o ur 4 0 th ye ar
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April 11, 2011
The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University
Volume 40 No. 30
B E N E F I T S
E v e n t
More reasons to live near your work
Testing their wings
By Phil Sneiderman
Homewood
will kirk / homewoodphoto.jhu.edu
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ive Near Your Work, a program that helps Johns Hopkins Institutions employees buy homes in select Baltimore neighborhoods near Johns Hopkins campuses, has announced several enhancements that will provide larger base grants to Larger base eligible homebuyers and expanded opportunities to grants now receive home-buying aid. The proavailable gram also has added a new neighborhood for eligible to one of its target areas that are eligible employees for $17,000 grants. These improvements, supported in part by extended funding from The Rouse Company Foundation and more dollars from the City of Baltimore, became effective April 1. In yet another enhancement, the Live Near Your Work website, which includes videos of featured neighborhoods, listings of eligible homes for sale and other program details, recently received a significant makeover. The site is at web.jhu.edu/lnyw. Administrators of the program, which has assisted more than 450 homebuyers since its inception in 1997, hope that the improvements will allow even more Johns Hopkins employees to reside in neighborhoods nearer to their workplaces. “There are so many benefits associated with living closer to where we work, and our program, which helps employees do just that, has gotten even better,” said Michelle Carlstrom, senior director of the university’s Office of Work, Life and Engagement. Carlstrom oversees the program and has herself purchased a home through Live Near Your Work. Since doing so, her daily drive from home to office has dropped from nearly 90 minutes to just four. “This program helps employees cut down on their commuting costs and travel time, and it could allow us to build home equity,” she said. “We can enjoy
Peter Houlihan has been collecting insects since he was 11, and the first Boy Scout merit badge he earned was for insect study. Last summer, he camped on an island in the Pacific Ocean to study butterfly populations for his PURA project.
PURA grants in hand, 57 JHU undergrads embark on research
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easoned researchers know to follow the spark of an idea wherever it may lead. At Johns Hopkins, even the youngest investigators are encouraged to do the same, thanks to the Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards. Since 1993, PURAs have been helping students’ ideas take flight, whether the jour-
ney takes them across campus to a wet lab or across a continent to an island rain forest. Grants of up to $2,500 funded 57 original research projects proposed and carried out during summer and fall 2010 by students in each of the university’s four schools with full-time undergraduates: the Krieger Continued on page 6
The 18th Annual PURA Ceremony See What They Found Out
T
o recognize the recipients of the 2010 Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards, an event will be held on Tuesday, April 12, in Homewood’s Glass Pavilion.
A poster session in which students will have an opportunity to display the results of their research begins at 3 p.m. At the 4:30 p.m. recognition ceremony hosted by Lloyd Minor, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, the honorees will be introduced by Scott Zeger, chair of the selection committee; Minor will present their certificates; and two recipients from Peabody will perform. Alto saxophonist
Stephen Dunlap will play the Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 by J.S. Bach, and violist J. Caleb Johnson will perform and give an informal talk titled “A Tale of Two Bowed String Instruments: Traveling on the East-West Musical Bridge.” A reception will follow at approximately 5:15 p.m. The entire Johns Hopkins community is invited.
Continued on page 14
2
In Brief
‘Future of Teaching’; prognosis for bicyclist; science in urban schools; rooms by collectors
16
Calendar
Young Investigators’ Day; Spring Fair; Physics Fair; BFSA Men’s Forum
14 Job Opportunities 14 Notices 15 Classifieds
2 THE GAZETTE • April 11, 2011 I N B R I E F
Education leaders to discuss ‘The Future of Teaching’
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Courtney Lyder
UCLA School of Nursing dean to talk on ‘Career in Leadership’
T
he School of Nursing this week welcomes Courtney Lyder, dean of the UCLA School of Nursing, who will present a talk titled “A Career in Leadership: Do You See What I See?” The event will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Room 140. A reception will follow in the cafe. Lyder will speak about how to be a leader in the nursing profession, current nursing issues in California, men and minorities in nursing, and other topics. A Q&A will follow his talk. All students, faculty and others are welcome. Lyder, who is also assistant director for academic nursing for the UCLA Health System, has focused on the prevention and
treatment of pressure ulcers in the elderly. He has researched the use of innovative technologies to help elders “age in place.” Lyder is the first African-American dean at UCLA and the first minority male to be a nursing school dean in the United States. The event is co-sponsored by Johns Hopkins Men in Nursing and the Black Student Nurses Association. Previously, the Men in Nursing organization brought in Michael Bleich, dean of Oregon Health & Science University, to speak. Lyder’s talk will be webcast live at webcast .jhu.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=12cfaefa6e d04333b442c439aef6905c. For more information, contact Eric Ipsen at eipsen1@son.jhmi.edu. —Greg Rienzi
All Children’s Hospital in Fla. joins Johns Hopkins Medicine By Gary Stephenson
Johns Hopkins Medicine
A
ll Children’s Hospital, in St. Petersburg, Fla., is now a part of the Johns Hopkins Health System and a fully integrated member of Johns Hopkins Medicine. All Children’s is the first U.S. hospital outside the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., region to become integrated with JHM, which includes the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and
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The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. The noncash transaction—there was no purchase or sale—officially integrating ACH into JHM took place on April 1. Leadership and day-to-day operation of the 259-bed free-standing pediatric hospital and outreach facilities in eight west Florida counties are not expected to change. All Children’s retains its voluntary medical staff and physician organizations, including those University of South Florida physicians who are practicing at ACH. The university and All Children’s are committed to continuing the USF Residency Program at ACH through 2014, with the possibility of extending it beyond that time frame still under discussion. Board governance structure guarantees that local community leaders will continue to provide guidance and oversight of All Children’s as majority members of the hospital’s board of trustees. In addition, the chair will now be a member of the board of Johns Hopkins Medicine, and members of the board of ACH will be offered opportunities to serve on JHM and JHHS committees. All Children’s will operate under the direction of the JHHS governance structure in the same manner as The Johns Hopkins Hospital and other hospital members of the health system, including Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Howard County General Hospital, Suburban Hospital and Sibley Memorial Hospital. Jonathan Ellen, former chair of Pediatrics at Bayview, will serve as the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine vice dean for All Children’s Hospital and physician in chief at All Children’s Hospital.
n Monday, April 25, the Johns Hopkins University School of Education will host a panel discussion titled “The Future of Teaching: New Common Core Standards, New Assessments and New Evaluations—What Does It All Mean for Students and Teachers?” at 6:30 p.m. in Shriver Hall Auditorium on the Homewood campus. This is the third discussion in the school’s Shaping the Future series addressing the most challenging issues in public education. Introductory remarks by panel members will be followed by a Q&A. The panelists are Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; Michael Cohen, president of Achieve Inc.; Richard Lemons, vice president of Education Trust; and Sonja Brookins Santelises, chief academic officer of Baltimore City Public Schools. The event should be of particular interest to teachers, school leaders, parents and community groups. RSVPs are encouraged and can be submitted online at education.jhu.edu/shaping_future/index .html. For more information, contact Jim Campbell at 410-516-5588 or jcamp@jhu .edu.
Science outreach advocate kicks off Provost’s Lecture Series
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mbryologist and science enthusiast Steve Farber on Thursday will kick off the 2011 spring schedule of the Provost’s Lecture Series, launched a year ago to spread the wealth of academic excellence at Johns Hopkins among its campuses. Farber, a principal investigator with the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Embryology and an adjunct associate professor in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Biology, will discuss how science outreach can impact education in urban school systems and inspire the next generation of scientists and teachers. In 2002, Farber started BioEYES, an international outreach program that utilizes zebrafish to promote science literacy and teach genetics and the experimental process. His talk, previously scheduled for last week, will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on April 14 in The Hall at the School of Education. Lecture attendees will get a chance to see live zebrafish to appreciate firsthand the impact of this model system.
Decorator Thomas Jayne to discuss rooms by collectors
T
homas Jayne, one of the country’s best-known decorators and scholars of American design, will discuss rooms by collectors—whether they be of furniture, art or unusual objects, and the particular trials and triumphs involved with decorating around them—in the second of
Editor Lois Perschetz Writer Greg Rienzi Production Lynna Bright Copy Editor Ann Stiller Photography Homewood Photography A d v e rt i s i n g The Gazelle Group B u s i n e ss Dianne MacLeod C i r c u l at i o n Lynette Floyd Webmaster Lauren Custer
three talks that are part of The House Beautiful lecture series presented by the university’s Evergreen Museum & Library. The event will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in the museum’s Bakst Theatre. Jayne will present some exceptional examples from his recent book, The Finest Rooms in America: 50 Influential Interiors From the 18th Century to the Present, and explain the genius behind them. Among them are Henry Sleeper’s Beauport, Henry DuPont’s Chinese parlor at Winterthur and Albert Hadley’s sitting room in New York. Jayne will discuss some of the guiding principles behind the rooms and how they can serve as inspiration. Guests are invited to a reception and book signing after the talk. Tickets are $20, $15 for members and full-time students with valid ID. To purchase tickets, go to www .brownpapertickets.com/event/157391. For more information, call 410-516-0341.
Bicyclist Nathan Krasnopoler not expected to recover
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he parents of Nathan Krasnopoler, the Johns Hopkins student who was hit by a car when riding his bicycle Feb. 26 near the Homewood campus, released a statement last week saying that doctors at The Johns Hopkins Hospital have advised the family that the 20-year-old sophomore is not expected to recover any cognitive function. The accident occurred when a car driven by an 83-year-old woman made a right turn in front of Krasnopoler, cutting off his lane of travel and causing him to collide with the car, which then ran him over. Krasnopoler’s lungs collapsed and he stopped breathing while trapped under the vehicle. He sustained third- and fourth-degree burns on his face and torso, and bone fractures, and was taken by ambulance to JHH in critical condition. Technicians reported that his heart stopped in the ambulance, but they were able to revive him. According to his family, Krasnopoler arrived at the hospital in a coma and remains unresponsive. They report that he is now in stable condition.
