Penn Medicine

08/17/2026

Long before Pennsylvania Hospital's famous Pine building was erected, co-founder Benjamin Franklin helped establish the historic site, and visitors can still see a translation of his handwritten cornerstone text preserved in place today.

Curator of the Pennsylvania Hospital Museum, Stacey Peeples, shares a few details behind the building's storied past.

08/14/2026

Four years ago, a patient recovering from a ruptured arteriovenous malformation began messaging Penn Medicine on Instagram. Senior Digital Communications and Support Coordinator Deidre Gray, who responds to questions, concerns, and comments across Penn Medicine's flagship social media accounts, was ready to listen.

“She makes me feel like she’s only communicating with me—like she’s taking the time out of her day to have just a two-minute conversation with me,” he said. “Really, she just is present. It gives me strength to keep getting better—to keep healing.”

08/13/2026

Take a look inside the historic apothecary at the Pennsylvania Hospital Museum with curator Stacey Peeples. 💊💉

08/11/2026

Did you know that standard mRNA vaccines need ultra-cold storage that makes global distribution incredibly difficult? Researchers at Penn Medicine just found a way around this hurdle by swapping out traditional lipid nanoparticles for a simpler, one-component alternative.

This breakthrough keeps vaccines stable in a regular refrigerator for months at a time, opening up brand new doors for healthcare access in remote and low-resource regions.

08/10/2026

Kim touches lives every day as a Penn Medicine home health nurse. But she gave the ultimate lifesaving gift when she chose to become a living kidney donor for a stranger in need.

After the successful procedure and recovery, her recipient, Nydia, reached out with a moving letter about the remarkable impact Kim's generosity.

08/05/2026

Step behind the walls of Pennsylvania Hospital and you’ll find an unexpected sanctuary.

Lead archivist/curator Stacey Peeples gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse into our historic Physic Garden, a peaceful retreat that visitors can experience before leaving the museum.

08/03/2026

Penn Medicine scientists built an AI framework that finds CAR T cell therapy targets in weeks instead of years, and it successfully destroyed cancer cells in lab models.

This tool democratizes target discovery for smaller teams using public data, drastically accelerates timelines to cut manual screening costs, adapts easily across multiple solid tumors, and openly shares its code to drive global immunotherapy research forward.

Swipe through to see how human expertise meets advanced AI to speed up the path to new cures.

07/31/2026

Seeing a child through treatment for anxiety can be tough for parents. But families served by Penn’s Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall-Mercer (PATCH) have an ally to walk by their side. Marguerite Willis is PATCH’s first family peer specialist, helping ease the way by drawing on her own experience of her son’s treatment journey.

“I let them know: I’ve been there,” said Willis. “You’re talking to somebody who understands exactly where you are and what this feels like.”

Only three years in, the grant-funded innovation is expanding and already yielding results in boosting the number of families who show up for the first appointment—and stick with the treatment process.

07/30/2026

07/29/2026

As a home health nurse, Kim has seen living organ donation change lives from the clinical side. So she decided to become the person who made it happen for someone in need.

In March, Nydia received Kim’s kidney at Penn Medicine. The transplant was a success, but until recently, neither woman even knew the other’s name.

After both reached out wanting to meet, we were able to bring them together in person. Watch the moment they finally connected—and see what living donation is really all about.