November 11, 2025 Volume 72 Issue 14

Penn Live Arts at the University of Pennsylvania has announced a visionary gift from Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt, both 1979 graduates of the College of Arts & Sciences, to name the Platt Student Performing Arts Center, currently under construction at the intersection of 33rd Street and Woodland Walk.  

Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the new building will include 38,700 square feet of performance, teaching, rehearsal, and practice spaces for use by the more than 2,000 students involved in the performing arts on campus. 

Once complete, the Platt Student Performing Arts Center will be a dedicated, flexible, and modern facility for Penn’s student performing arts community, which includes dance, theatre arts, a cappella groups, and musical ensembles. 

“Julie and Marc Platt have a long history of supporting the performing arts at Penn, and we are grateful for their most recent transformative gift that will name the Platt Student Performing Arts Center,” said Penn President J. Larry Jameson. “Their generous partnership will have an immeasurable impact on generations of students by providing a creative home to rehearse, perform, and bring their artistic visions to life.” 

When it opens in early 2027, the Platt Center will include the Edward W. Kane Theatre, a 326-seat performance space with a full fly tower and orchestra pit; a 125-seat studio theatre with flexible performance and rehearsal capabilities; five rehearsal studios; a student lounge; and an atrium lobby, as well as performance support spaces and a loading dock. The building will target LEED silver certification and exemplify sustainable performing arts design. 

“As the University’s home for the performing arts, our role is to nurture, incubate, present and support the full ecosystem of performance on campus,” said Christoper A. Gruits, executive and artistic director of Penn Live Arts. “Julie and Marc’s generosity will be transformational, as more than a quarter of Penn’s undergraduate students participate in the performing arts. Expanding on their 2006 gift that created the Platt Student Performing Arts House, this new facility will greatly enhance opportunities for students to learn, create, and refine their craft in state-of-the-art spaces. We are sincerely grateful to the Platts for their ongoing generosity and enduring commitment to student artists.” 

“The arts are central to the University’s mission,” added Timothy Rommen, Penn’s vice provost for the arts. “The Platt Student Performing Arts Center will transform what is possible for our students. Thanks to Julie and Marc, we will soon have an exceptional space where students can fully embrace their creativity and showcase their considerable talents.”  

Julie Beren Platt served as vice chair of Penn’s Board of Trustees and is also on the Penn Live Arts Board of Advisors and the Penn Hillel National Board of Governors. She previously served on the Board of Advisors of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and as president of the Penn Alumni Board of Directors.

Marc E. Platt is a film, theatre, and television producer, and serves on the Director’s Advisory Council of Penn Live Arts. Both Marc and Julie Platt are former members of the Parent Leadership Committee, and four of their five children are Penn graduates. 

The Platts have supported multiple initiatives across the University, including establishing the Platt Student Performing Arts House and the Julie Beren Platt and Marc Platt Rehearsal Room in Houston Hall. In addition, they have funded initiatives at the Katz Center and endowed numerous undergraduate scholarships and professorships, and recently made two leadership gifts to support the Jewish Studies Program at the School of Arts & Sciences.

On November 5, 2025, President J. Larry Jameson and Provost John L. Jackson, Jr. announced that Antonia Villarruel’s service as the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of the University of Penn-sylvania School of Nursing was extended to June 30, 2028.

The reappointment follows a comprehensive review of the major accomplishments of Dean Villarruel’s term as dean, along with an assessment of emerging priorities and strategic opportunities for the School of Nursing, especially in support of the objectives articulated in the University’s strategic framework, In Principle and Practice.

“Dean Villarruel is widely recognized as an effective and inclusive leader who has guided the School of Nursing with clarity of vision, resilience, and a deep commitment to academic excellence,” said President Jameson. “Under her tenure, the school has made notable strides in research, education, and community impact while continuing to grow financial support for faculty and students. Her leadership is exemplified by major progress towards achieving the School of Nursing’s strategic goals.”

Notable achievements of Dean Villarruel’s tenure across a wide range of areas, include:

• Global Reputation: For nine consecutive years, Penn Nursing has been ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by the QS World University Rankings. This consistent recognition affirms Penn Nursing’s global leadership and excellence in nursing education and research.
• Leadership in Research and Innovation: Penn Nursing was ranked #1 in NIH funding in FY25, and its research awards have more than doubled over the past decade. Penn Nursing is viewed as a research powerhouse, and faculty continue to lead major initiatives across many priority domains for the school and University.
• Transformational Community Impact: The Leonard A. Lauder Community Care Nurse Practitioner Program exemplifies Penn Nursing’s commitment to health equity and community engagement. Now in its third cohort, the program trains nurse practitioners to serve underserved rural and urban communities and is building a robust alumni network to sustain its mission.

“Dean Villarruel’s many accomplishments underscore the positive effects of her accessible and decisive leadership style,” said Provost Jackson. “She is leading Penn—and the School of Nursing—forward with her great successes across fundraising and research initiatives, community engagement, and faculty and student support.”

At its November 7, 2025 meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the extension of Dean Villarruel’s term for an additional two years until June 30, 2028.

November 4, 2025

Dear Penn Community,

I am following up to provide additional information and resources regarding the cybersecurity incident impacting the Penn community. On October 31, Penn discovered that a select group of information systems related to Penn’s development and alumni activities had been compromised. Penn employs a robust information security program; however, access to these systems occurred due to a sophisticated identity impersonation commonly known as social engineering.

Penn’s staff rapidly locked down the systems and prevented further unauthorized access; however, not before an offensive and fraudulent email was sent to our community and information was taken by the attacker. Penn is still investigating the nature of the information that was obtained during this time.

It is important to note that all systems have been restored and are fully operational.

We recognize the severity of this incident and are working diligently to address it. Since the incident, Penn’s information security teams have been working around the clock. Penn has notified the FBI and continues to work with law enforcement. We are investigating the incident with the assistance of third-party cybersecurity professionals, including CrowdStrike, an industry leader in cybersecurity.

