On October 22, nearly 450 people attended the CRCHUM’s 16th Scientific Day devoted to RNA biology and its clinical applications. Researchers, members of the student and university community, and partn...

The modularity of mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (mRNA-LNP) platforms has enabled their rapid adaptation from infectious disease vaccines to emerging applications in immune-mediated disorders. However, exten...

Every minute in the U.S., a woman needs a blood transfusion due to her period. Kathleen O’Neill, MD, is working to develop a novel therapy to protect women.

Organized by a recent Penn alum on the Community Advisory Board of the Penn Center for AIDS Research, the newly launched Red Ribbon Connect program entails a monthly virtual exchange for HIV/AIDS rese...

IL-12 is dispensable for CD8 T cell responses to mRNA vaccination, but an Il12 mRNA-LNP enhances CD8 T cell memory and protection.

A collaborative team from Penn Medicine and Penn Engineering have  unraveled the mathematics of a 500-million-year-old protein network that “decides” which foreign materials are friend or foe.

Podcast Episode · Why Should I Trust You? · 06/12/2025 · 1h 5m

It is expected that current medicine will be complemented or even replaced with genetic nanomedicine, which relies on the targeted delivery of nucleic acids. Delivery of mRNA is accomplished using viral and synthetic four-component vectors which deliver the nucleic acid predominantly to the liver. Our laboratories elaborated a one-component ionizable amphiphilic Janus dendrimer (IAJD) which targets the delivery of mRNA and, therefore, is complementary to viral and synthetic vectors. Here we report the study of a library of IAJDs containing derivatives of the natural gallic acid (GA) as branched hydrophobic domain and two ionizable amines connected via four linker length. The linker length mediates an electron-withdrawing inductive effect, which changes the pKa of the IAJDs. The same pKa trend was observed in a previously reported pentaerythritol (PE)-library, which has structures identical to those of the GA-library except that it does not contain the aromatic ring. Unpredictable, the GA-library of IAJDs has consistently higher pKa values than the PE-library, although the linker length-pKa dependence follows the same trend in both libraries. This trend indicates an unexpected cation−π interaction which explains some advantages of GA-IAJDs, including the 109 p/s total luciferase activity reported here.

IL-12 is dispensable for CD8 T cell responses to mRNA vaccination, but an Il12 mRNA-LNP enhances CD8 T cell memory and protection.

Manufacturing CAR T cells in the laboratory is expensive and time-consuming. An in vivo approach could get the powerful therapy to more people.

We are excited to welcome Nobel Laureate Dr. Drew Weissman from the University of Pennsylvania yet again on CureTalks.  Dr.Weissman’s groundbreaking research in messenger RNA (mRNA) technology earned ...

YouTube video by Penn Medicine

Developed by an interdisciplinary research team, this website shows how funding cuts reduce economic activity and employment nationwide

I am the Harrison McCrea Dickson, MD, and Clifford C. Baker, MD Presidential Associate Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Pennsylvania P…

A new special exhibition at the Mütter Museum marks five years since the first Covid shutdowns, honoring the healthcare workers, researchers, and…