The problems of our times—from fighting global epidemics to preparing for natural disasters, from revitalizing cities to revolutionizing medicine—cannot be understood or solved by insulated thinking. Students and faculty need the tools of multiple disciplines to understand these challenging issues and to contribute to their resolution.

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With 12 schools located on one compact, urban campus, Penn is uniquely positioned for interdisciplinary teaching and research that helps advance the world. Benjamin Franklin was the first thinker to conceive of a university with a strong foundation in both the Arts and Sciences and specialized, professional degrees. Penn students take practical advantage of this vision, integrating their interests and approaching problems from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Cultivating eminent, interdisciplinary faculty

The Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) program was founded in 2005 to recruit the best teacher-scholars whose transformative work crosses traditional boundaries. PIK professors have joint appointments between schools and are interdisciplinary leaders in the classroom and in the laboratory.

So far, the University has recruited 14 distinguished faculty members as PIK professors. Whether in applied mathematics, biomedical ethics, cultural anthropology, human genetics, race and gender studies, stem cell biology, nanoscale research, obesity, or biological criminology, these eminent faculty are addressing the most complex problems of the world today.

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Penn's PIK Professors are:

Shelley L. Berger
	The Daniel S. Och University Professor, a world-renowned genetics researcher. Dr. Berger's appointment is shared between the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine and the Department of Biology in the School of Arts and Sciences. She is a leader in the rapidly evolving field of epigenetics, the study of genetic changes caused by factors other than genes. Her research focuses on the role of chromatin (the combination of DNA and proteins found in chromosomes) in regulating genes, especially in cancer and viral infections, and brings together genetics and biochemistry to inform the study of critical diseases—for example, the changes that occur when tumors progress from benign to metastatic states—and ultimately lead to the development of new treatments.
Philippe Bourgois
	The Richard Perry University Professor, a medical anthropologist. He holds appointments in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Bourgois published Righteous Dopefiend in 2009- a book chronicling his NIH-funded, ethnographic research documenting the lives of homeless drug addicts in Philadelphia. He holds several large, multi-year grants from the NIH to conduct fieldwork and study HIV risk, poverty, and substance abuse, including $1.25 million on substance abuse and poverty in North Philadelphia and a multi-million dollar grant to implement HIV prevention interventions in the Philadelphia County Jail. He has also admitted the first round of MD/PhD students in a new, NIH-funded interdisciplinary program at Penn that conjoins the Department of Anthropology with the Medical Science Training Program.
Ezekiel J. Emanuel
	One of the world’s leading scholars of bioethics and the vice provost for global initiatives, this Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor shares appointments between the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, which he will chair in the Perelman School of Medicine, and the Department of Health Care Management in the Wharton School.
John Gearhart
	The James W. Effron University Professor, a renowned researcher in regenerative medicine, shares appointments between the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine and the Department of Animal Biology in the School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Gearhart is a founding member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research and led a research team that first identified and isolated human embryonic stem cells in 1998. He serves on a number of advisory boards and committees of foundations, institutes and professional societies involved in stem cell research and policy and science outreach and as a consultant or expert witness for many governmental agencies, states, and foreign countries.
Robert Ghrist
	The Andrea Mitchell University Professor, an expert in applying mathematical methods to real-world engineering challenges. He holds joint appointments in the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Department of Mathematics in the School of Arts and Sciences. In addition to a number of teaching awards, Dr. Ghrist was the recipient of an NSF CAREER award, which is the NSF's most prestigious award in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars by integrating education and research at their institutions. He was named a "top 50" researcher by Scientific American in 2007, and is co-investigator on an $8 million federal DARPA (the research and development arm of the Department of Defense) grant. He has also taken a lead role in redefining the curriculum for undergraduate engineering majors at Penn.
Karen Glanz
	The George A. Weiss University Professor, is a globally influential public health scholar who leads a new Penn center focused on research and training in health behaviors and holds a joint appointment in the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Nursing. Dr. Glanz has published more than 250 journal articles and book chapters—publishing 17 new peer-reviewed research papers since joining Penn in 2009. She has been awarded more than $20 million in federal funding from the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control during the past 10 years to study cancer prevention and control, theories of health behavior, obesity and the built environment, social and health policy, and new health communication technologies. Penn's new Center for Health Behavior Research is directed by Dr. Glanz and includes faculty from seven of Penn's 12 schools.
John L. Jackson Jr.
	The Richard Perry University Professor, is a cultural anthropologist and documentary filmmaker with appointments at the Annenberg School for Communication and School of Arts and Sciences, with affiliation to the Center for Africana Studies. Dr. Jackson's work studies the intersection of culture, film, and communication. In 2009, he received the James Brister Society Dr. Gloria Twine Chisum Award for Distinguished Faculty for exemplary leadership in promotion of scholarship and diversity at Penn.
Barbara Mellers
	A globally recognized scholar of judgment and decision-making, this I. George Heyman University Professor shares appointments between the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Marketing in The Wharton School. Mellers’ research examines the factors that influence judgments and decisions, including emotions, self-interest, past mistakes, sensitivities to risk and perceptions of fairness.  She is an author of almost 100 articles and book chapters, co-editor of two books and a member of numerous prestigious editorial boards.
Jonathan Moreno
	The David and Lyn Silfen University Professor, a biomedical ethicist who holds appointments in medical ethics in the Perelman School of Medicine and in the history and sociology of science in the School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Moreno was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2006, is a past president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, and served as an advisor to President Barack Obama's transition team in the Department of Health and Human Services in 2008-2009. He has published more than 250 papers, reviews, and book chapters, and is a frequent commentator on important bioethical issues.
Christopher B. Murray
	The Richard Perry University Professor, a nanoscale researcher who holds appointments in the Department of Chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences and in the Department of Materials Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Dr. Murray was recognized for his development of nanocrystalline materials by Technology Review as one of the top researchers under 35 and is continuing his work in nanotechnology at Penn.
Adrian Raine
	The Richard Perry University Professor, a psychologist and neuroscientist known for integrating varied perspectives to predict violent behavior. Dr. Raine holds appointments in the Department of Criminology in the School of Arts and Sciences and in the Department of Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine. He was named a Fellow of the Academy of Experimental Criminology in 2007 and has a $4 million federal grant for a unique study that looks at omega-3's effects in reducing aggression in children.
Dorothy Roberts
	Dorothy Roberts is an award-winning teacher and scholar who writes and speaks about some of the most important and challenging issues facing our society, including civil rights, reproductive rights, poverty, child welfare and family law. As the George A. Weiss University Professor, she shares appointments between the Penn Law School, where she will also be the inaugural Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander ED’18, GR’21, L’27 Professor of Civil Rights, and the department of sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences.
Philip Tetlock
	An award-winning scholar of political psychology and organizational behavior, this Leonore Annenberg University Professor shares appointments between the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Management in The Wharton School. Dr. Tetlock’s path-breaking work exemplifies the power of integrating knowledge. He brings together psychology, politics and organizational behavior in innovative research that defines entirely new areas of intellectual inquiry.
Sarah Tishkoff
	The David and Lyn Silfen University Associate Professor, a leading global expert in human genetics, shares appointments between the Department of Genetics in the Perelman School of Medicine and the Department of Biology in the School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Tishkoff is the recipient of the 2009 NIH Pioneer Award, designed to support individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose pioneering – and possibly transforming – approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research. Most recently, she and her team of international scientists published the largest African genetic study ever undertaken, which reveals Africa to be the most genetically diverse place on earth and pinpointing the origin of modern human migration, setting the stage for future biomedical research on disease, diet and drug treatments.

