ll be able to set yourself and/or your team up for success.  Participants of this course will learn to identify the foundation for creating a strategic team, discover strategic values, participate in strategic planning efforts, and avoid common pitfalls that derail strategic plans.

Work-life Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/registration.

Navigating the Curricular Waters; 1/13; 12:30-1:30 p.m. It is time for your dependent to begin picking classes for the next academic year.  What recommendations and choices do they have at their school? How does course selection impact holistic and test-optional admission?  Our hope is to assist you in navigating these curricular waters and the admission process.

Creating a Positive Outlook; 1/21; 12:30-1:30 p.m. This workshop provides tools to help participants live life in a more positive way, even when faced with negative people and experiences. They will better understand the causes of negativity, learn how self-talk affects attitudes, and gain tips to be their best selves possible.

Penn Healthy You Workshops

Open to faculty and staff. Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/registration.

Virgin Pulse Live Demonstration; 1/12; noon-1 p.m. Join us for a virtual live demonstration of the new Virgin Pulse wellness platform! Virgin Pulse Client Success Manager Emma Doyle will walk participants through many aspects of the platform. There will also be a Q&A section at the end in which participants can submit questions via the chat feature.

New Money Matters; 1/19; noon-1 p.m. Today, you need to think about your finances differently and be ready for unexpected events. In this financial wellness workshop, we’ll explore who you are as a saver, investor, and employee. The program also offers steps on how to build an emergency fund, determine your investment risk tolerance, and maximize your employee benefits.

—Division of Human Resources

Crimes

Weekly Crime Reports

University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

Below are the Crimes Against Persons, Crimes Against Society and Crimes Against Property from the campus report for November 30-December 6, 2020. View prior weeks' reports. —Ed.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety and includes all criminal incidents reported and made known to the University Police Department for the dates of November 30-December 6, 2020. The University Police actively patrol from Market St to Baltimore and from the Schuylkill River to 43rd St in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police. In this effort to provide you with a thorough and accurate report on public safety concerns, we hope that your increased awareness will lessen the opportunity for crime. For any concerns or suggestions regarding this report, please call the Division of Public Safety at (215) 898-4482.

12/01/20

12:41 PM

4035 Chestnut St

Unsecured package taken

12/01/20

5:15 PM

3400 Spruce St

Secured bike taken from bike racks

12/02/20

4:11 PM

4001 Walnut St

Merchandise taken without payment

12/03/20

8:05 AM

3615 Chestnut St

Computer stolen from unsecured office

12/03/20

7:44 PM

3340 Smith Walk

U-lock secured bike stolen from rack

12/04/20

8:39 PM

3400 Spruce St

U-lock secured bike stolen from rack

12/05/20

8:00 PM

202 S 42nd St

Scooter and package stolen from lobby

12/06/20

3:56 PM

200 S 39th St

Offender struck complainant in face and arm with cane/Arrest

12/06/20

4:25 PM

3930 Delancey St

Unsecured package stolen from front step

18th District

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 6 crimes against persons (4 robberies, 1 assault, and 1 aggravated assault) with 1 arrest were reported for November 30-December 6, 2020 by the 18th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

12/02/20

8:54 PM

4800 Larchwood Ave

Robbery

12/04/20

2:12 PM

4520 Walnut St

Assault

12/04/20

11:25 PM

441 S 50th St

Robbery

12/05/20

3:09 PM

S 34th & Market Sts

Robbery

12/05/20

7:18 PM

4729 Osage Ave

Robbery/Arrest

12/06/20

3:58 PM

S 39th & Walnut Sts

Aggravated Assault

 

Bulletins

Penn’s Holiday Song Connection

In 2011, Penn Libraries acquired the papers and memorabilia of songwriter and Penn alum Ray Evans and his wife Wyn (Almanac September 27, 2011). Ray Evans, half of a songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, wrote several classics of the Great American Songbook, including “Mona Lisa,” “Que Sera Sera,” and, in 1950, the holiday perennial “Silver Bells.”

Explore Mr. Evans’s archive at the Penn Libraries when they reopen in 2021.

Public Safety Property Checks and Walking Escorts

DPS Special Property Checks for Vacated Properties: Under the special checks program, DPS officers check the exterior of registered properties for signs of criminal activity or security breaches when the resident is away for winter break. You may register here: https://www.publicsafety.upenn.edu/contact/propertycheck/

The program is available without charge to residents within the Penn patrol zone, bounded by 30th Street west to 43rd Street and from Baltimore Avenue north to Market Street.
Students, faculty and staff who live in the patrol zone are encouraged to register their residence. Be sure to list your contact information, other occupants, landlord if applicable, vacancy dates, scheduled repairs, and someone other than a landlord with access or a key to the property.

Penn Police will periodically check the exterior of registered properties, for signs of criminal activity or security breaches during the break. Special checks cannot be provided for interior areas of apartment complexes. Remember to close and lock all doors and windows before you leave, and arrange for packages to be delivered elsewhere while you are away.