We encourage our entire community—inside and outside of Penn—to be wary of suspicious calls or emails that could be phishing attempts, particularly those that may be soliciting fraudulent donations, asking for your system credentials, or suggesting you change credentials or passwords. Also be wary of any embedded links in emails that you are not familiar with. For more information about how to keep your system and Penn’s secure, read Penn’s Information Systems & Computing (ISC) tips on protecting your information https://isc.upenn.edu/security/aware/desktop.

We have created a webpage and FAQ to keep our community informed as we continue to investigate this incident https://university-communications.upenn.edu/data-incident.

—Joshua Beeman, Interim VP of Information Technology & Interim Chief Information Officer

Since the start of the 21^st century, more than 800,000 people in the U.S. have died from firearm-related injuries, and over two million have been injured. These harms stem from homicide, suicide, and unintentional shootings, reverberating through communities and resulting in psychological, social, and economic consequences that go far beyond physical injury.

Amid these persistent challenges, JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) and JAMA Network convened a JAMA Summit in March 2025, bringing together 60 thought leaders from medicine, nursing, criminal justice, engineering, public health, law, industry, community violence interventionists, and others with a singular focus: how to substantially reduce firearm harms.

On November 3, JAMA published the JAMA Summit Report on Reducing Firearm Violence and Harms, a blueprint for action featuring experts from across sectors committed to advancing evidence-based solutions to reduce firearm-related injury and death.

“Firearm injury is a profound and preventable public health crisis that demands more than singular solutions,” said Therese Richmond, a professor in the department of biobehavioral health sciences in Penn Nursing and a member of the report’s lead writing team. “This JAMA Summit report provides a vital, evidence-based roadmap—informed by experts across fields—that charts a practical path toward dramatically reducing harm by 2040. As a nurse scientist, I recognize the immense human toll and am committed to implementing the actionable, systemic changes needed to make our communities safer.”

Summit participants shared an ambitious yet achievable vision. By 2040, firearm violence could be dramatically reduced through practical solutions grounded in evidence and accountability, recognizing constitutional protections while ensuring public safety.

The report synthesizes a rich evidence-base on policies and interventions that demonstrably reduce firearm violence and deaths and can be more systematically implemented, including:

• State laws on handgun purchaser licensing and safe firearm storage
• Strong domestic violence restraining orders and removal policies
• Extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs)
• Community violence intervention (CVI) programs
• Environmental changes, like adding green space to vacant lots and improving street lighting
• Collaborative, focused policing and enforcement strategies

The Summit Report pinpoints five essential actions to drive progress in the coming years:

• Invest in community-based interventions and address upstream drivers like housing, opportunity, and mistrust.
• Harness technologies such as biometric “smart guns,” passive detection systems, and robotics and safety tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI), while strengthening oversight for firearms as consumer products.
• Shift public and policymakers’ understanding of the preventability of firearm harms by reframing firearm violence a public health, social, and environmental issue, not solely a criminal justice problem. This includes understanding that firearm suicide is preventable by creating time and space between a person in crisis and a highly lethal means.
• Support coordinated action at federal, state, and local levels informed by scientific insight and civic engagement.
• Expand research on the effectiveness, scaling, and equity of interventions—from basic science to agent-based modeling and community impact assessment.

Wharton Executive Education has announced the launch of AI in Marketing: Creating Customer Value in an AI-Driven Enterprise, a new blended online and in-person program designed for senior leaders and executives who want to understand and apply AI to marketing and enterprise strategy.

As AI transforms how organizations create, deliver, and sustain customer value, marketing leaders are increasingly responsible for bridging technology and strategy. This program helps executives do exactly that—translating AI’s capabilities into measurable business impact.

“Marketing has always been the engine of value creation,” said Eric T. Bradlow, the program’s co-academic director, professor of marketing, and vice dean of AI & Analytics at the Wharton School. “What’s different today is how AI is reshaping that process—from customer insight to implementation—and how leaders must evolve their strategic judgment to ensure technology truly delivers on its promise.”

Delivered in a three-phase blended format that combines self-paced online learning, live virtual sessions, and an immersive on-campus experience at Wharton’s Philadelphia campus, the program offers flexibility for busy executives while maintaining Wharton’s signature rigor and engagement.

“This new blended model isn’t just about convenience or shorter travel—it’s about making learning more effective,” said Stefano Puntoni, co-academic director of the program, co-director of Wharton Human-AI Research, and the Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing. “By combining online and in-person experiences, we give participants time to absorb ideas, reflect, and arrive on campus ready for richer, deeper discussion.”

Participants will explore how AI is redefining both the practice and purpose of marketing under the guidance of Wharton’s leading faculty, including Kartik Hosanagar, Raghu Iyengar, Annie Wilson, and Gideon Nave. Drawing on research from the Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative, the curriculum examines how AI is changing classic marketing domains such as brand strategy, pricing, and customer insight, while also introducing emerging areas like digital twins, automation across the customer journey, and large language model optimization (LLMO).

Session topics include:

• AI and the Customer Experience
• AI and Search: From SEO to LLMO
• AI and the Evolving Customer Journey: What’s Next for B2B and B2C
• AI for Ideation: New Product Development
• AI and Branding
• AI for Marketing Research and Insights
• AI Agents: When Your Customer Is a Bot
• Using AI to Unlock Growth in a Mature Industry

“Marketing is likely to be the business function most transformed by generative AI,” noted Dr. Puntoni. “So much of what marketers do involves creating content and understanding customers. The overlap with AI’s capabilities is enormous, and that makes this an exciting and necessary moment for marketing leaders to rethink how they create value.”

AI in Marketing runs from March through April 2026, with the following blended learning schedule:

1. Self-Paced Online Modules—March 2026: On-demand videos and exercises introducing foundational concepts
2. Live Online Sessions—March 25-26, 2026: Interactive faculty-led discussions
3. In-Person Experience—April 8-10, 2026: Immersive workshops and peer exchanges at Wharton’s Philadelphia campus

Enrollment for the program is now open. Preferred tuition benefits are available for those who reserve their seat by January 31, 2026.

Clyde F. Barker, a former professor in the department of surgery in Penn’s School of Medicine, died on October 2 from congestive heart failure. He was 93.