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Fostering cross-disciplinary classrooms

Fluency in multiple academic disciplines will be the mark of successful future leaders. Great engineers must also be great managers. Successful investors and entrepreneurs must be able to navigate global politics and economics. All effective leaders must grasp the essentials of the sciences.

The College's general education curriculum engages students in a variety of fields across the arts and sciences and includes two interdisciplinary requirements: one course that integrates the humanities and social sciences across the sectors of society, history and tradition, and arts and letters; and one course that blends the natural sciences and mathematics spanning the living and physical worlds.

Penn's emphasis on interdisciplinary learning has led to the development of unique academic programs. The Visual Studies Program in the School of Arts and Sciences, for example, offers a challenging curriculum connecting the theory, practice and culture of "seeing." The program encompasses a broad diversity of subjects including philosophy, cognitive science, art history, and psychology.

Joint-degree programs long have been a Penn trademark, and almost half of the majors in the College of Arts and Sciences are interdisciplinary. On average, about 40 percent of Penn's undergraduate students complete interdisciplinary degree programs. The largest interdisciplinary undergraduate major is Communication, which has also had the most growth in recent years. Other programs that have grown rapidly in recent years include Philosophy, Political Science and Economics; Urban Studies; Visual Studies; Comparative Literature; and Cognitive Science.

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Key interdisciplinary undergraduate educational programs include:

Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business

Integrating business education, advanced language training and a liberal arts education, Huntsman students receive degrees in International Studies and Economics, and specialize in the area of the world in which their target language is spoken. Huntsman students count among them Rhodes, Marshall and Fulbright Scholars and are accepted to select graduate and professional programs.

Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership

Founded in 2009, IGEL offers a minor in Sustainability and Environmental Management. Penn and Wharton faculty, in consultation with business, NGO, and government representatives, have established a global initiative on business and the natural environment. With leadership from the business school, IGEL brings a unique business orientation and top intellectual/research capacity to bear on some of the most important, long-term environmental challenges facing the future of humanity today.

Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology

Students enrolled in the M&T Program pursue degrees from Wharton and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, creating a true interdisciplinary learning experience. This combination enables students not only to understand engineering and business concepts, but also to understand the integration of the two and how this intersection shapes our world.

Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management

The Vagelos program was founded with the idea that if the full benefits of science are to be realized, discoveries made at the laboratory bench must be taken to market and made accessible to society at large. Students enrolled in this program develop both scientific and managerial skills so that they become decision makers who can understand and advance scientific innovations as well as manage and promote them.

