Wharton Professor’s SCEPTRE Tool Helps Link Genetics to Disease Risk

Headshot of a person wearing glasses and a checkered shirt, smiling, with the Wharton School''s logo and "Analytics at Wharton" text in the background.

It’s not often the case that statisticians have an advanced understanding of genomics, but it’s exactly this combination of expertise that has Eugene Katsevich, assistant professor of statistics and data science at the Wharton School, making waves with his team’s new software package, SCEPTRE. At its core, SCEPTRE is a free, easy-to-use statistical tool that biologists can utilize to uncover correlations between certain genetic variants and their impact on disease risk. Understanding these correlations can help scientists accelerate the speed, and improve the effectiveness, with which they are able to treat a number of diseases. Read More

Wharton Sports Analytics Summer Research Lab – Student Spotlight

A group of five people standing in front of a large Philadelphia 76ers basketball logo, with some smiling and one giving a thumbs up.

For most students, the transition from spring to summer presents an opportunity to wrap up finals, close their textbooks, and enjoy a relaxing few months before starting back up again. That’s not quite the case for students in the Wharton Sports Analytics Research Lab (WSARL), a new offering from the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative (WSABI), created for select undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania.Read More

Penn Wrestling Partners with Wharton Neuroscience Initiative to Win Mind Games

Two wrestlers in a match, wearing singlets and headgear, engaged in a grappling position. The image is in black and white.

The University of Pennsylvania Quakers are learning how to make every minute on the mat count, thanks to a unique collaboration with the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative (WiN). They recently completed a project using patented biometric sensors that captured a wealth of data on the physical and mental performance of the wrestlers as they fatigued.Read More

Soaring with the Eagles: Wharton Student Lands Data Job with NFL

Zach Drapkin in front of the Philadelphia Eagles logo

Where most sports fans see raw talent, Zach Drapkin sees raw data – the kind of data he likes to sift through to help athletes and teams optimize their approach to games. It’s this particular skill that has earned the Wharton graduate a job as a quantitative analyst with the Philadelphia Eagles, a position that will change from intern to full-time status this summer. Not a bad way to cap off a college career for a young man from the Main Line who has emerged as one of the top students in the Wharton Sports Analytics and Business Initiative.Read More

Worlds Collide: Neuroscience and Marketing Meet in the Classroom

Visual Marketing Lab

Wharton Professors Barbara Kahn and Elizabeth “Zab” Johnson wanted their students to have a modern approach to understanding consumer behavior in an increasingly digital world. So, they created MKTG 239/739: Visual Marketing, which combines the principles of visual neuroscience with the practical applications of marketing. But the innovative pedagogy doesn’t stop there. Read More