Peabody musicians play with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
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n March 31 and April 3, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s performances of John Corigliano’s Pied Piper Fantasy at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall featured principal flutist Emily Skala, a Peabody Conservatory faculty artist, with a group of flutists and drummers from the Peabody Preparatory. The piece, written for and premiered by flutist James Galway in 1980, colorfully interprets the story of the Robert Browning poem “The Pied Piper of Hamelin.”
Contributing Writers Applied Physics Laboratory Michael Buckley, Paulette Campbell Bloomberg School of Public Health Tim Parsons, Natalie Wood-Wright Carey Business School Andrew Blumberg, Patrick Ercolano Homewood Lisa De Nike, Amy Lunday, Dennis O’Shea, Tracey A. Reeves, Phil Sneiderman Johns Hopkins Medicine Christen Brownlee, Stephanie Desmon, Neil A. Grauer, Audrey Huang, John Lazarou, David March, Vanessa McMains, Ekaterina Pesheva, Vanessa Wasta, Maryalice Yakutchik Peabody Institute Richard Selden SAIS Felisa Neuringer Klubes School of Education James Campbell, Theresa Norton School of Nursing Kelly Brooks-Staub University Libraries and Museums Brian Shields, Heather Egan Stalfort
The Gazette is published weekly September through May and biweekly June through August for the Johns Hopkins University community by the Office of Government, Community and Public Affairs, Suite 540, 901 S. Bond St., Baltimore, MD 21231, in cooperation with all university divisions. Subscriptions are $26 per year. Deadline for calendar items, notices and classifieds (free to JHU faculty, staff and students) is noon Monday, one week prior to publication date. Phone: 443-287-9900 Fax: 443-287-9920 General e-mail: gazette@jhu.edu Classifieds e-mail: gazads@jhu.edu On the Web: gazette.jhu.edu Paid advertising, which does not represent any endorsement by the university, is handled by the Gazelle Group at 410343-3362 or gazellegrp@comcast.net.
April 11, 2011 • THE GAZETTE
3
E X P L O R A T I O N
Messenger kicks off yearlong campaign of Mercury science B y P a u l e t t e C a m pb e l l
Applied Physics Laboratory
NASA/Johns hopkins university Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie institution of washington
O
n April 4, Messenger began its yearlong science campaign to understand the innermost planet. The spacecraft will fly around Mercury 700 times over the next 12 months, and its instruments will perform the first complete reconnaissance of the cratered planet’s geochemistry, geophysics, geological history, atmosphere, magnetosphere and plasma environment. “Messenger’s orbital commissioning phase, which we just completed, demonstrated that the spacecraft and payload are all operating nominally, notwithstanding Mercury’s challenging environment,” said principal investigator Sean Solomon, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. “We will be making nearly continuous observations that will allow us to gain the first global perspective on the innermost planet. Moreover, as solar activity steadily increases, we will have a front-row seat on the most dynamic magnetosphere–atmosphere system in the solar system.” Messenger is orbiting Mercury twice every Earth day. Once a day, the spacecraft will stop making measurements and turn its antenna toward Earth for eight hours to send data back—via the Deep Space Network—to the Messenger Mission Operations Center at Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory, which built and operates the spacecraft, and manages the mission for NASA. Messenger’s 12-month orbital phase covers two Mercury solar days (one Mercury solar day, from sunrise to sunrise, is equal to 176 Earth days). This means that the spacecraft can view a given spot on the surface under given lighting conditions only twice during the mission, six months apart, making available observation time a precious resource. “The surface mapping observations had to be planned for the entire year far in advance to ensure coverage of the entire planet under acceptable illumination and viewing geometries,” said Brian Anderson, Messenger deputy project scientist, who oversaw the planning for orbital operations. SciBox—a suite of software tools for science observation simulation—was developed to help the team choreograph the complicated process of maximizing the scientific return from the mission and minimizing conflicts between instrument observations, while at the same time meeting all spacecraft constraints on pointing, data downlink rates and onboard data storage capacity. The SciBox tool simulates the entire year of science observations and identifies the best times to take each type of observation. The commands for each week of observations are derived from this full mission analysis. For instance, Anderson said, “The remote
This image of Mercury was captured on April 5 during the first science orbit of the mission. The crater at the top center is Li Ch’ing-Chao, which is located in Mercury’s south polar region near Boccaccio and Camoes.
sensing instruments to measure topography and determine surface and atmospheric composition are fixed on the spacecraft and share the same view direction. Because the ideal viewing directions for these instruments are not the same, we assigned altitude ranges for which the spacecraft pointing is optimized for the science from each instrument. “The camera has its own pivot, so it has much greater freedom in viewing the surface, and it takes pictures at all altitudes,” he said. “Several other instruments make measurements of local properties, magnetic field or charged particles and acquire excellent data regardless of the spacecraft pointing.” SciBox works by finding the best opportunities for each of the instruments to make their measurements, and then analyzing how those measurements contribute toward the science goals of the entire mission. “The SciBox tool allows us to plan thousands of science observation activities every week that have to be precisely timed with customized spacecraft pointing,” Anderson said. The observations depend critically on where Messenger is in its orbit around Mercury, so the final science observation plan was not generated until the spacecraft completed Mercury orbit insertion. “We had to wait until after Messenger was in orbit before we could start building the
actual science sequences because we needed the actual in-orbit ephemeris as calculated by our navigation team to ensure that images and other pointed observations were taken where planned,” said Alice Berman, Messenger payload operations manager. On March 21, Berman’s team received the first ephemeris following Mercury orbit insertion, a delivery that provided less than two weeks for each instrument payload lead to generate inputs, test them and deliver them to the mission operations team. That team then had to merge those science observation commands with the spacecraft operating commands and fully test the entire package. For example, the command load for the first week’s observations provided for the acquisition of 4,196 images by the Mercury Dual Imaging System. The MDIS team had to check the commands governing each of those images, and the guidance and control team next had to run detailed software simulations on all the science guidance and control commands for the entire week and then add the nonscience commands, such as those directing solar panel motions and star trackers. Finally, the team re-simulated the full sequence. “It’s a tremendous amount of work and analysis that has to be done every week,” Berman said. “From our experience with the
In-the-Life exercises over the last two years, we determined that we would need three weeks for that process, but our entire team did an outstanding job getting it all done on the accelerated schedule.” Imaging during the Messenger flybys provided important reconnaissance for the observations from orbit. During Messenger’s first six months in orbit, MDIS will create new higher-resolution global maps of the planet in color and monochrome, acquired under near-ideal viewing conditions. Emphasis during the second six months will shift to targeted high-resolution imaging with the MDIS narrow-angle camera and acquisition of a second monochrome map but from a different viewing direction to allow stereoscopic analysis of topography. Additionally: • The Mercury Laser Altimeter will measure the topography of the northern hemisphere over four Mercury years. • The Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer and the X-Ray Spectrometer will yield global maps of elemental composition. • The Magnetometer will measure the vector magnetic field under a range of solar distances and conditions. • The Visible and Infrared Spectrograph will produce global maps of surface reflectance from which surface mineralogy can be inferred, and the Ultraviolet and Visible Spectrometer will produce time-dependent global maps of exospheric species abundances versus altitude. • The Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer will sample the plasma and energetic particle population in the solar wind at major magnetospheric boundaries and throughout the environment of Mercury at a range of solar distances and levels of solar activity. • The radio science experiment will extend topographic information to the southern hemisphere by making occultation measurements of planet radius, and the planet’s obliquity and the amplitude of the physical libration will be determined independently from the topography and gravity field. “The engineering teams accomplished an astonishing achievement by developing, launching and guiding Messenger through the inner solar system and safely placing the spacecraft in orbit about Mercury,” Anderson said. “Now the science planning teams are working hard to take full advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to learn everything we can about Earth’s heretofore enigmatic sibling planet. “With thousands of science observation commands to plan, test and verify every week, not to mention the need to verify that the observations are successful, we certainly have our work cut out for us,” he said. “But we have the tools, the people and the processes in place to do the job. So far, everything is going just the way we planned.”
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4 THE GAZETTE • April 11, 2011
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Gene linked to severity of autism’s social dysfunction
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ith the help of two sets of brothers with autism, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a gene associated with autism that appears to be linked specifically to the severity of socialinteraction deficits. The gene, known as GRIP1 for glutamate receptor interacting protein 1, is a blueprint for a traffic-directing protein at synapses— those specialized contact points between brain cells across which chemical signals flow. Identified more than a decade ago by Richard L. Huganir, professor and director of the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, GRIP1 regulates how fast receptors travel to a cell’s surface, where they are activated by a brain-signaling chemical called glutamate, allowing neurons to communicate with one another. The new study, which tracked two versions of GRIP1 in the genomes of 480 people with autism, was published March 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and lends support to a prevailing theory that autism spectrum disorders, molecularly speaking, reflect an imbalance between inhibitory and excitatory signaling at synapses. “The GRIP1 variants we studied are not sufficient to cause autism by themselves but appear to be contributing factors that can modify the severity of the disease,” said Tao Wang, an assistant professor in the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “GRIP1 mutations seem to contribute to social interaction deficits in the patients we studied.” The researchers examined a part of the genomes of 480 patients with autism and compared them with those of 480 people of similar ethnicity without the disorder. Analyzing about 50 genes known to make proteins involved in a brain-signaling pathway, they ultimately focused their investigation on GRIP1, a protein found at both inhibitory and excitatory synapses, according to Wang.