Nursing and Health Care Management Program

This innovative degree program includes science and clinical courses unique to the School of Nursing, business and health care management courses from the Wharton School, and general education courses in the School of Arts and Sciences.  In a highly specialized curriculum, students gain expertise in both patient care and health care management.

At the graduate level, there are a number of interdisciplinary graduate groups which offer a selected area of focus, pulling coursework and faculty from across disciplines. Examples: Neuroscience; Art & Archeology of the Mediterranean World; Criminology; and East Asian Languages and Civilizations.

The first joint-degree program in international management, the MBA/MA Lauder Program prepares future business leaders by integrating the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies from Penn's School of Arts and Sciences. Students become part of a small, tight-knit community passionate about international management issues and global studies.

In 2007 Penn introduced the Award for Interdisciplinary Innovation, which encourages collaboration of student scholars from different University departments and includes a summer fellowship.

Since 2007, Penn has pioneered academic theme years. These projects provide a common intellectual and academic experience that integrates knowledge across Penn's diverse schools, programs, centers, and institutes. They bring together faculty, students, and community partners for a year of public events and academic initiatives around a single topic, such as food, evolution, water, and arts & the city.

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Leading with Interdisciplinary Discovery

Penn's 160 academic centers, institutes, and programs illustrate the breadth and depth of interdisciplinary research on campus. The Center for Public Health Initiatives, the Penn Genome Frontiers Institute, the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Pennergy, the Institute for Global Environmental Leadership, the Nano/Bio Interface Center, and the Center for Health Behavioral Research are leading the way in interdisciplinary scientific and medical research.

Penn is home to the only national center that combines work in Nanotechnology and Biotechnology, the Nano/Bio Interface Center. Representing a collaboration among Penn's Schools of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, and Medicine, this center leverages Penn's faculty strength in materials science and the fields of engineering, chemistry, condensed-matter physics, molecular biology, medicine, and bioethics.

Penn has been chosen by the National Institutes of Health to develop a massive molecular database accessible to biomedical scientists worldwide. As a result, Penn launched the Center for Molecular Discovery. Penn engineers with skills in robotics, chemists from Penn's School of Arts and Sciences, and biomedical researchers from Penn Medicine will produce discoveries that enhance our understanding of living organisms.

The Penn Center for Energy Innovation (Pennergy) harnesses the collaborative efforts of energy researchers across campus to create innovative technologies and materials aimed at meeting the world's growing energy demand and achieving environmental and economic sustainability. More than 30 ongoing faculty projects are supported by $37 million in sponsored research funds, including an $18 million federal award to Pennergy Co-director Cherie Kagan to study solar energy conversion. Currently, Center researchers with expertise in materials, nanoscale science and engineering, and bio-mimetic materials are taking a team approach to investigating solar photovoltaics, solar-to-fuel conversion, thermoelectrics, fuel cells, and the behavior of material subject to real world environments.

The mission of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine is to improve the health of patients through the restoration of cell and organ function lost due to disease, trauma or wear. Therapies and treatments will be developed as a result of fundamental research recognizing that the key to every biological problem must finally be sought in the cell. Institute Director John Gearhart, recruited as part of Penn's PIK initiative in 2008, is a pioneer in stem cell research, leading the research team that first identified and isolated human embryonic stem cells in 1998.

The Penn Genome Frontiers Institute was founded in 2007 to focus on international genomics, especially in nanotechnology, translational medicine, and systems biology. Its 121 faculty members come from five of Penn's schools: Medicine, Engineering and Applied Science, Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and Dental Medicine. PGFI faculty members brought in a total of $91 million in external funding in 2009 and received two patents for inventions that came from PGFI research.

The Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT) is the home of Penn Medicine's Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the NIH. Launched in 2006, the CTSA program creates academic homes for clinical and translational science investigators from across disciplines in order to create new patient treatments. Penn Medicine was among the first academic medical centers to receive the award. With $68 million from the NIH and an institutional commitment of $30 million, Penn's investment in transformative translational research is nearly $100 million. CTSA leadership comes from nine of Penn's 12 schools.

The Penn Institute for Urban Research (PIUR) is at the forefront of the University's global leadership in urban scholarship, teaching, and practice. Convening faculty from all 12 schools, PIUR integrates scholarship from the sciences, the humanities, business, law, education policy, and design to help shape more effective urban policies.

The Center for Public Health Initiatives undertakes some of Penn's most wide-ranging research, with faculty members from all 12 schools, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the Veterans Administration, and Penn's Netter Center for Community Partnerships. The Center is home to Penn's Master of Public Health Program and offers dual degrees in Medicine, Law, Dental Medicine, Nursing, Social Policy and Practice, and Bioethics, a well as a Master's in Clinical Epidemiology. The Center's interdisciplinary work groups focus on several key areas: Food Access, Immigrant Health, West Philadelphia/Health Care Access, GIS, Public Health, and Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research.

Penn's Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism supports and develops successful approaches to the prevention, treatment, and cure of diabetes mellitus and obesity. One of the Institute's largest current projects is a $45 million clinical trial on testosterone treatment in men 65 and older, the largest study ever to examine the effects of testosterone, led by Penn Endocrinologist Dr. Peter Snyder.

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