DPS Walking Escorts: Public Safety Security Officers will walk with you anywhere in the Penn Patrol Zone. The free Walking Escort service extends between 30th and 43rd Streets, and Market to Baltimore Avenue 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It also extends west to 50th Street, and north/south from Spring Garden to Woodland Avenue, between 10 a.m. and 12 a.m. via the University’s partnership with the University City District Ambassador Program by calling the same phone number.

Socially Distanced Walks: All officers will be wearing protective facial masks. They will also have visible photo identification badges which you can always ask to check before proceeding with the walk. The officer will maintain a safe distance during the walk for your and their protection.

How to Request a Walking Escort:

  • Ask any Public Safety Officer on patrol or inside a building
  • Call (215) 898-WALK (9255) or 511 (from campus phone)
  • Use one of the many building and blue-light phones located on and off Penn’s campus

Human Resources Special Winter Vacation Hours

Please take note of the Division of Human Resources services schedule during the upcoming winter break.

Human Resources will be closed Thursday, December 24, 2020 through Tuesday, January 5, 2021 for Penn’s extended Special Winter Vacation. However, during the break, many of our resources will still be available to University faculty and staff. Please note that these services may be closed, limited, or operating on modified schedules on December 24 and 25, 2020 and January 1, 2021. See the schedule below for details.

Have a safe, healthy, and peaceful winter break!

—Division of Human Resources

Resource

Contact Information

Services

Holiday Schedule

Penn Employee Solution Center

215-898-7372

SolutionCenter@upenn.edu
www.solutioncenter.upenn.edu

A comprehensive call center with answers to your HR and Payroll related questions

December 24-January 5: closed

Benefits Solution Center

1-866-799-2329

www.hr.upenn.edu/benefits

For questions about Penn's health and life insurance benefits, and FSAs

December 24 -25: benefits offices closed; live message service hours: 8am-10pm EST

January 1: benefits offices closed; live message service hours: 8am-10pm EST

Retirement Call Center

1-877-PENN-RET (1-877-736-6738) www.hr.upenn.edu/retirement

Penn's retirement plans

December 24: 8am-3 pm EST

December 25: closed
December 31: 8am-10pm EST
January 1: closed

Staff and Labor Relations

215-898-6093

www.hr.upenn.edu/workplace-issues

Emergency employee and labor relations issues

December 24- 25: closed

January 1: closed

(Voicemails checked daily December 24, 26-29 and January 4-5)

Employee Assistance Program

1-866-799-2329

www.hr.upenn.edu/eap

Personal and professional life issues

Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Health Advocate

1-866-799-2329

www.healthadvocate.com/upenn

Free and confidential help with navigating healthcare benefits and services

December 24-25: live message service hours: 8am-10pm EST

January 1: live message service hours: 8am-10pm EST

Care.com Backup Care and Senior Care Solutions

1-855-781-1303

penn.care.com

Temporary in-home dependent child and adult care services to help you manage your professional responsibilities

Please register and schedule care in advance.

 

Care services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Onboard @ Penn

215-898-7372

https://www.onboard.upenn.edu

A walk-in center that provides onboarding services for new hires and current Penn faculty and staff

Virtual Services: December 24-January 5: Closed

 

On-campus Services resume January 11

Virgin Pulse Member Services

1-855-920-2290 (M-F, 8am-9pm ET)

Live Chat (M-F, 2am-9pm, EST)

and web support at https://join.virginpulse.com/penn

Penn’s Be in the Know wellness platform partner and Member Services options.

December 24- 25: closed

December 31: closing at-7pm EST

January 1: closed

Calling All 2021 Summer Camps and Programs

Almanac publishes an annual supplement featuring the camps and programs taking place at Penn over the summer. Offerings listed are camps for children, teens and young adults for an array of activities, from academics and enrichment—including anthropology, business, law, veterinary medicine and music—to recreation and numerous sports camps.

To submit a 2021 summer camp or program, email almanac@upenn.edu with the following information: name of camp/ program; dates held (if multiple sessions, indicate dates for each); age range; summary of 35 words or less; cost (note any discounts); link to enrollment/application forms; deadline, if applicable, to apply/enroll; link, email and/or phone number for more information.

Almanac Schedule

This is the last issue of Almanac of the fall 2020 semester. The first issue of the spring 2021 semester will be published on January 19, 2021; before that, we will publish an Almanac Between Issues on January 12, 2021. To submit news items, events, honors, and other pieces for publication in either of those places, email almanac@upenn.edu.

Please Share Almanac

This edition of Almanac is digital-only. Please distribute to your colleagues and encourage them to subscribe to receive the E-Almanac by visiting https://almanac.upenn.edu/express-almanac. The email will include links to the newly posted material. 

No issues were printed to distribute across campus because of COVID-19. Almanac is distributed electronically each Tuesday.

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