Born in 1932 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Dr. Barker was the youngest of four brothers. After his father died when he was young, Dr. Barker’s older brothers pooled their money to send him to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, then to Cornell University, where he graduated with a BA in 1954. Dr. Barker then attended what is today the Weill Medical College at Cornell University, earning his MD in 1958. The same year, he began general surgery training at Penn, and remained at Penn for the remainder of his career. After completing his fellowship in vascular surgery, he joined the faculty of Penn’s School of Medicine. He rose through the ranks to become Penn’s head of transplantation in 1966, an assistant professor in 1968, an associate professor in 1969, a full professor in 1973, and chief of vascular surgery in 1981. During his time at Penn, Dr. Barker held multiple endowed professorships. In 1978, he became the J. William White Professor of Surgical Research in the school, and from 1983 to 2001, he was the John Rhea Barton Professor. After 2001, he became the Donald Guthrie Professor of Surgery. During his time at Penn, he held many other leadership roles, including as chair of clinical practices at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Through his work, research, faculty recruitment, and graduate student mentoring, Dr. Barker led Penn to become a national leader in transplantation clinical care and research. Soon after joining Penn, he began work on the immune aspects of tolerance with the pioneer immunologist Rupert Billingham, with whom he co-authored twelve pivotal papers. On February 10, 1966, Dr. Barker put his theories into practice when he implanted a living-donor kidney into recipient Howard Mehl, the first time this procedure was successful. He continued to perform complex and innovative procedures throughout his career at Penn, and went on to found Penn’s division of transplant surgery. Dr. Barker also coauthored with Ali Naji two papers in Science that demonstrated the importance of autoimmunity in the destruction of pancreas islets in diabetes and that intrathymic injection induced tolerance to islet allografts. These papers were part of a body of work that included over 400 peer-reviewed articles; Dr. Barker also served on numerous editorial boards, including that of the Annals of Surgery; was continuously funded by the NIH for 25 years; and earned five R01 grants and an NIH Merit Award.

Outside of Penn, Dr. Barker served as president of the American Surgical Association, the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, the Halsted Society, the International Surgical Group, the Philadelphia Academy of Surgeons, and the American Philosophical Society (the oldest learned society in the U.S., founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743). He also served on the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons and chaired the board of the William Maul Measey Foundation. His work was extensively recognized by his colleagues, who awarded him a Markle Scholarship, the Medallion for Scientific Achievement from the American Surgical Association, the Thomas Starzl Prize in Surgery and Immunology, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of University Surgeons. Dr. Barker was an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In his honor, Penn opened the Clyde F. Barker Transplant House as a home away from home for families of patients (Almanac December 16, 2008).

Dr. Barker was a “surgeon, innovator, scientist, leader, administrator, counselor, husband, father, athlete, historian, and friend,” said Perelman School of Medicine Dean Jonathan Epstein. “The term ‘giant’ is often applied to individuals who make important contributions to medicine or medical education. That label seems insufficient to describe Dr. Barker. Rather, he was a titan. He had a distinguished career and an extraordinary life. He has indelibly shaped our department and Penn Medicine.” In 2024, Dr. Barker and his daughter Elizabeth published Surgeons and Something More: The History of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, an insightful, witty, and sometimes critical history of his department. 

Dr. Barker is survived by his children, Fred, John, William, and Elizabeth; and six grandchildren.

Contributions can be sent to the Clyde F. Barker Transplant House at Penn Medicine. Credit card donations can be made at http://givingpages.upenn.edu/ClydeBarker. Checks payable to “Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania,” with the note “in memory of Dr. Clyde F. Barker,” should be mailed to Penn Medicine Development, Attn: Andrew Deal, 3535 Market St., Ste. 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

James G. Davis, PhD’94, a research specialist who worked in several departments in the Perelman School of Medicine, died on May 27. He was 61.

Born in Rochester, New York, Dr. Davis received his BS in molecular biology from Penn State University, then earned a PhD in neuroscience from Penn. He remained affiliated with Penn for the rest of his career. During his postdoctoral research in Penn’s department of pathology, he cloned and characterized an inner ear-specific collagen that he described in a landmark paper in Science. He joined the School of Medicine’s faculty in 1997 as a research scientist in pathology and laboratory medicine. Dr. Davis’s research spanned several fields, and before arriving at the laboratory of Joseph Bauer, a professor of physiology, in 2010, he held research associate appointments in the Stokes Research Institute at CHOP; PSOM’s departments of radiation oncology, otorhinolaryngology, and physiology; and in the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. Dr. Davis also served as a research assistant professor in the department of pathology. 

“He deeply valued his relationships with colleagues and would go to any length to help a friend in need,” said Dr. Davis’s family in a tribute. “He took great joy in being able to brighten other people’s days with a piece of chocolate or leftover cookie. He will be deeply missed by many.”

He is survived by his partner, Andi Bergeson; his sisters, Nancy (Joe) Feerrar and Beth (Gary) Durrant; his brothers, Bill (Christa Fritz) and Alan (Lori); his nieces and nephews, Joey (Abby) Feerrar, Jeffrey (Jaime) Feerrar, Derek (Beth) Fleegle, Cayla Davis, Christopher Davis, Sarah (Matt) Schneider, Rebecca Davis, Rachel Davis, Andrew Davis, and Craig (Becca) Durrant; and his great nieces and nephews, Isabella, Madelyn, Lily, Krew, Eleanor, Lincoln, Logan, Graham, Josie, and Colette.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the MEOW Project at projectmeow.org or a charity of your choice.

James A. Walden, a food service worker and manager at various Penn dining halls for 30 years, died on October 2, 2025. He was 75.

Mr. Walden joined Penn’s staff in 1969 as a food service worker at what is today Hill College House. In 1978, he became a unit manager, and for the next two decades, held court at 1920 Commons, Stouffer Dining Hall, and Penn Athletics’ Training House, where he prepared student meals for Penn sports teams and for the Penn Relays. 

He is survived by his son, James Walden, Jr., and other family members.

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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.

However, notices of alumni deaths should be directed to the Alumni Records Office at Suite 300, 2929 Walnut St., (215) 898-8136 or email record@ben.dev.upenn.edu.