Initially, looking under a microscope at normal mouse neurons and at neurons with a mutant version of GRIP1, the investigators marked the receptor proteins with green fluorescence, added a chemical that promotes their “disappearance” deep inside a cell and timed the rates at which they disappeared—leaving a cell unable to respond to signals from other cells. They also timed the re-emergence of the protein on the cell surface. With the GRIP1 mutant neurons, the receptors recycled to the surface twice as fast as in the normal neurons. “If the receptors are recycling faster, the number of receptors on the surface is greater, so the cells are more sensitive to glutamate,” Huganir said. “The quicker the recycling, the more receptors on the surface and the stronger the excitatory transmission.” Even if just the excitatory synapses are affected and the inhibitory ones don’t change, that alone affects the relative balance of signaling, Huganir said. Next, using 10 mice genetically engineered to lack both normal and mutant GRIP proteins, researchers watched what happened when each animal was put into a box where it could choose between spending time with a mouse it hadn’t encountered before or with an inanimate object. They compared the behaviors of these mice with those of 10 normal mice put into the same social situation. Mice lacking both GRIP1 and GRIP2 spent twice as much time as wild-type (normal) mice interacting with other mice as they did with inanimate objects. “These results support a role for GRIP1 in social behavior and implicate its variants in modulating autistic behavior,” Wang said. Finally, the team looked at the behavioral analyses of individuals in two families, each with two autistic brothers, and correlated their scores on standard diagnostic tests that assessed social interaction with their genotypes for GRIP1 variants. In one family, the brother with two copies of the GRIP1 mutant variety scored lower on social-interaction tests than his brother
who had only one copy of the GRIP1 variant. The boys’ mother, although not diagnosed as autistic, had a history of restricted interests, poor eye contact and repetitive behavior. Tests showed that she also carried one copy of the variant. In a second family, the autistic brother with one copy of the GRIP1 variant had lower social-interaction scores than his autistic sibling without a GRIP1 variant. Because the GRIP1 gene resides in synapses where other genes also implicated in autism have been found, this location is potentially important in terms of clinical relevance, Huganir said. The team plans to sequence hundreds more synaptic proteins in autistic patients to look for mutations and then follow up with functional analyses. This study was supported in part by research grants from the Autism Speaks Foundation and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Authors on the paper from Johns Hopkins, in addition to Huganir and Wang, are Rebeca Mejias, Abby Adamczyk, Victor Anggono, Tejasvi Niranjan, Gareth M. Thomas, Kamal Sharma, M. Daniele Fallin, Walter E. Kaufmann, Mikhail Pletnikov and David Valle. Cindy Skinner, Charles E. Schwartz and Roger Stevenson, all of the Greenwood Genetic Center, are also authors on the paper. —Maryalice Yakutchik
Related websites Tao Wang:
www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ geneticmedicine/People/Faculty/ wang.html
Richard L. Huganir:
neuroscience.jhu.edu/ RichardHuganir.php
‘PNAS’:
www.pnas.org
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April 11, 2011 • THE GAZETTE
5
‘Universal’ virus-free method turns blood cells to beating heart cells B y V a n e ss a W a s t a
Johns Hopkins Medicine
J
ohns Hopkins scientists have developed a simplified, cheaper, all-purpose method they say can be used by scientists around the globe to more safely turn blood cells into heart cells. The method is virus-free and produces heart cells that beat with nearly 100 percent efficiency, they claim. “We took the recipe for this process from a complex minestrone to a simple miso soup,� said Elias Zambidis, assistant professor of oncology and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering and the Kimmel Cancer Center. “Many scientists previously thought that a nonviral method of inducing blood cells to turn into highly functioning cardiac cells was not within reach,� Zambidis said, “but we’ve found a way to do it very efficiently and we want other scientists to test the method in their own labs.� However, he cautions that the cells are not yet ready for human testing. To get stem cells taken from one source (such as blood) and develop them into a cell of another type (such as heart), scientists generally use viruses to deliver a package of genes into cells to first get them to turn into stem cells. However, viruses can mutate genes and initiate cancers in newly transformed cells. To insert the genes without using a virus, Zambidis’ team turned to plasmids, which are rings of DNA that replicate briefly inside cells and eventually degrade. Adding to the complexity of coaxing stem cells into other cell types is the expensive
and varied recipe of growth factors, nutrients and conditions that bathe stem cells during their transformation. The recipe of this “broth� differs from lab to lab and cell line to cell line. Reporting in the April 8 issue of Public Library of Science ONE, Zambidis’ team described what he calls a “painstaking, twoyear process� to simplify the recipe and environmental conditions that house cells undergoing transformation into heart cells. The researchers found that their recipe worked consistently for at least 11 different stem cell lines tested, and worked equally well for the more-controversial embryonic stem cells, as well as stem cell lines generated from adult blood stem cells, their main focus. The process began with Johns Hopkins postdoctoral scientist Paul Burridge, who studied some 30 papers on techniques to create cardiac cells and drew charts of 48 variables, including buffers, enzymes, growth factors, timing and the size of compartments in cell culture plates. After testing hundreds of combinations of these variables, Burridge narrowed down the choices to between four and nine essential ingredients at each of three stages of cardiac development. Beyond simplification, a benefit of the newly devised method is reduced cost: Burridge used a growth medium that is one-tenth the price of standard media for these cells, at $250 per bottle lasting about one week. Zambidis says that he wants other scientists to test the method on their stem cell lines, but also notes that the growth “soup� is still a work in progress. “We have recently optimized the conditions for com-
plete removal of the fetal bovine serum from one brief step of the procedure,� he said. “It’s made from an animal product and could introduce unwanted viruses.� In their experiments with the new growth medium, the Johns Hopkins researchers began with cord blood stem cells and a plasmid to transfer seven genes into the stem cells. They delivered an electric pulse to the cells, making tiny holes in the surface through which plasmids can slip inside. Once inside, the plasmids trigger the cells to revert to a more primitive cell state that can be coaxed into various cell types. At this stage, the cells are called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs. Burridge then bathed the newly formed iPSCs in the now-simplified recipe of growth media, which they named “universal cardiac differentiation system.� The growth-media recipe is specific to creating cardiac cells from any iPSC line. Finally, the researchers incubated the cells in containers that removed oxygen down to a quarter of ordinary atmospheric levels. “The idea is to re-create conditions experienced by an embryo when these primitive cells are developing into different cell types,� Burridge said. They also added a chemical called PVA, which works like glue to make cells stick together. Nine days later, the nonviral iPSCs turned into functional, beating cardiac cells, each the size of a needlepoint.
Burridge manually counted how often iPSCs formed into cardiac cells in petri dishes by peering into a microscope and identifying each beating cluster of cells. In each of 11 cell lines tested, each plate of cells had an average of 94.5 percent beating heart cells. “Most scientists get 10 percent efficiency for iPSC lines if they’re lucky,� Zambidis said. Zambidis and Burridge also worked with Johns Hopkins University bioengineering experts to apply to the cells a mini version of an electrocardiograph, which tests how cardiac cells use calcium and transmit a voltage. The resulting rhythm showed characteristic pulses seen in a normal human heart. The scientists say that virus-free, iPSCderived cardiac cells could be used in laboratories to test drugs that treat arrhythmia and other conditions. Eventually, bioengineers could develop grafts of the cells that are implanted into patients who suffered heart attacks. Zambidis’ team has recently developed similar techniques for turning these bloodderived iPSC lines into retinal, neural and vascular cells. The research was funded by the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund and the National Institutes of Health. Research participants are Susan Thompson, Michal Millrod, Seth Weinberg, Xuan Yuan, Ann Peters, Vasiliki Mahairaki, Vassilis E. Koliatsos and Leslie Tung, all of Johns Hopkins.
JHU No. 3 in latest Peace Corps rankings
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advanced degree after they complete their service. In addition, Johns Hopkins was ranked sixth among small colleges and universities in 2011 Peace Corps Top Colleges Rankings. Over the past 50 years, 566 Johns Hopkins alumni have joined the Peace Corps, with 22 currently serving.
library of congress
ith 41 students currently enrolled in the Peace Corps Fellows/USA Program, Johns Hopkins is third in the 2011 rankings of graduate schools participating in the program, which provides returned Peace Corps volunteers with scholarships, academic credit and stipends to earn an
April 19, 1861: Massachusetts volunteers fight their way through the streets of Baltimore on their march to defend the nation’s capital.
The Civil War at 150: A JHU perspective By Greg Rienzi
The Gazette
F
ive days after the Union garrison at Fort Sumter surrendered to Confederate troops, the Civil War erupted in Baltimore. Massachusetts militia, passing through the city en route to the nation’s capital, were fired on by Confederate sympathizers as they approached their railroad station destination. The bullets and resulting havoc left 16 dead and many more wounded. Historians regard the April 19, 1861, skirmish—dubbed the Pratt Street Riot—as the first bloodshed of the four-year conflict. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the onset of the Civil War, The Johns Hopkins University will recall the battle of North vs. South in an online multimedia project in which faculty, JHU Press authors and editors, alumni and others will share their expertise on the war and its place in history. The project launches at perspectives .jhu.edu/civilwar on April 12, the anniversary of the 1861 siege of Fort Sumter, and
new postings will appear in the coming months. Civil War Perspectives will feature video interviews on a range of subjects that include Johns Hopkins’ family history of abolitionism, the battle of Antietam, the geology of Gettysburg, the treatment of battlefield injuries, and political cartoons. A historian will examine the role of women and nurses during the war, and the former director of JHU Historic Houses will look at Baltimore’s sculptures and monuments related to the war. The site will also contain book excerpts, maps, directions to nearby Civil War–related sites and photo slideshows. Several subjects tie into Maryland’s and the university’s history, as in the case of the Pratt Street Riot. To stem the weeks of violence that followed, Baltimore Mayor George William Brown and Maryland Gov. Thomas H. Hicks implored President Abraham Lincoln to halt passage of Union troops through the state. Brown, later imprisoned at Fort McHenry for his pro-Confederate stance, would nine years after the war serve as a founding trustee of The Johns Hopkins University. The project is being created by the university’s Office of News and Information.
