The first thing to know about ringworm is that there are no worms involved. This generally harmless skin infection is caused by a fungus. The fungus causes a raised rash usually shaped like a ring, almost as if a worm was curled up under the skin (but again: no worms are involved). The medical name ...

The media uproar that swirled a few weeks ago around leprosy in the US drew attention away from ongoing heat and extreme weather that pose far more danger to most of us. But does a single case of a man diagnosed with leprosy in central Florida suggest that anyone anywhere in the US could get leprosy...

The liver is the largest solid internal organ in the body and performs over 500 essential functions, ranging from filtering toxins and processing nutrients to storing glucose and regulating blood clotting. Liver cancer may develop in the cells of the liver or spread to the liver from another area of...

Vaccines for COVID-19 were the first time that mRNA technology was used to address a worldwide health challenge. The Penn Medicine scientists behind that technology were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Next come all the rest of the potential new treatments made possible by th...

Some of the biggest recent innovations in modern medicine started at Penn Medicine. Penn Medicine researchers have created multiple entire new categories of treatment—the first gene therapy, the first cellular therapy (CAR T cell therapy) that reprograms the immune system to fight disease, and the t...