The following agenda is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Any member of the standing faculty may attend SEC meetings and observe. Questions may be directed 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 Agenda
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
3–5 p.m. ET

1. Finalize the Minutes of October 15, 2025
2. Report from the Chair
3. Reports from Constituencies
4. Promoting a Culture of Belonging at Penn
   Discussion with Brighid Dwyer, SAS Vice Dean for Academic Excellence and Engagement, and Renita Miller, Executive Director for Wharton Community Engagement
5. Update from the Office of the President
   Discussion with President J. Larry Jameson
6. New Business

The University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees held its fall meeting November 6 and 7, 2025.

After Board Chair Ramanan Raghavendran called the meeting to order, Charles Howard, University Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity & Community, gave the invocation.

Mr. Raghavendran presented memorial resolutions for former Trustees Leonard A. Lauder (Almanac July 15, 2025) and Russell E. Palmer (Almanac July 15, 2025), who both passed away earlier this year.

He presented resolutions of appreciation for Michael J. Price, Richard W. Vague, and Jill Topkis Weiss, who were completing their terms as trustees. He also offered a resolution of appreciation for vice chair Julie Beren Platt on the occasion of her designation as trustee emeritus. Mr. Raghavendran also presented a resolution to amend the statutes of the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania. All seven resolutions were approved.

President J. Larry Jameson expressed appreciation for the Penn community’s contributions and feedback as part of Penn Forward, the University-wide initiative to shape Penn’s future, during his report. President Jameson presented three resolutions:

• A resolution of appreciation for Craig Carnaroli, former senior executive vice president, for 25 years of distinguished service to Penn
• A resolution of appreciation for Jeffrey Cooper, who retired from his role as vice president of government affairs after 17 years of service to Penn
• A resolution to extend the appointment of Antonia Villarruel as dean of the School of Nursing through June 30, 2028

All three resolutions were approved.

During the academic report, Provost John L. Jackson, Jr. announced the appointment of Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action Sanya Carley (Almanac October 21, 2025). Provost Jackson also presented a resolution on faculty appointments and promotions which was approved.

Executive Vice President Mark Dingfield presented the financial report for the three months ending September 30, 2025. For the consolidated University, total net assets were $34.4 billion, an increase of $2.9 billion, or 9.1%, over September 30, 2024. The change in net assets from operations reflected an increase of $163 million—$83 million, or 103%, above last year.

Operating revenue of $4.6 billion was $538 million, or 13.3%, above the prior year. Expenses of $4.4 billion were $456 million, or 11.5%, above last year.

For the academic component, the change in net assets from operations for the University reflected a $3 million increase versus a $15 million decrease last year. Total revenue of $1.2 billion was $56 million, or 4.7%, above last year. For the health system, the change in net assets from operations reflected an increase of $163 million.

Operating revenue increased $483 million, or 17%, from $2.8 billion as of September 30, 2024, to $3.3 billion.

Jonathan A. Epstein, Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine, announced the appointment of Hongjun Song as chair of the department of neuroscience and described other accomplishments.

Following the Budget and Finance Committee report, resolutions were approved to authorize transactions related to the creation of a joint venture with Tandigm Health, LLC and for the acquisition of vacant property in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

The Governance Committee offered the following resolutions which were approved:

• To re-elect Hydar Ahmad as a trustee
• To re-elect Alex Haidas as a trustee
• To elect Herald Chen as a trustee
• To elect Ryan Limaye as a trustee
• To elect Marc F. McMorris as vice chair of the Board of Trustees

Trustee and President of Penn Alumni Michael Barrett highlighted events slated for Homecoming weekend November 7-9, 2025.

Mr. Raghavendran presented resolutions for appointments to the Penn Medicine Board and Boards of Advisors all of which were approved.

For information about upcoming Trustees meetings, visit https://secretary.upenn.edu/trustees-governance.

Amy Gutmann Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor Dolores Albarracín has been honored with the 2025 Career Contribution Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP).

Dr. Albarracín is a renowned scholar in the fields of attitudes, communication, and behavior and directs both the Social Action Lab at Penn and the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s communication science division. She has joint appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication and the department of psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences.

The SPSP Career Contribution Award is a senior career award “that honors a scholar who has made major theoretical and/or empirical contributions to social psychology and/or personality psychology or to bridging these areas together,” according to the society. “This award may recognize recipients who have been under-recognized for their distinguished scholarly contributions across long and productive careers.”

Dr. Albarracín is a fellow of the SPSP, served as its president from 2022-24, and was honored with the society’s 2020 Diener Award for Outstanding Mid-Career Contributions in Social Psychology.

The University of Pennsylvania’s chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) has been recognized nationally with the Commendable Achievement Award, the second-highest honor given to student chapters by the national BMES organization. The award celebrates Penn BMES’s exceptional efforts to build community, foster professional growth, and expand the reach of bioengineering at Penn and beyond during the 2024–2025 academic year.

BMES leaders Kyulee Kim (BSE and MSE, bioengineering) and Krish Modi (BSE and MSE, bioengineering) accepted the award on behalf of the chapter at the BMES Annual Meeting, held from October 8–11 in San Diego, California.

“Being part of BMES has been one of the most meaningful parts of my time at Penn,” said Mr. Modi, current president of Penn BMES. “It’s given me the chance to connect with students, faculty, alumni, and industry professionals and to help make our department feel more connected. Receiving the Commendable Achievement Award is an exciting recognition of all the energy and care our team puts into building that community.”

“We were able to gradually expand our impact across the school these past few years,” added Ms. Kim, senior advisor and former president of Penn BMES. “Being recognized as the best club of the year by Penn Engineering and now by BMES nationally affirms that our efforts have been meaningful for the community and motivates us to continue making an impact.”

Annenberg Public Policy Center director Kathleen Hall Jamieson has received the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s William D. Carey Lectureship Award for Leadership in Science Policy. Dr. Jamieson delivered the 2025 Carey Lecture at the 49th Annual AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy in Bethesda, Maryland, on October 23.