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6 THE GAZETTE • April 11, 2011
Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards
Testing
ous prenatal malady, studying how children with cochlear implants process and perceive music, and thwarting computer security threats, among many others. Through donations from the Hodson Trust, PURA has supported 809 student endeavors over the past 18 years. The awards are an important part of the university’s mission and its commitment to research opportunities for undergraduates. In total, the Hodson Trust has contributed more than $3.5 million in both operating and endowment support to the PURA program. On Tuesday, April 12, Lloyd Minor, pro-
Continued from page 1 School of Arts and Sciences, the Whiting School of Engineering, the Peabody Conservatory and the School of Nursing. Mentored by faculty from across the university, the students pursued a variety of research activities, comparing the genetic variations in neighboring butterfly populations, searching for causes of a danger-
Always chasing butterflies Name: Peter Houlihan Age: 20 Hometown: Bel Air, Md. Major: behavioral biology, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Faculty sponsor: Gregory F. Ball, vice dean for science and research infrastructure, and professor in Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Project title: “Phenotypic Plasticity Among Populations of Nymphalid Butterflies in Biogeographically Diverse Tropical Forest Habitats”
ing whether the geographic separation of the island population has caused any phenotypic or genetic variation.
Questions for Peter Houlihan: How did you decide to study butterflies? Did you have a butterfly collection as a little boy? I developed an interest in every-
thing outdoors as a child. I would bring home any animal I could catch, which ended up being quite a few. I certainly had a great interest in insects at the time, but I didn’t start an active insect collection until I was about 11 years old and working on my very first merit badge for Boy Scouts, Insect Study. I was required to collect 50 individuals from 50 different species. I found taxonomy fascinating, and I discovered that not only could running around in the forest all day be fun, but I could also find scientific meaning in what I loved doing. Ever since then, I have added to my insect collection through various research projects. It is a great way to enrich my understanding of tropical ecology and evolution, and to educate others in the field.
I
t’s a safe bet that most undergraduates enrolling at Johns Hopkins don’t imagine themselves spending two months in the hot, humid rain forests of Panama, trapping lizards and rats and roasting them over an open fire for protein. But that’s exactly what 20-year-old junior Peter Houlihan (photo on front page) did in the course of his PURA project. His research involved comparing two populations of butterflies— one on an island in the Gulf of Panama and one on Panama’s mainland—and determin-
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vost and senior vice president for academic affairs, will host the annual PURA ceremony to honor the achievements of the student researchers. The 2010 program funded 17 more projects than in the previous year, an increase attributed to the high quality of undergraduate researchers and to the willingness of faculty to mentor them, Scott Zeger, vice provost for research, said. “Building skills and excitement for research is at the core of the Johns Hopkins undergraduate educational experience,” Zeger said. “We are delighted at the breadth and depth of our student research projects.”
The ceremony will be held in the Glass Pavilion at Homewood. The entire Johns Hopkins community is invited to the event, which begins at 3 p.m. with an informal poster session allowing students to display and talk about their projects. A recognition ceremony hosted by Provost Minor will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will include student performances. On these pages, a few of the students and their faculty sponsors discuss their PURA experiences. For a full list of recipients, go to web.jhu.edu/administration/provost/pura/ recipients2010.html. —Amy Lunday
You earned your Eagle Scout status in high school. Did that help you in your rain forest adventures? Definitely! The
Tell us about living conditions in the rain forest. I rented a house on the Pan-
tropical rain forest is a very intense and demanding place. From high humidity, hot temperatures and intense storms to encounters with venomous snakes, biting and stinging insects, and the rarely seen big cats, a tropical rain forest does not come off as the most welcoming environment in which to live. It is incredibly helpful to have wilderness survival knowledge and first aid training, since safety is always most important. How do you take DNA samples from butterflies? Did you have to run after them and capture them in a net? No,
I didn’t have to run through the rain forest with a net. I set up traps made of fruit, which attracted the butterflies. The insects were then analyzed through DNA extraction, PCR and gene sequencing at the Canadian Center for DNA Barcoding at the University of Guelph in Canada. I sampled about 180 individual butterflies from approximately 60 different species. What did you find out? Evolution describes life on Earth as we know it. It explains why new species form, and why others become extinct. Islands are a perfect setting for studying evolution because they are isolated from other populations. My study is along the same concepts from which Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace came up with evolution through their research in the Galapagos Islands and the Malay Archipelago. Through my study, I found out that the butterfly communities on the island have very different composition from the areas that I sampled on the mainland, as well as noticeable differences in phenotypes. Due to the presence of different forest types, host plants and habitat modification, island populations tended to occupy niches that were dissimilar to those of the populations on the mainland. Through my work, butterfly species on the island are being documented by science for the very first time. The samples are currently being compared genetically in order to evaluate the significance of the phenotypic variation between populations.
ama Canal from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the rain forest that I was working in was literally in my backyard. In July, I flew out on a really small plane—sitting next to the pilot—to an airstrip on an island in the Pacific Ocean. I camped on the island for the month of July, living in a tent and hunting my own food. The best way to keep cool there is to wear light clothing and keep your skin out of the sun. It’s also important to keep socks dry. However, much of my traveling involved wading through rivers, since it was easier than walking through the dense forest, full of spiny palm trees and razor-sharp plants, and that meant a lot of wet socks. I also occasionally went swimming in rivers to cool off, although I tended to go swimming more in the ocean when I reached my coastal campsite because that was infested with crocodiles.
Butterflies weren’t the only things you hunted while there, right? Right.
I brought 15 pounds of rice and 10 pounds of pasta to the island, but everything else that I ate came from the forest, rivers or ocean. I ate coconuts, fish, crayfish, lobsters, crabs, birds, insects, lizards and even a rat.
Sponsor Gregory Ball says: This is an outstanding project on a classic question first articulated by Charles Darwin: How do new species arise? Peter Houlihan is a bright, hardworking young man who is personally driven and has shown an extraordinary degree of initiative in order to implement this project. Sending an undergraduate to a tropical environment to measure phenotypic variation and try to correlate this variation with variation in DNA at first blush sounds like an unrealistic project that would be destined to end in failure. However, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama is one of the premier scientific institutions operating in the tropics, and they provided Peter with local support. Peter then worked very hard and showed a tremendous degree of creativity and diligence in carrying out the work. This is a most impressive achievement. —Lisa De Nike
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April 11, 2011 • THE GAZETTE
7
Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards
Following the music
C
aleb Johnson’s original plan was to travel to Iran over winter break, consult an ethnomusicologist at the University of Tehran, and study and transcribe Persian musical scores. After political conditions necessitated that trip’s postponement, the Peabody Conservatory senior instead arranged a weeklong visit to Azerbaijan during the International Mugham Festival in late March. A sophisticated genre of Central Asian folk music, mugham features an ancestor of the violin called the kamancha. In the Azeri capital, Baku, Johnson purchased a kamancha, which has a similar tuning to his own major instrument, the viola (though held between the knees). He also met Azeri musicians, discussed their traditions and recorded their performances.
Questions for Caleb Johnson: Many people would find the idea of traveling alone to Azerbaijan daunting. How did you become such an intrepid traveler? I was home-schooled for two years.
The first year, my mom took about two weeks to take me around my home state of Missouri. We stopped just about everywhere, from small hamlets to St. Louis. A few years later, she took me on a train trip through 11 countries, crossing Siberia, seeing the
Great Wall and taking the longest stretch of straight track in the world through the Outback. I’ve been addicted ever since. You had lined up some contacts in advance. Was it difficult to expand that network once you were in Azerbaijan?
New contacts kept serendipitously falling into my lap. While waiting at a bus stop my first morning in Baku, I met and befriended a violinist from the National Philharmonic who was performing in a mugham concert the following evening. I went with him to the Philharmonic’s orchestra library, where we perused scores that were based on traditional Azeri folk music. Afterward, he introduced me to one of the country’s preeminent kamancha players and the president of the Society of Azerbaijan Folk Music Performers, who then gave me a lesson on the new kamancha I had just purchased.
Where did you travel outside the capital? After a couple days, I headed to Shirvan
city to record two wonderful mugham performers a Peace Corps volunteer had recommended to me. They were eager not just to play for me but to discuss the intricacies of early Azeri music, the seven different modes associated with it and just how these possibly influenced Western music. My last day in Azerbaijan, I had no appointments, no concerts, no meetings with musicologists, so I headed north to Quba. I had heard this area of the country was exceptionally beautiful, and I was not disappointed. I hired a driver to take me on farther to Khinalug, a village so high in the Greater Caucasus mountains, and so remote, they had their own language spoken only by about 1,500 people. You also have future plans to spend time in Afghanistan. What would you like to
WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU
Name: J. Caleb Johnson Age: 23 Hometown: Kansas City, Mo. Major: viola performance, Peabody Conservatory Faculty sponsor: Susan Weiss, Musicology Department, Peabody Institute Project title: “The Persian Diaspora and Its Effects on Musics of the Middle East”
Caleb Johnson headed off to Azerbaijan to explore its sophisticated folk music.
accomplish there, and why? As a high schooler, I had the incredible experience of living and studying at the Interlochen Arts Academy, a small, nurturing environment filled with raw talent and creativity. It made me want to share that discipline and zeal for life with my peers who have not had similar opportunities. In Afghanistan, I would like to start by establishing a small summer music program, and eventually work toward a year-round school. Additionally, a lot of traditional Afghan arts and culture were destroyed prior to 2001. Now that the forces of creation are prevailing over destruction, I would like to be a part of that. What advice do you have for would-be purchasers of musical instruments abroad?
