In their evolutionary battle for survival, viruses have developed strategies to spark and perpetuate infection. Once inside a host cell, the Ebola virus, for example, hijacks molecular pathways to replicate itself and eventually make its way back out of the cell into the bloodstream, where it can spread further.
At the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show last week, with the theme ‘Rooted in Progress,’ the School of Veterinary Medicine’s importance to the state’s agricultural industry was on full display.
More than 52 million birds in the U.S. have been affected by an outbreak of avian influenza. Researchers at Penn Vet are supporting Pennsylvania’s diagnostic work and launching new investigations to better understand the virus.
More than 30 representatives from the University, including Penn Vet Dean Andrew Hoffman, traveled to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for two weeks of negotiations at this year’s United Nations climate change conference.
Drawing on multi-disciplinary expertise, the Center seeks to improve animal agriculture while mitigating climate and ecological impacts.
Both dense human populations and a plethora of wildlife can pose a challenge to marine and public health in the Galápagos Islands. With portable, user-friendly PCR technology, Penn faculty and students are training local scientists and school children to perform water quality research.
A statement on climate connection outlines the school’s process to identify, implement, and report on carbon reduction.
Penn Vet's Institute for Infectious and Zoonotic Diseases announced inaugural Martin and Pamela Winter Infectious Disease Fellowships of $35,000 each to two, early-career biomedical scientists
In a conversation with Penn Today, Penn Vet Dean Andrew Hoffman shares his perspective on the important role veterinarians can play in supporting underserved communities.
Penn Vet’s unique new Institute for Infectious Zoonotic Diseases
Colonel Eric Lombardini, C’93, G’01, V’01, battles threats overseas and in the U.S.
Dr. Michael Povelones considers how the chain of disease transmission could be halted before a pathogen ever leaves the mosquito vector.
The Marburg virus, a relative of the Ebola virus, causes a serious, often-fatal hemorrhagic fever. Transmitted by the African fruit bat and by direct human-to-human contact, Marburg virus disease currently has no approved vaccine or antivirals to prevent or treat it.
Last month, it was gorillas. Before that, it was mink. And earlier still, tigers and lions. All of these species have been confirmed to have had a diagnosis of COVID-19, infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
To effectively combat an infection, the body first has to sense it’s been invaded, and then the affected tissue must send signals to corral resources to fight the intruder.
De’Broski Herbert has a philosophy that’s guided his career researching helminths, or parasitic worms, and their interaction with their hosts’ immune systems: “Follow the worm.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic wearing on, many Americans are turning to raising poultry to fill their extra time at home. While raising backyard birds is a great idea – whether for food, for educational purposes, or as a hobby – the influx of new flocks has put humans, as well as the birds they care for, at risk of Salmonella sickness.
Seven researchers from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Vet) have been selected to receive distinctive COVID-19 Pilot Awards from the Penn Vet COVID Research Innovation Fund. The Fund, provided with critical start-up support through a generous gift from Vernon and Shirley Hill, will bolster Penn Vet’s rapidly expanding research and response program to fight the novel coronavirus.
As the rumblings of a pandemic began to be felt at the beginning of the year, scientists at Penn started work to develop a vaccine and assess possible treatments. But the scope of COVID-19 studies at the University goes much broader. Scientists whose typical work finds them investigating autoimmune disease, influenza, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, cancer, hemophilia, and more, are now applying their deep understanding of biology to confront a novel threat.
A pilot training program utilizing scent detection dogs to discriminate between samples from COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative patients is the focus of a new research initiative at Penn Vet.