Dr. Jamieson’s presentation, “Preempting Public Misconceptions About Science,” urged scientists and science communicators to stop being reactive in seeking to correct misinformation and, instead, seek to proactively preempt misinformation by using a “mental models” approach.

Such an approach, Dr. Jamieson said, entails exposing people to visual, verbal, or animated models to teach them about science and medicine so that when they later encounter consequential misconceptions, they already have the tools in place to recognize and identify them as such. In short, she said, a mental model approach can blunt misconceptions by modeling strength of evidence, modeling how the integrity of scientific knowledge is tested and protected, and modeling what science knows.

Dr. Jamieson offered examples that included a chart developed by FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, that graphically depicts the vaccine approval process used by the Food and Drug Administration. Another graphic, developed by Zachary Reese at the policy center, explains the relative strength of different types of scientific evidence and “why some medical studies are better than others.” 

Dr. Jamieson’s lecture drew on work that will be reported in the book Safeguarding Science (under contract with Oxford University Press), which she is co-authoring with Natalie Jomini Stroud, a professor in the department of communication studies and the School of Journalism and Media in the Moody College of Communication in the University of Texas at Austin.

The AAAS Forum draws participants from government, academia, industry, and the science and engineering communities.

Dr. Jamieson, the Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, is a member of the Board of Directors of the AAAS and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2020, the National Academy of Sciences awarded Dr. Jamieson its Public Welfare Medal for her “non-partisan crusade to ensure the integrity of facts in public discourse and development of the science of scientific communication to promote public understanding of complex issues.”

The Carey Lecture was created in 1989 by the AAAS board of directors. Past Carey Lecturers include former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz, former AAAS CEO and former U.S. Representative Rush Holt, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Harold E. Varmus, molecular biologist Maxine Singer, and physicist and former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute president Shirley Ann Jackson.

Penn Arts & Sciences’ Office of Academic Excellence and Engagement (OAEE) has received the Local Economic Impact Award from Penn Procurement Services. The honor recognizes initiatives and programs bolstering local businesses and broader relationship-building between the University and the wider Philadelphia community. Helping small and local efforts gain footing with Penn can be daunting and the award singles out significant efforts to bridge that gap and form connections with the community. 

The Office of Academic Excellence and Engagement has helped “ensure that businesses get a voice here on campus, where there is often not room made for them,” according to supplier engagement manager Vince Gumbs, Jr. He went on to praise Dr. Dwyer and Ms. Saunders for spearheading those efforts on behalf of OAEE. 

“I’m proud that we have been able to support local businesses in Philadelphia and spread the word about their great work to our colleagues at Penn,” said Dr. Dwyer.  “The impact of gaining business at Philadelphia’s largest private employer can dramatically change the trajectory of a small business and help the owner grow their company.”

Ms. Saunders similarly emphasized the value of working within the city to build ties. “As a former business owner, I understand that support from the local community can be the lifeblood for small businesses,” she said. “I also believe in Penn’s commitment to being a good neighbor throughout the Philadelphia region. We see this initiative as a way to introduce staff to local vendors and continue to build community throughout SAS.”

The award was given during the Penn’s Local Business Exchange, held on October 8 at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. This year’s theme was “Fueling Business Growth Locally.” Numerous stakeholders from the wider Philadelphia business community attended in support of efforts to buy locally and continue boosting the region’s economy.

Frilly aprons, spotless kitchens, and homemade bread fresh out of the oven are some of the hallmarks of the online tradwife movement. Tradwives (short for “traditional wives”) document their lives on Instagram and TikTok, calling for a return to “simpler times,” but a powerful emotion simmers beneath the surface: rage.

In a new paper published in Feminist Theory, Sarah Banet-Weiser, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, and Sara Reinis, a doctoral student at the Annenberg School, analyze tradwives’ dissatisfaction with women’s place in society that mirrors feminists’ frustration with living within a patriarchal and inequitable system. 

“Tradwives perform serenity, but their message is often fueled by a quiet fury—not against patriarchy, but against feminism’s perceived failures,” Dean Banet-Weiser said. “What’s striking is that the issues they point to—hustle culture, the lack of care infrastructure, and the devaluation of reproductive labor—are the very concerns mainstream feminism also addresses. Both groups are responding to the same broken system, but in very different ways. While each is rooted in women’s rage, the direction and consequences of that rage diverge sharply.”

From April to September 2024, the researchers analyzed 50 accounts across Instagram and TikTok that directly embrace the title of tradwife and create posts explicitly promoting a lifestyle characterized by “traditional gender roles.” In analyzing this content, Dean Banet-Weiser and Ms. Reinis document the many ways that tradwives and feminists mirror one another: each group frustrated with gender inequalities, but each advocating a radically different solution to these realities.

One common theme on the tradwife accounts is the rejection of hustle culture, a phenomenon they attribute to feminism itself rather than a capitalist appropriation of feminist language. On many tradwife accounts, feminism is presented as a nefarious force pushing women into a hostile labor force. In a tradwife influencer’s caption on a video of her making pasta from scratch, she writes, “There are more options than being enslaved to corporate life and modern feminism...” In another video, a tradwife influencer tells the camera, “As a woman, I was lied to. I was taught my value was found in a workplace serving a boss and others.”

Taking up a “traditional” life is presented as freedom by tradwives, even when their content extols the importance of “serving” a husband or children, the researchers point out. “Such claims paint submission to some male force, whether it be a boss or a husband, as inevitable,” said Ms. Reinis. “In an ironic twist on classic feminist critiques of women’s value being tied to subservient roles, many creators leverage the same critique to paint full-time work as another mode of thankless servitude.”

Coupled with this pushback on corporate hustle culture, tradwives also rage against society’s devaluing of “women’s work” in the home, a critique that has long been a central tenet of feminist thought, the researchers say.

Feminists agree with this sentiment, Dean Banet-Weiser said, and have been arguing it for years. She and Reinis cite the 1970s “Wages for Housework” feminist movement, which called for domestic work both inside and outside the house to be acknowledged and compensated.

While tradwives ask that domestic labor be recognized as labor, many also describe it as a divine calling, a duty that women are destined to perform, paid or not, and blame feminism for “degrading motherhood,” the researchers note. “It’s obvious that the women who founded the feminist movement did not value motherhood nor see it as a legitimate contribution to society…neither does feminism today,” an influencer said in a video.