Prior to my Baku purchase, I’ve looked for instruments in Cremona and Casablanca. Do your research ahead of time. Know your price range, speak to some local musicians if you can, and always be prepared to walk away from a sale if you can’t reach an
agreement on price. Also, don’t equate age with quality. Lastly, make sure the country doesn’t designate certain types of rare instruments “national treasures” and then try and sock you with a hefty export fee, or prevent you from taking it out of the country altogether.
Sponsor Susan Weiss says: Studying the influence of Eastern music on European traditions is of profound importance, perhaps more today than ever before. In my musicology classes, we regularly examine some of the surviving fragments of ancient Greek and early Byzantine music. Less is known about music from the Middle East and Central Asia. Caleb’s work combines his knowledge of European music, musical instruments and performance with what he is learning about Central Asian traditional music. While the former relies on texts and scores, the latter depends on memory and oral transmission. —Richard Selden
Identifying IPV in pregnant women of African descent
N
ursing major Ashley Chappell’s project focused on intimate partner violence among African-American women in the United States and Afro-Caribbean women in the U.S. Virgin Islands during pregnancy. She sought to describe preliminary pregnancy outcomes for women of African descent who have experienced IPV. While it is important to screen for domestic violence in all women, it may be most important during pregnancy. IPV can lead to complications in both the mother’s health and the outcome of the pregnancy.
Questions for Ashley Chappell: How many women does IPV affect in this country annually? In the United States an
estimated 1.3 million women are abused each year by an intimate partner, and, alarmingly, women who are assaulted during pregnancy have a threefold increased risk of being murdered. Previous research indicates that African-American women have a higher prevalence of IPV compared to females of other ethnic groups.
What are some of the causes for increased IPV among African-American women? Several studies speculate that vio-
lence may increase during pregnancy due to economic pressure, body changes, less frequent sexual relations and the woman’s higher vulnerability. The biopsychosocial stresses of pregnancy may also complicate the relationship, leading to frustration and consequently violence.
Who participated in the study? I screened women of African descent between the ages of 18 and 55 in Baltimore and the U.S. Virgin Islands who completed a 30-minute questionnaire about current and abusive partner characteristics, physical and mental health outcomes, health care utilization patterns, abuse history and sexual risk behaviors. What results did your study yield? The
women in this study who experienced IPV were primarily young, single, low-income, low-education level and more likely to have a history of smoking and drug use. Analysis of labor and delivery statistics showed that those experiencing IPV were significantly more likely to deliver a small for gestational age [SGA] infant compared to those without a history of IPV. It should be noted that SGA is not a synonym for low birth weight, very low birth weight or extremely low birth weight; SGA infants are those whose birth weight, length or head circumference lies below the 10th percentile for that gestational age [the age of the embryo or fetus].
How do you see your study helping decrease IPV? Despite the fact all women
WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU
Name: Ashley Chappell Age: 21 Hometown: Shrewsbury, Pa. Major: nursing, School of Nursing Faculty sponsor: Jacquelyn Campbell, Anna D. Wolf Professor, Community–Public Health Nursing, School of Nursing Project title: “Abuse During Pregnancy Among African-American and Afro-Caribbean Women”
Ashley Chappell traveled to the U.S.V.I. to collect data on vulnerable populations.
should be screened for IPV, only 41 percent of abused women actually report IPV to their health care providers, and health care providers often underestimate the rate of abuse—and studies indicate few asked their patients about IPV regularly. IPV is a common major health concern that can be prevented with early detection, and all pregnant women should be assessed for IPV. Therefore, it is essential to implement routine assessment protocols and have training for health care providers on associated risk factors. This knowledge would assist health care providers in the identification of those at risk, thus resulting in early intervention.
Sponsor Jacquelyn Campbell says: Ashley is one of the most excited undergraduates I’ve worked with and is trying to learn everything she can about research that can truly help vulnerable populations. She was able to conduct a subanalysis of our
research being conducted in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Baltimore that is examining the health outcomes of intimate partner violence on African-American and AfricanCaribbean women that is funded by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities through an Exploratory Research Center mechanism funding the Caribbean Exploratory Research Center at the University of the Virgin Islands. The PURA award allowed Ashley to travel to the U.S.V.I. to assist in data collection and observe the unique culture of this island territory of the U.S. Importantly, she found that women abused during pregnancy in both settings were significantly more likely to smoke during pregnancy and also were significantly more likely to have a baby who was small for gestational age, an important risk factor for poor infant health. The findings further reinforce the need to assess for abuse at all prenatal visits and at postpartum. —Jonathan Eichberger
8 THE GAZETTE • April 11, 2011
Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards
Looking for the cause of preeclampsia
F
or many women, pregnancy proceeds smoothly. But a small percentage of expectant mothers develop preeclampsia, a medical condition that can cause serious harm to both the mother and the fetus. For her PURA project, junior Millie Shah decided to probe the cellular imbalances that may trigger this disease. Working in the lab of Feilim Mac Gabhann, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering, Shah has been using a computer model that mimics the biological activity linked to preeclampsia. She has also spent time in the wet lab, making sure her computer results resemble what happens to cultured living cells. Her findings could lead to new ways to detect, treat or even prevent the disease.
Questions for Millie Shah: What is preeclampsia, and how common is it? Preeclampsia is a disease that is
not well-understood. We don’t know if it’s hereditary or a disease caused by environ-
ment, health or some other factor in the mother’s upbringing. But we do know that preeclampsia occurs worldwide in 5 [percent] to 8 percent of all pregnancies. Does preeclampsia endanger the mother? The developing fetus? Preeclampsia can
harm both the mother and the fetus. In the mother, it is characterized by high blood pressure and excessive protein in the urine. If the condition persists, the mother can develop eclampsia, leading to seizures, comas and even death. Preeclampsia can disrupt the normal growth of the fetus, leading to a preterm delivery. It can also cause kidney failure and bleeding in the mother’s brain. The Preeclampsia Foundation says that by conservative estimates, preeclampsia and related disorders are responsible for 76,000 maternal and 500,000 infant deaths each year. If we can figure out what causes preeclampsia, this could open the door to new, more-effective treatments, and perhaps even a way to prevent the disease from happening in the first place.
How does your PURA project address this? I’ve been looking for the earliest bio-
logical signals that indicate that this disease is developing in a pregnant woman. If we find them, then doctors may be able to test for these disease markers at an early point in the pregnancy. If the disease is detected at a very early stage, then monitoring and treatment of the mother and fetus can begin right away.
WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU
Name: Millie Shah Age: 20 Hometown: Fullerton, Calif. Major: biomedical engineering, Whiting School of Engineering Faculty sponsor: Feilim Mac Gabhann, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, Whiting School of Engineering Project title: “Computational Modeling of VEGF and sFlt-1 to Stimulate Preeclampsia and Evaluate Treatments”
Millie Shah is probing the cellular imbalances that may trigger preeclampsia.
What exactly are you focusing on? As I mentioned, researchers are still not sure what causes preeclampsia. But the leading theory is that inside the developing placenta there is an irregularity in the release of proteins that either cause the growth of new blood vessels in the fetus or suppress this process. Our lab’s hypothesis is that too much of a protein called sFlt-1 is being produced and it acts like a sponge, soaking up a different protein that stimulates the growth of blood vessels. The result is that the normal growth of blood vessels is suppressed, and this imbalance ultimately triggers preeclampsia. For my PURA project, I’ve developed a computer model that depicts the activity of these proteins that stimulate or suppress the growth of blood vessels in order to test our ideas about how they are linked to preeclampsia. We are using this model
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to determine whether monitoring these proteins could be used for early diagnosis, prevention or treatment of preeclampsia. In the lab, I’m also testing my results on cultured living cells to make sure that what’s happening in the computer matches what’s happening in the real world. I’m still awaiting the final results of these experiments. What were the most important things you learned while working on this project? I learned that organization is key,
and collaboration makes all the difference. It’s always a good idea to stay organized and constantly remind yourself what the bigger picture is and plan accordingly. I found that my research could become very complicated very quickly, and if I didn’t remind myself of the overall goal, I would Continued on page 10
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April 11, 2011 • THE GAZETTE
9
Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards
Probing the mystery of our ‘working memory’
A
self-proclaimed “numbers guy,” junior Matthew Levine doesn’t have any trouble remembering phone numbers or addresses. But introduce him to a few new people at a party, and he may have forgotten their names before the handshake is even over. It’s these variations in short-term memory—what neuroscientists call “working memory,” because we use it on a daily basis—that inspired Levine to design a PURA study that would investigate the factors that affect our working memory, allowing us to, say, remember an email address but quickly forget a face or a name.
