The large-scale, saliva-based COVID-19 screening program known as Project Quaker soft-launched in early December. The partnership between Penn Medicine, Wellness at Penn, and the Center for Public Health Initiatives will result in 40,000 tests each week during the spring semester.
The 2020 Engaging Minds initiative, hosted by Penn Alumni, was held virtually this year and featured Daniel Gillion, of the School of Arts & Sciences, Amy Castro Baker, of the School of Social Policy & Practice, and Ezekiel Emanuel of Penn Medicine, whom was recently named a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Transition COVID-19 advisory board. President Amy Gutmann described the event as a “master class” for Penn’s broad alumni base.
President Amy Gutmann was one of 14 leaders in the nation to earn the Inclusive Leader Award from GlobalMindED, a national nonprofit that aims to close the equity gap by creating a diverse talent pipeline through networking, mentorships, internships, and more. “My story can and should be possible for countless other students from all backgrounds,” Gutmann said, as she virtually accepted this year’s award. Since 2004, Penn has awarded $2 billion in undergraduate aid to more than 22,000 students.
In anticipation of the spring semester, plexiglass barriers, mask signage, social distancing markers, hand sanitizer stations and more have been added throughout campus. All meals will be pre-packaged for take-out and students can pre-order food through the Penn Eats mobile app. “Most of our housing and dining and resident staff are essential employees and worked in the fall semester with the couple hundred students we had on campus, so they know what to expect and how people are going to act and react,” says Douglas Berger, executive director of the Business Service Division. “They are really committed and know the protocols.”
Dean Larry Jameson will serve a second term as executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and dean of the Perelman School of Medicine. His term extends through June 30, 2025. “We are supremely confident that Larry Jameson will continue to lead Penn Medicine to new and impressive heights, working with a spectacularly talented, dedicated, and collaborative team,” President Amy Gutmann said.
Penn seniors Annah Chollet and Yareqzy Munoz, of the College of Arts & Sciences, were selected as recipients of the Marshall Scholarship, funding up to three years of study for a graduate degree in any field and at any institution in the United Kingdom. Chollet is 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. Munoz, a graduate of the College who majored in urban studies and had minors in Latin American, Latinx, and Hispanic studies. She currently works for Legal Aid Chicago as a litigation paralegal with the Fair Housing Investigation and Enforcement Initiative.
Steve Fluharty, dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, who this year began his second term, discussed some of the successes from his first term—like the expansion of online learning; the opening of the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics; new faculty hires; promotion of research around diversity, inequality, and human well-being; and more. “The school has great momentum,” Fluharty says. “The challenge is to really maintain that momentum. Because the trajectory is terrific.”
Penn experts contemplate the ethical considerations surrounding vaccine distribution, particularly as it pertains to existing disparities and inequities in who the pandemic has hit hardest. “The vaccine is going to arrive in batches and these questions will continue to arise. We need to continue to think about ways to optimize allocation,” says Matthew McCoy, an assistant professor in Penn Medicine’s Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy.
The first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Penn Medicine. The first person from Penn Medicine to receive the vaccine was Emergency Department nurse Eric Young. After the shot, the 20 or so onlookers in the room broke out into applause.
Penn seniors Cristina Pogorevici, Paulina Ruta, and Yixi Wang, along with 2019 graduate Annie Sun, have received the Schwarzman Scholarship. The scholarship funds a one-year master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing and focuses on leadership, China, and global affairs.
In a wide-ranging interview, M. Grace Calhoun, the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W’69 Director of Athletics and Recreation, described the impact of COVID-19 on college sports and the prospects of an NCAA Tournament and Penn Relays in the spring. “I think one thing this virus has taught us is that it’s in control, and we don’t know for sure,” she says. “But what I can tell you is if we look at the NCAA championships, we are committed to doing whatever we can to sponsor them and to provide these opportunities for student-athletes, even if we have to reduce the size of the tournaments and exercise maximum flexibility and creativity.”
The 22 Master of Fine Arts students in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design have continued to work despite limited access to studio spaces and fine arts fabrication labs. They now work in home studios or book appointments in campus spaces. “An artist is an artist especially in the face of difficulties,” says Ken Lum, chair of the Department of Fine Arts. “The MFA students have taken it to heart. They have been incredibly resourceful in both their thinking and making of art.”
Three Penn researchers were honored by End Blindness 2020 for their research that led to an FDA-approved gene therapy for a retinal disease that cause visual impairments that begin in infancy. Gustavo D. Aguirre, of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Jean Bennett, of the Perelman School of Medicine, and Albert M. Maguire, also of Perelman, will share a $1 million prize that will go toward continued clinical research to advance vision science.
The New York Times wrote about WXPN’s polling of listeners and plan to broadcast a marathon show of the 2,020 greatest songs of all time. “It’s been a terrible year for experiences—pleasant, frivolous, collective ones, anyway,” writes critic Wesley Morris. “This countdown is an oasis amid the sands of monotony and worse.”