“From this ahistorical and misconstrued vantage point, embracing traditional gender roles is the only space where reproductive labour enjoys the honored status it deserves,” Ms. Reinis said. “In the mirror world of tradwives, feminism is construed as a force that pushes domestic labor into the sphere of unimportance and invisibility.”

Tradwives cite the lack of comprehensive maternity leave policies and exorbitant childcare prices in the U.S. as another reason to justify their lifestyle, the researchers say. But rage at this crisis of care is a core pillar of many feminist movements, they argue: feminists want all families to have access to affordable care, whether or not they live “traditional” lives.

“The material and economic conditions for parents in the U.S. are woefully inadequate,” Dean Banet-Weiser said. “From the tradwife perspective, this is fodder to advance their argument that women belong in the home, but for many feminist movements, it is a reason to insist on interdependencies rather than individualism, to push for federal maternity leave policies, universal pre-K, or childcare subsidies.”

Tradwives see fighting for these changes as unnecessary as long as the tradwife movement catches on. In one video, a tradwife tells the camera, “We don’t need more affordable childcare. We need more moms staying home and dads supporting it.” Another influencer claims that “daycare is a way to disassociate mother & baby, and destroy the family unit.”

Adapted from an Annenberg School for Communication news article by Hailey Reissman, October 30, 2025. 

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the delivery vehicles of modern medicine, carrying cancer drugs, gene therapies and vaccines into cells. Until recently, many scientists assumed that all LNPs followed more or less the same blueprint, like a fleet of trucks built from the same design. 

Now, in Nature Biotechnology, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Waters Corporation have characterized the shape and structure of LNPs in unprecedented detail, revealing that the particles come in a surprising variety of configurations. That variety isn’t just cosmetic: As the researchers found, a particle’s internal shape and structure correlates with how well it delivers therapeutic cargo to a particular destination.

“Treating LNPs like one model of car has worked, as evidenced by the millions of people these particles have helped, but LNPs are not one-size-fits-all for every RNA therapy,” said Penn Engineering’s Michael J. Mitchell, an associate professor of bioengineering and a co-senior author of the paper. “Just as pickups, delivery vans and freight trucks best suit different journeys, we can now begin to match LNP designs to particular therapies and tissues, making these particles even more effective.”

“These results deliver a more fundamental understanding of how the composition and shape of these therapeutic particles relate to their biology,” added Kushol Gupta, a research assistant professor of biochemistry and biophysics in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and the paper’s other co-senior author. “These particles have already proven themselves in the clinic, and these insights will make them even more powerful by helping us tailor delivery to specific diseases more quickly.” In recent years, the Mitchell Lab, among others, has found that different LNP formulations have varying biological effects. Adding phenol groups, for instance, reduces inflammation, while branched ionizable lipids improve delivery.

“It’s almost like recipe development,” said Marshall Padilla, a bioengineering postdoctoral fellow and the new paper’s first author. “We’ve known that different ingredients and techniques change the outcomes.” But understanding why certain chemical tweaks lead to particular biological effects has proved challenging. “These particles are something of a ‘black box,’” added Dr. Padilla. “We’ve had to develop new formulations mostly by trial and error.” 

To visualize the particles, the researchers employed multiple techniques. Past studies, by contrast, typically relied on a single method, like freezing the particles in place.  Because of the particles’ size—it would take thousands of LNPs to encircle a human hair—prior work also frequently tagged the particles with fluorescent materials and averaged measurements, at the risk of altering the particles’ shape and obscuring variations. 

“We needed to combine multiple, fundamentally dissimilar techniques that left the particles intact in solution,” said Dr. Gupta. “That way, we could be confident that agreement between the methods showed us what the particles really looked like.”

The researchers examined four “gold-standard” LNP formulations, including those used in the COVID-19 vaccines and Onpattro, an FDA-approved therapy for a rare genetic disease. One visualization technique, sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation (SV-AUC), involved spinning the LNPs at high speeds to separate them by density. Another, field-flow fractionation coupled to multi-angle light scattering (FFF-MALS), gently separated the LNPs by size and measured how the nucleic acid was distributed across the different particles. 

A third, size-exclusion chromatography in-line with synchrotron small-angle x-ray scattering (SEC-SAXS), allowed the researchers to study the internal structure of LNPs by hitting them with powerful beams of x-rays at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility at DOE’s Brookhaven National Lab. 

“We used to think LNPs looked like marbles,” said Dr. Gupta, summarizing the results. “But they’re actually more like jelly beans, irregular and varied, even within the same formulation.” 

Once the researchers had characterized the LNP formulations, they tested their effects in a range of targets, from human T cells and cancer cells to animal models.

Hannah Yamagata, a doctoral student in the Mitchell Lab, found that certain particle internal structures corresponded with improved outcomes, like more cargo being offloaded or more deliveries reaching the target. “Interestingly, it varied depending on the context,” said Ms.  Yamagata. 

Some LNP formulations performed better in immune cells, for instance, while others showed greater potency in animal models. “The right model of LNP depends on the destination,” added Ms. Yamagata. 

Adapted from a Penn Engineering blog article by Ian Scheffler, October 23, 2025. 

Films

13        L'Immensità; a family drama with a transgender subplot set in 1970 in Rome, Italy; Italian with English subtitles; 6 p.m.; room 543, Williams Hall (Cinema & Media Studies; Italian Studies).

17        Heightened Scrutiny; follows Chase Strangio, ACLU attorney and the first out transgender person to argue before the Supreme Court, as he fights a high-stakes legal battle to overturn Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth; 2 p.m.; room 100, Golkin Hall; register: https://tinyurl.com/heightened-scrutiny-nov-17 (EIDOS LGBT+ Health Initiative; Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies; LGBT Center; Penn Carey Law).

18        Marriage Cops; intimate observational documentary follows three couples whose stories range from everyday domestic conflicts to harrowing cases of violence and neglect; features discussion with co-directors Cheryl Hess and Shashwati Talukdar; noon; living room, Penn Women’s Center (South Asia Studies; Penn Libraries; Cinema & Media Studies; Penn Women’s Center).