Questions for Matthew Levine: Tell us a little about working memory. What do we use it for, and why does it matter? Working memory is essential
for everyday activities, such as memorizing a phone number or email address, as well as more important activities, such as driving. Basically, working memory gives us the ability to retain a limited amount of information for a short amount of time. Research tells us that we humans seem to be able to remember via our short-term memory only three or four things or objects at a time, and that’s not very much, if you think about it. There are several possibilities in respect to what affects the quantity and quality
of our working memory and what we can remember and for how long. One is that we have a finite number of “slots” in our working memory, but that each of those “slots” has its own resolution. The other is that though we have limited “space” in our brains for working memory, which we can either divide generously among a few things—leading to clearer ability to recall those fewer facts—or poorly among many things, with the result being a fuzzy recall. My research was mostly driven by a hypothesis that individual memories do not get less clear as we acquire them; they are just more likely to get confused with other memories the more memories we acquire. So I set out to test this idea. How did you go about testing your theory? The critical thing was to be able
to measure the quality of individual memories and the number of memories a person stored independently. I created a MATLAB [matrix laboratory] computer program that measures a person’s performance on two tasks. Basically, the research subject saw several objects in a display, and some of them flashed, identifying them as targets. A gray screen then appeared, and the subjects were asked to do one of two things: Half of the time, one of the flashing targets disappeared, and the subject had to select where the missing object should be; the other half of the time, the subject just had to identify which objects were flashing previously. A second task also showed the subjects flashing objects, but they didn’t disappear—they just stopped flashing. The subject then had to click on all of the objects that had been previously flashing. What did you find out? We found some-
thing that we think is kind of surprising: We found that as a person needs to remember more things, each individual memory does not degrade, or go down, in quality. We all have an intuitive sense that memory works
WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU
Name: Matthew Levine Age: 20 Hometown: North Potomac, Md. Major: neuroscience, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Faculty sponsor: Jonathan Flombaum, assistant professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Project title: “The Capacity and Quality of Spatial Working Memory”
Matthew Levine created a computer program to test short-term memory.
like any commodity—you use it one place and you can’t in another. But we discovered that it does not really work that way. When we measured the quality of individual memories, we found that they were stable no matter how many things a person was asked to remember. So in our experiment, people’s sense of where an object was located did not get “looser” the more objects they had to remember. So then the question is, Why does it seem like people can only remember so many things? What we found is that the more people need to remember, the more likely they are to rely on the wrong memory to make a decision. So if you want to find object A, you need to consult your file about object A. The more files people store, the more likely they are to consult the wrong one. Do you think of yourself as having a good short-term memory? What, in your own life, do you have the most trouble remembering? It’s actually very
difficult to measure my own working memory abilities on my experiments; since I was the one who programmed them, I tend to
do unusually well on them because I know the overarching structure of how the program is organized, which gives me an unfair advantage. But in everyday life, I find that I can remember numbers more easily than I can remember strings of letters.
Sponsor Jonathan Flombaum says: Matt came up with some clever ways of exploring the relationship between two aspects of spatial memory that are rarely studied together: capacity and quality. Matt’s ideas and experiments have “real world” significance because working memory deteriorates with age, as a result of stroke and as a result of various kinds of disorders, such as Alzheimer’s. But the thing is, an underlying deterioration in either quality or capacity, or both, could have the kinds of impacts we typically observe. So if we are going to really understand what happens when working memory falls apart, we need more sensitive ways of measuring the capacity and quality of working memory, and also some understanding of how they relate generally. Matt’s work starts us down these paths. —Lisa De Nike
Exploring how kids with ‘bionic ears’ perceive music
T
he two sides of her undergraduate studies, oboe performance and anthropology, eventually led double-degree student Lindsay Scattergood to the School of Medicine’s Sound and Music Perception Laboratory, run by Charles Limb. She began her research into music perception by deaf children in summer 2009. A year later, with the help of a PURA grant, she used a computer-based test battery to collect data from 20 subjects, 10 with cochlear implants and 10 with normal hearing. Sometimes called a “bionic ear,” a cochlear implant is a prosthetic device surgically implanted in the cochlea—the auditory part of the inner ear—to provide a deaf person with an electronic sense of hearing.
Questions for Lindsay Scattergood: Your intellectual path through Johns Hopkins made stops at medical anthropology, cognitive science and music education on the way to carrying out this study. Who were some of your guides? I
have been very lucky to have had many passionate, intelligent and influential professors during my tenure. Clara Han, my anthropology thesis adviser, stimulated my interest in medical anthropology. The Theory and Musicology faculty at Peabody taught me about how music “works.” The professionalism, efficiency and depth of musical understanding of Harlan and Laura Parker in Music Education made for an ideal collaborative situation, and she and Eric Rasmussen, who teaches early childhood music, pointed me toward some valuable resources. Monica Lopez-Gonzalez, one of my cognitive science TAs, encouraged my development in that type of thinking. My oboe teacher, Jane Marvine, has been incredibly supportive, both in my development as an oboist and in her encouragement for me to look “outside the musical box.” Charles Limb, my mentor and the adviser to this project, has been paramount to my growth not only as a researcher but also as a thinker.
Describe the test battery you created and how the subjects responded to it.
WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU
Name: Lindsay Scattergood Age: 23 Hometown: Green Bay, Wis. Major: oboe performance, Peabody Conservatory; anthropology, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Faculty sponsor: Charles Limb, associate professor, Otolaryngology, School of Medicine Project title: “Cochlear Implant–Mediated Music Perception in Children”
Lindsay Scattergood’s PURA paired her interests in music and anthropology.
The test battery is a child-friendly computer-based test based on the musical education theories of Edwin E. Gordon. This technique presents the child with two different musical stimuli and then asks the child whether they are the same or different. Under the guidance of Charles Limb, I wrote the questions, recorded the stimuli and designed an interface with a “musical animals” theme to keep the children focused and engaged. Surprisingly, many of the children with cochlear implants really seemed to enjoy the music, and mentioned that they listened to music, sang or played an instrument at home. They were more
interested, engaged and excited than I would have expected considering how difficult CI [cochlear implant] music listening has been shown to be in adults. Though preliminary, your findings were presented at a professional conference and may be published. Where do you hope they will lead? I hope research
like this stimulates more discussion, further research and ultimately improvement in how those with cochlear implants can perceive music. The more we know about Continued on page 10
10 THE GAZETTE • April 11, 2011
Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards
Thwarting info security threats
P
ocket-size USB flash drives have become a simple and popular way to move information from one computer to another. They have also become so inexpensive that “thumb drives” imprinted with logos are commonly handed out as promotional gifts. But these seemingly harmless devices can pose a serious information security threat. Identity thieves and military or industrial spies can use the drives to grab confidential data from unattended computers, or even to insert a computer virus. When Whiting School undergraduate Greg Vorsanger, now a junior, learned that researchers at the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute had proposed the use of radiofrequency identification, or RFID, to block the malicious use of flash drives, he applied for a PURA grant to help him design and build a prototype system based on this idea. The Johns Hopkins technology transfer staff recently filed for a provisional patent covering the invention.
Questions for Greg Vorsanger: Why do we have to worry about flash drives stealing information from our computers or planting a virus in them? Won’t our anti-virus software prevent this? If not, why not? Flash drives have
reached the point where they can hold a lot of data. People can load whole operating systems onto that flash drive and then make your computer run that operating system instead of the one safely installed on the hard drive, bypassing a lot of your security measures. Viruses aren’t the main concern with this, but once there is a security breach, flash drives can make it easier to steal data from your computer, including system passwords, financial records and other important files.
How can RFID technology create an invisible “lock and key” to protect against evil flash drives? RFID stands
for radio-frequency identification, a technique to get basic data from an object at a distance. A good example is the Johns Hopkins J-Card that is used to access buildings
on campus. If you wave the card instead of swiping—to enter a dorm, for example— you’re using RFID. Basically, there is a radio module called a reader, and an identification tag. The reader sends out a signal looking for any tags within the region, and the tag, embedded in the J-Card in this instance, responds with a specific identification number. You can think of it as kind of a wireless barcode system. Using this technology, you can identify authorized users based on those identification numbers. By combining this system with some other computer electronics, an RFID device can block people who aren’t authorized and protect against people with malicious intentions. Who came up with the idea for using RFID to protect against malicious flash drive users, and what was your role in producing the prototype? Johns Hopkins
professors Jorge Vasconcelos and Gerald Masson came up with an idea to use RFID with USB flash drives in some degree to protect both flash drives and computers from data theft. I took this concept and focused it on just protecting the computer, then expanded it to produce a prototype based on these ideas. I designed and built the electronic system, wrote the code and tested it.
Describe how this system works. The
device is connected to your computer, and a program runs on the computer as well. The device first disables the use of USB flash drives and the physical USB ports where these drives are plugged in. It waits for a user with appropriate access rights by checking the area for an RFID tag, which gives an ID number. The ID number is checked against a database of valid users, and if the number is on the list, the device turns on the USB ports. Then, it checks the flash drive in the USB port to make sure that flash drive is registered to the ID number. If it is, it lets the user use it. This process lets the computer filter out flash drives based on each user.
You and your co-inventors have filed for a provisional patent as a first step toward getting this system out into the market. Who would your future customers include? Computer manufacturers? The general public? The Pentagon? Industrial security experts? I think this
device would do best if manufacturers could integrate it into computers at the production level, so that would be the ideal place to see it develop. If that doesn’t happen, the device could appeal to businesses, the government or any place where you have sensitive data and a lot of people. Picture a busy office building, where it would not be too hard to carry away a lot
Shah
other hand … no, just kidding. Both my friends and family are really supportive.
Continued from page 8
Could you next develop some software that would figure out how to keep babies from screaming in restaurants?
get lost in the finer details. I also learned a lot about working with other people and how asking for help only strengthens a project. I received a lot of help from everyone in the lab, particularly Professor Mac Gabhann and postdoctoral fellow Yasmin Hashambhoy, who shared their expertise on the computational side, and from Elizabeth Logsdon, who is also a postdoctoral fellow, for her expertise on the wet lab/ in vitro side. Without this aid, my project would definitely not have worked out as well as it did. Do your friends ever tease you about spending way too much time with computers and not nearly enough time with living, breathing life-forms? No, they
don’t, thank goodness. My parents on the
Unfortunately, probably not. However, I can suggest some treatment options for you: One, feed them; or two, change their diapers!