Fitness & Learning

12        Cold-Emailing Workshop; undergraduate students are invited to learn how to reach out to professors, craft compelling emails, and take the first step toward finding your research opportunity at Penn; 5:30 p.m.; room 110, ARCH (Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships).

13        Listening Across Difference: Building Your Empathy Toolkit; an afternoon of storytelling and conversation on listening and political empathy; 1 p.m.; room 208, ARCH; register: https://tinyurl.com/paideia-workshop-nov-13 (SNF Paideia Program).

Graduate School of Education

Online webinars. Info: https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news-and-events/events-calendar.

17        Urban Teaching Residency, MSEd Virtual Information Session; 7 p.m.

            Urban Education (Online), MSEd Virtual Information Session; 7 p.m.

Morris Arboretum & Gardens

In-person events at Morris Arboretum & Gardens. Info: https://www.morrisarboretum.org/see-do/events-calendar.

15        Winter Wellness Family Walk; a joyful family stroll through wintry landscapes in the arboretum; 10:30 a.m.

Readings & Signings

12        Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft and Strategy; Francis J. Gavin, Johns Hopkins University; 4 p.m.; Perry World House; register: https://tinyurl.com/gavin-talk-nov-12 (Perry World House).

Kelly Writers House

In-person events at Kelly Writers House. Info: https://writing.upenn.edu/wh/calendar/1125.php.

13        City Living, City Writing from Weimar Berlin to Philadelphia Today; Daniel Brook, journalist and author; Matt Katz, investigative reporter; noon.

Special Events

13        Middle East Center 60^th Anniversary Celebration; celebrate the Middle East Center, which, since its founding in 1965, has been a vital hub for scholarship, teaching, and public engagement at the University of Pennsylvania; 5:30-7:30 p.m.; room 223, Fisher-Bennett Hall (Middle East Center).

Talks

12        Discrete Generative Models for Programmable Molecule Design; Pranam Chatterjee, computer & information science; noon; room 414, Amy Gutmann Hall, and Zoom webinar; join: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/95189835192 (ASSET Center).

            Rethinking the Future of Cooling; Dorit Aviv, architecture; noon; room TBA, Steinberg-Dietrich Hall; register: https://tinyurl.com/aviv-talk-nov-12 (Penn Institute for Urban Research).

            Populist Conservatism—What is it? Why Has it Risen? And What’s the Future? Abigail Ball, American Compass; Judge Glock, Manhattan Institute; Patrick Ruffini, Echelon Insights; 4 p.m.; room 209 College Hall; register: https://tinyurl.com/paideia-populism-nov-12 (SNF Paideia Program).

            When a Symmetry Breaks; Hitoshi Murayama, University of California, Berkeley; 3:30 p.m.; room A8, DRL (Physics & Astronomy).

            The Last of the Independents? What’s at Stake in President Trump’s Assertion of Power to Remove Leaders of Independent Agencies; panel of speakers; 4:30 p.m.; room 100, Golkin Hall; register: https://tinyurl.com/carey-law-talk-nov-12 (Penn Carey Law).

13        Semiconducting Materials for Opto/Bioelectronic Applications; Chemistry, Processing and Device Engineering; Antonio Facchetti, Georgia Institute of Technology; 10:30 a.m.; Wu & Chen Auditorium, Levine Hall (Materials Science & Engineering).

            Learning in Strategic Queuing; Eva Tardos, Cornell University; noon; room 414, Amy Gutmann Hall, and Zoom webinar; join: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/98220304722 (IDEAS Center; Statistics & Data Science; PennAI).

            Small Intestine, Big Secrets: Revealing Host-Microbe Interactions During GI Infection; Daniel Beiting, Penn Vet; noon; room 109, Leidy Laboratory, and Zoom webinar; info: https://tinyurl.com/beiting-talk-nov-13 (Biology).

            DNA-Based Molecular Measurement Tools; Peng Yin, Harvard University; 3:30 p.m.; room 216, Moore Building (Bioengineering).

            Nottoway Diaspora, Indian Land Sales, and Tribal Trustees; Buck Woodard, William & Mary College; 3:30 p.m.; McNeil Center for Early American Studies; register: https://tinyurl.com/woodard-talk-nov-13 (McNeil Center for Early American Studies).

            Re-Cultivating Industrial Sites: The Structured Shapes of Time; Yichun Liu, Harvard University; 6:30 p.m.; Plaza Gallery, Meyerson Hall (Architecture).

18        Pets, People, and Their Shared Environment; Laurel Redding, Penn Vet; Heather Fowler, National Pork Board; noon; Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/redding-fowler-nov-18 (Penn Vet; One Health@Penn Research Community).

            Citation Analysis as Collections Analysis in Law School Libraries; Jacob Sayward, University of Minnesota Law Library; 3 p.m.; Zoom webinar; register: https://tinyurl.com/sayward-talk-nov-18 (Penn Carey Law).

            Antitrust During the Second Trump Administration; Herbert Hovenkamp, Aviv Nevo, and Christopher Yoo, Penn Carey Law; 4:30 p.m.; room 214, Gittis Hall, or Zoom webinar; register: https://penncareylaw.cventevents.com/QO4Pwb (Penn Carey Law Antitrust Association).

            Family Structure and Political Development in Republican Rome and Zhou China; Jordan Christopher, Loyola Marymount University; 4:45 p.m.; room 402, Cohen Hall (East Asian Languages & Civilizations).

            The Centrifugal/Centripetal Dialectic of Racial Capitalisms: The Political Economy of Rohingya Mass Violence; Elliott Prasse-Freeman, National University of Singapore; 5:15 p.m.; room 402, Cohen Hall; register: https://tinyurl.com/prasse-freeman-talk-nov-18 (Center for East Asian Studies).

            From Theory to Practice after October 7: Informal Diplomacy and Transnational Advocacy; Jonathan L. Dekel-Chen, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; 5:15 p.m.; Perry World House; register: https://tinyurl.com/dekel-chen-talk-nov-18 (Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies).

            Ruins and Other Poems by Samer Abu Hawwash: Translating Palestinian Poetry in a Time of Genocide; Huda Fakhreddine, Middle Eastern languages & cultures; 5:30 p.m.; location TBA; register: https://mec.sas.upenn.edu/events (Middle East Center).

Chemistry

In-person events in Carolyn Hoff Lynch Lecture Hall, 1973 Chemistry Building. Info: https://www.chem.upenn.edu/events.

12        Targeting Cytochrome P450s: From Biophysics to Selective Inhibitors and Photons; Edith Phoebe Glazer, North Carolina State University; noon.

Economics

In-person events. Info: https://economics.sas.upenn.edu/events.

12        Spillover Effects in Complementary Markets: A Study of the Indian Cell Phone and Wireless Service Markets; Debi Prasad Mohapatra, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; 3:30 p.m.; room 100, PCPSE.

17        Empirical Bayes Estimation in Heterogeneous Coefficient Panel Models; Sokbae (Simon) Lee, Columbia University; 4:30 p.m.; room 200, PCPSE.

GRASP Lab

Info: https://www.grasp.upenn.edu/events/month/2025-11/.

12        Computational Fabrication and Assembly for In Situ Manufacturing; Martin Nisser, University of Washington; 3 p.m.; room 307, Levine Hall, and Zoom webinar.

Mathematics

Various locations. Info: https://www.math.upenn.edu/events.

11        Inducing t-Structures On Semiorthogonal Components; Shengxuan Liu, University of Michigan; 3:30 p.m.; room 3C2, DRL.

12        Nonlinear Harmonic Maps and the Energy Identity; Aaron Naber, Institute of Advanced Study; 3:30 p.m.; room A4, DRL.

14        The Fano of Lines and the Kuznetsov Component of Cubic Fourfolds; Kimoi Kemboi, Princeton University; 3:30 p.m.; room 4N30, DRL.

18        Intersection Theory of Compactified Jacobians; Younghan Bae, University of Michigan; 3:30 p.m.; room 3C2, DRL.

This is an update to the November AT PENN calendar, which is online now. To submit an event for a future AT PENN calendar or weekly update, email almanac@upenn.edu.

Division of Public Safety
University of Pennsylvania Police Department Crime Report

About the Crime Report: Below are the Crimes Against Persons and/or Crimes Against Property from the campus report for October 27-November 2, 2025. The Crime Reports are available at: https://almanac.upenn.edu/sections/crimes. Prior weeks’ reports are also online. –Eds.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety (DPS) and contains all criminal incidents reported and made known to the Penn Police, including those reported to the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) that occurred within our patrol zone, for the dates of October 27-November 2, 2025. The Penn Police actively patrol from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street 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 DPS at (215) 898-7297. You may view the daily crime log on the DPS website.

Penn Police Patrol Zone
Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from 30^th Street to 43^rd Street

Philadelphia Police 18th District
Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 9 incidents were reported for October 27-November 2, 2025 by the 18^th District, covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

The Division of Public Safety offers resources and support to the Penn community. DPS developed a few helpful risk reduction strategies outlined below. Know that it is never the fault of the person impacted (victim/survivor) by crime.

• See something concerning? Connect with Penn Public Safety 24/7 at (215) -573-3333.
• Worried about a friend’s or colleague’s mental or physical health? Get 24/7 connection to appropriate resources at (215) 898-HELP (4357).
• Seeking support after experiencing a crime? Call Special Services - Support and Advocacy resources at (215) 898-4481 or email an advocate at specialservices@publicsafety.upenn.edu
• Use the Walking Escort and Riding services available to you free of charge.
• Take a moment to update your cellphone information for the UPennAlert Emergency Notification System
• Download the Penn Guardian App which can help Police better find your location when you call in an emergency.
• Access free self-empowerment and defense courses through Penn DPS.
• Stay alert and reduce distractions; using cellphones, ear buds, etc. may limit your awareness.
• Orient yourself to your surroundings. (Identify your location, nearby exits, etc.)
• Keep your valuables out of sight and only carry necessary documents.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act requires universities to make available to students, for each course, the International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) and price information for required/recommended books and supplemental materials.

To comply with this requirement, the University of Pennsylvania works closely with Barnes & Noble Education, managers of the Penn Bookstore, to maintain a simple and cost-effective process to provide ISBNs to our students. Through the bookstore’s online system, students have access to a complete list of materials for their courses, along with the ISBNs for each listed text. Textbook information can be provided to other vendors, and students are in no way required to purchase their books at the Penn Bookstore. Faculty can also indicate that no course materials are required, which helps to ensure the completeness of the University’s reporting. 

We greatly appreciate the efforts of Penn faculty members to work with the Penn Bookstore to provide this important information for our students. For additional information, or to submit your course materials directly, you can visit: http://www.upenn.edu/coursematerials.

—John L. Jackson, Jr., Provost
—Russell Composto, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
—Kelly Jordan-Sciutto, Vice Provost for Graduate Education

The Diabetes Research Center (DRC) of the University of Pennsylvania is now accepting applications for support to perform pilot and feasibility studies in diabetes and related endocrine and metabolic disorders.

The application deadline is Monday, December 8, 2025, by 5 p.m.

The P&F program is intended to support new investigators and established investigators new to diabetes research. Established diabetes investigators pursing high impact/high risk projects or projects that are a significant departure from their usual work are also eligible for support under the DRC P&F program. Applications are welcome from basic, clinical and translational investigators. Grants will be reviewed by the DRC Pilot and Feasibility Review Committee, as well as internal and external reviewers. The maximum funding level is $60,000.

For detailed information and instructions, visit https://www.med.upenn.edu/idom/drc/pilots.html.  

Investigators who are currently in the first year of support through this P&F program may reapply for an additional year of funding. Continuation requests need to be carefully justified and will be considered as competing renewals.

For more information please contact Lisa Henry, program manager, at henryli@pennmedicine.upenn.edu; Patrick Seale, director of the program, at sealep@pennmedicine.upenn.edu; or Doris Stoffers, associate director of the program, at stoffers@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.