Sponsor Feilim Mac Gabhann says: Millie is outstanding. Along with natural talents such as being smart, incisive and productive, she has all of the qualities needed to be a great researcher: She thinks deeply about the underlying questions, she always has ideas for what comes next, she takes the initiative to follow ideas and try techniques that could improve the research, and she communicates her work in a clear way that facilitates discussion. Millie is also an excellent photographer, and this creativity is evident in her research, too. She has made great progress in her study on preeclampsia. —Phil Sneiderman
WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU
Name: Greg Vorsanger Age: 21 Hometown: Yardley, Pa. Major: computer engineering, Whiting School of Engineering Faculty sponsor: Gerald Masson, professor of computer science and founding director of the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute, Whiting School of Engineering Project title: “RFID-Protected USB Flash Drive Hub”
Greg Vorsanger bets that RFID technology can stymie malicious flash drive users.
of private data on a small flash drive. I don’t think our device would necessarily be needed inside most homes. If someone in your home is trying to steal data from your computer, you probably have bigger issues, anyway. What was the most important thing you learned while working on this project?
I learned a lot about technology, but I also learned a lot about the whole development process and myself. It’s really tough when your tests don’t work, and it’s really tough when you can’t seem to solve a really crucial problem. But it’s worth it because it’s really rewarding to see it work at the end of the day. The toughest part had to be realizing when I had hit a dead end with one of my ideas, I had to basically backtrack and scrap about three weeks of hard work, and that was really demoralizing. Making it through that was great, though, because ultimately, I knew I made the right choice.
On TV and in the movies, spies are always using tiny flash drives to steal information from their target’s computer. Isn’t your invention going to spoil a lot of scripts? I’m sure Mr. Bond will
find his way around it; he’s a pretty clever guy. The other guys, well, who knows? Maybe they’ll just handle it like in the movie Zoolander, where the characters dis-
Scattergood Continued from page 9 how pre- and post-lingually implanted users hear music—their strengths, weaknesses, differences in devices, training techniques, etc.—the more the music-listening experience can be improved. This test battery could prove a useful tool in discerning these differences. We know music is beneficial on many levels. Why not extend those benefits to those with CIs? You are also writing an anthropology thesis that you have called “the ethnographic view of my lab work.” What do you mean by that? My anthropology
thesis is looking at how those who are deaf and hard of hearing interact with and relate to music. For this research, I have been observing music classes at an elementary school in Rockville with an integrated DHoH [deaf and hard of hearing] program. I observe what the students learn, pedagogical techniques and how the DHoH students react to certain activities. The DHoH students have a variety of devices, and a sign-language interpreter is provided for any class that includes them. This work is a more-qualitative method of learning how DHoH children perceive music, addressing some of the cultural and anthropological questions of the deaf and hard of hearing child’s world.
cover the files are in the computer, so they haul away and destroy the entire desktop machine. If this device someday shows up on the shelves at Best Buy, what would the product be called? The Cybernetic Sentry? The Flash Drive Defense System? The Hub of Horrors? I’d go for something
short and sweet. I’m sure anything will be catchier than the current name, which is kind of a mouthful.
Sponsor Gerald Masson says: What Greg and the group have done is to insightfully combine some interesting information technologies, and the whole has become more than the sum of the parts. I think the “RFID-Protected USB Flash Drive Hub” project has some practical and interesting applications. Jorge Vasconcelos, assistant research scientist in Computer Science, says: Greg has played a key role in the development of this project. With his willingness to tackle the most diverse challenges, from learning the intricacies of several technologies to working with complex electronics and programming, he has taken a theoretical idea and made it into a viable prototype. —Phil Sneiderman
Do you sometimes feel that there are two Lindsay Scattergoods, the one who plays the oboe and the one who works in a lab? Sometimes I feel like there are
many iterations of myself: the classical musician, the lab researcher, the student, the anthropologist. The beginning of the double-degree program felt like two completely different worlds, the conservatory and the university, with a shuttle transporting me between the two. My friends would often tease me about my “other life” at either Peabody or Homewood, of which they weren’t a part. However, in the last couple of years many of my interests have merged together, creating a fascinating and exciting “hybrid self.”
Sponsor Charles Limb says: In order to study music perception scientifically, one needs a firm grasp of both quantitative methods and musical theory. As a double-degree student, Lindsay has this, in addition to the personality to be very good working with deaf children with implants. Lindsay’s work is the start of a project of considerable significance. Almost no literature exists regarding the study of children with cochlear implants. Since children possess a high level of neural plasticity and typically are drawn to music, an improved understanding of music perception in children— and how to enhance this perception—is of critical importance so that deaf children may hear even the most challenging acoustic stimuli. —Richard Selden
April 11, 2011 • THE GAZETTE
11
Three students recognized for contributions to the arts B y H e at h e r E g a n S ta l f o r t
JHU Libraries and Museums
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Printmaker/paper installation artist Tai Hwa Goh will create Evergreen-inspired works during summer and fall for an exhibition scheduled for March 2012.
Tai Hwa Goh named artist in residence at Evergreen B y H e at h e r E g a n S ta l f o rt
JHU Libraries and Museums
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orean-born printmaker/paper installation artist Tai Hwa Goh has been named by Johns Hopkins’ Evergreen Museum & Library as the 10th “House Guest” in its highly acclaimed artist in residence program. The selection from more than 50 applicants from across North America was made by Baltimore-based artist, collector and museum patron Cathy Barbehenn. The House Guests program celebrates the history of the Garrett family, who hosted artists and musicians at their Evergreen estate during the first half of the 20th century. Every year the museum opens its doors to an artist to use its collections, architecture and grounds to practice in place, and offers the public new ways to see and understand this historic place through the work of contemporary artists. The work created by Goh during summer and fall 2011 will go on view in an exhibition scheduled to open in March 2012. Based in Fort Lee, N.J., Goh works with printmaking and paper techniques to create lushly layered abstract images that “appear both fragile and resilient,” Barbehenn said.
“Her use of multiple production processes to create forms that appear to blossom from walls and floors will no doubt prove a wonderful complement to Evergreen and the museum’s many layers of seemingly organic collections.” Goh received a BFA and MFA from Seoul National University in Korea. After moving to the United States in 2000, she received an MFA in printmaking and sculpture from the University of Maryland, College Park. Recent exhibitions of her work include solo shows at Gallery Aferro in Newark, N.J., and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Washington, D.C., and group shows at A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y., and the University of Pennsylvania School of Design in Philadelphia. She has received grants and residencies from the Lower East Side Printshop in New York, the Vermont Studio Center and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, among others, and was named a 2011 “Hot Pick” by Smack Mellon’s Artist Studio Program in Brooklyn, N.Y. Goh currently is a keyholder resident artist at the Lower East Side Printshop and Gallery Aferro, and teaches printmaking at the Art Center of Northern New Jersey, Fairleigh Dickinson University and the Art School at Old Church in Demarest, N.J.
hilip Wolf, a cellist and senior mathematics and economics major in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the Johns Hopkins University’s Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts for 2011. Wolf’s $1,500 prize will be presented at a special luncheon in May. Krieger School seniors Clare Grechis and Andrew Lelin will receive the President’s Commendation for Achievement in the Arts. The Sudler Prize is awarded to a student graduating from Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Nursing or Peabody, or to a fourth-year medical student, who, in the opinion of a committee, has demonstrated excellence and the highest standards of proficiency in performance, execution or composition in music, theater, dance, fiction, poetry, painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, film or video. “This is only my third year to be involved in the selection process for the university’s annual arts awards, but all of the judges, including several who have participated for many years, continue to be impressed by the diversity of excellent artistic achievement demonstrated by our students,” said Winston Tabb, Sheridan Dean of University Libraries and Museums, who chairs the Sudler Prize Committee. Wolf, who will work as an economic consultant in Washington, D.C., upon graduation in May, was recognized for his solo and chamber music activities, submitting a selection of movements from Bach’s Sixth Cello Suite. He plays in the Hopkins
Symphony Orchestra; has taught cello to children in the music program at Margaret Brent Elementary School, located near the Homewood campus; and has organized and played in chamber music ensembles in collaboration with Michael Kannen, director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Conservatory. Wolf studies at Peabody with Daniel Levitov. The President’s Commendation for Achievement in the Arts recognizes seniors graduating from Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Nursing or Peabody who, while demonstrating artistic excellence, have also contributed extensively by service to the arts in the Homewood and/or Baltimore communities. This year, the award was given to two outstanding applicants. Grechis impressed the judges with her commitment to the Homewood campus music community. As director of the Homewood singing group the Vocal Chords, and as organizer of the Medicine through Music benefit concerts for the Red Cross, she has fostered a spirit of collaboration by reaching out to work with a variety of student performance and service groups. Grechis will earn a bachelor’s degree in May from the Program in Public Health Studies. Lelin impressed the committee with his involvement with the AllNighters, an allmale a cappella group, and his work as cochair of the Performing Arts Council. He has helped organize performances at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and other Baltimore venues, and in support of awareness events for the Hopkins Kicks Butts antitobacco coalition. Lelin will earn a bachelor’s degree in anthropology in May.
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APL announces eight winners of its inaugural Ignition Grants B y G e o f f B r o wn
Applied Physics Laboratory
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tiny robot for special operations troops, a better way for Johns Hopkins experts to meet, a civilian Cyber Defense Corps and on-site child care—these are just four of the eight inaugural winners of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Ignition Grants, announced April 1. Ignition Grants were introduced by APL Director Ralph Semmel in February as part of a new initiative to allow Lab staff to both propose and choose new ideas and research areas to receive funding. The first round of Ignition Grants attracted 190 proposals that were voted on by more than 1,300 of APL’s roughly 5,000 staffers. Eight winners were selected and funded, for amounts ranging from $12,000 to $20,000, which will allow the proposal authors and their collaborators
to undertake research and spend time developing their ideas. “This first cycle of Ignition Grants has been a great start, and one that we will learn from,” Semmel said in announcing the winners. “As part of our ‘re-ignition phase’ in April, we will conduct focus groups and discussions to gather lessons learned to define useful changes for the next Ignition Grant cycle.” The winners of the first Ignition Grants are, in order of votes received, “Find an Expert at JHU: A Marketplace for Connecting Innovation to Resources Within the JHU Family,” “iBuoy,” “Pocket-Size Personal Surveillance Robot,” “On-Site Child Care,” “Mechanical Engineers Unite,” “Distributed Library,” “Conformal Antenna for Gun-Launched Projectile” and “Volunteer Cyber Defense Corps.” The proposals that were not selected will automatically continue into the next round. Details about that second cycle of grants will be announced in May.
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12 THE GAZETTE • April 11, 2011
What value, and price, should be placed on new drugs? Challenges facing new British model bear watching, say JHU bioethicists By Michael Pena
Berman Institute of Bioethics
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he United States should pay close attention to how the United Kingdom carries out plans to assess a new drug’s worth using factors that go beyond clinical- and cost-effectiveness, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. In a commentary appearing in the April 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the bioethicists detail and discuss a new “value-based pricing” policy proposed by the British government. Up to now, companies have been able to price their drugs freely. But if the new policy is implemented, the U.K. will start negotiating drug prices. The authors point out that key to the policy is the requirement that Britain’s national health care system factor in some difficultto-measure criteria, as well as more conventional ones, when deciding how much to pay for a new drug. The nontraditional criteria include the extent of therapeutic innovation, the “burden of illness” that the drug aims to treat and the prospect of “wider societal benefits.” The NEJM commentary quotes statements from Britain’s Department of Health that promise that value-based pricing will better reflect “all the components that contribute to a treatment’s impact on health and quality of life,” including “important factors that patients and society value.” In their “Perspective” piece, Berman Institute Director Ruth Faden and visiting faculty member Kalipso Chalkidou acknowl-
edge that the U.K. and U.S. health care systems have fundamental differences. But with health care costs skyrocketing on both sides of the Atlantic, each country is looking for a more comprehensive approach to pricing new drugs and medical treatments. And whether or not officials in the U.K. succeed with value-based pricing, the authors say that the experience could provide valuable lessons for the crisis in America. “As important as improving the health of the population is, we know that what makes health care valuable is more than what is captured in health-outcomes statistics,” said Faden, the Philip Franklin Wagley Professor of Biomedical Ethics at The Johns Hopkins University. “There is value in the security of knowing dying loved ones will be cared for, that the burden on family members of people with dementias will be lessened and in improving prospects for disadvantaged children and communities.” As proposed, this value-based pricing policy would take effect in 2014 and change the way drugs are offered through Britain’s National Health Service. Currently, an independent agency known as NICE—the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence—reviews all new drugs that are likely to have an impact on health or the NHS budget, Chalkidou said. The NHS has always been able to offer drugs turned down by NICE, but it is constitutionally required to pay for those that NICE approves, said Chalkidou, the founding and current director of NICE’s international program. In that role, she helps governments develop the ability to use evidence to inform health policy. Chalkidou said that ongoing talks about the new drug-pricing approach may result in changes before the policy takes effect. “The next few months will be key to solving the technical challenges of making drug-pricing decisions and, more importantly, addressing
the political and ethical challenges of making those decisions,” Chalkidou said. “There is no question that both the U.S. and the U.K. already make difficult decisions about access to health services every single day. But in the U.K., we are a bit ahead with regard to transparency and an explicit reliance on evidence.” Currently, NICE recognizes the need to incorporate social values into its decision making and has adopted as core principles not only transparency but also public consultation, independence and an openness to patients appealing the agency’s decisions, according to the commentary. NICE periodically conducts public opinion surveys, and its decision-making committees include laypeople as voting members, the authors point out. In addition, the agency has a formal program in place for patient and public involvement, as well as a Citizens’ Council, which generates reports that inform NICE’s Social Value Judgments document. Faden and Chalkidou also note that when the proposal was first announced in October 2010, media reports stated that NICE “was being stripped of its power.” The authors assert that those reports were misleading, as NICE is likely to play a central role in the new pricing policies. They add, however, that it remains to be seen whether the new
approach will be better, more acceptable or more comprehensive than the system that Britain has in place now. “Arguably, NICE and the NHS have gone as far, if not further, than health agencies in other countries in attempting to elicit and incorporate the values and preferences of the public,” Faden said. “But there are still many deficiencies in this regard.” In both Britain and the United States, Faden adds, it remains unclear what exactly the public’s values and wishes are, especially given each population’s diversity. For example, the co-authors point out that the category of “wider societal benefits” is open to much interpretation and could include everything from “narrowing health inequities” to “advancing children’s life prospects” to “decreasing workforce absenteeism.” Chalkidou says that the main difference between the two countries is not whether cost is considered when making decisions about drug coverage but whether those considerations are done openly or covertly. “What would be interesting for the U.S.,” she said, “would be to use the U.K. debate to inform its own discussions on whether and how to make the system more transparent, more consultative, more contestable, more independent and hence, more consistent and more legitimate.”
Spring Fair, Physics Fair return to Homewood this weekend By Lisa De Nike
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A m y L u n d ay
Homewood
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et ready for three days of fun, food and physics on the Homewood campus this weekend, when Johns Hopkins will celebrate its 40th student-run Spring Fair, paired for the eighth time with the annual Physics Fair. The festivities begin at noon on Friday, April 15, when Spring Fair’s arts and craft vendors and extensive food court open for business. Plan to leave your brown bag lunch at home that day in favor of sampling fair favorites like funnel cakes, Jamaican jerk chicken, Thai stir fry and fried Oreos. Walk off all those calories by strolling the booths selling everything from jewelry to clothing to fine art. The fair is known for presenting a big centerpiece concert, but this year, the student organizers decided to go in a new direction by bringing in more than 50 artists and musicians to play throughout the fair in four locations across campus. Unchanged is the ever-popular beer garden, where student groups raise money by selling beer at Decker Gardens. Other Spring Fair highlights include a kids section in front of Gilman Hall featuring toy and book giveaways, crafts, games and carnival attractions like a bounce castle and an obstacle course, and a community outreach and marketplace section for local organizations. Open until 8 p.m. on Friday, the fair continues through the weekend, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 17. Coinciding with Spring Fair, the Department of Physics and Astronomy is hosting its annual Physics Fair, from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Events will take place in the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy.
The fair will feature individual and team competitions for local students, as well as a physics-themed scavenger hunt and demonstrations by Johns Hopkins physicists, graduate students and undergraduates. The idea is to bring physics to the community in a fun, accessible way. The fair started within a program called QuarkNet, organized by the National Science Foundation to encourage university professors working in elementary particle physics research to incorporate high school teachers into their programs. The teachers who became involved suggested that a physics fair would be a good way to connect with students and the public. Highlights of the event include: • Professor Extraordinaire Shows, at 12:15 and 4:30 p.m. Professor Peter Armitage and his assistants will give a demonstration that will include fantastic displays, explosions, loud noises and bright lights. • Elementary-Middle School Science Bowl Competitions, 1:30 p.m. Teams of students in grades 1 through 8 will compete to answer a variety of general science-related questions in a quiz show format. Winning teams receive trophies for their schools. • High School Science Bowl and Physics Bowl Competitions, 2:15 p.m. Teams of high school students will compete in answering physics- and science-related questions in a quiz show format. Winning teams will receive prizes, such as trophies and books. • Hopkins Construction Contest, 3:45 p.m. Participants of all ages will have 30 minutes to build a structure according to instructions given that day. Would-be builders can sign up the day of the event. Throughout the day, other activities— including the making of ice cream using liquid nitrogen, a balloon rocket contest and lectures about the Hubble Space Telescope—will be held. The Morris W. Offit Telescope will be open, allowing visitors to observe sunspots and the activities of the sun’s corona using a special filter, as will several research laboratories.
Read The Gazette online gazette.jhu.edu
April 11, 2011 • THE GAZETTE A P R I L Tues.,
Calendar Continued from page 16
MUSIC
Fri., April 15, 7:30 p.m. The Peabody Latin Jazz Ensemble performs. $15 general admission, $10 for senior citizens and $5 for students with ID. East Hall. Peabody
Music at Evergreen presents violinist HahnBin, with pianist John Blacklow. (See photo, p. 16.) $20 general admission and $10 for full-time students with ID; $15 for Evergreen Museum members; tickets include museum admission and post-concert reception. Seating is limited and advance reservations are recommended; go to http://museums .jhu.edu or call 410-516-0341. Evergreen Museum & Library.
Sat., April 16, 3 p.m.
The Hopkins Symphony Orchestra performs Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor. $10 general admission, $8 for senior citizens, non-JHU students, JHU faculty, staff and alumni; free for JHU students with valid ID. Shriver Hall. HW Sun., April 17, 3 p.m.
READ I N G S / B OO K TA L K S
Markand Thakar, co-director of Peabody’s graduate conducting program, will discuss and sign copies of his new book, Looking for the ‘Harp’ Quartet: An Investigation Into Musical Beauty. Friedheim Library. Peabody
Mon., April 11, 5:30 p.m.
Tues., April 12, 6 p.m. A poetry reading by Lyn Hejinian, University of California, Berkeley. Sponsored by English. 26 Mudd. HW Wed., April 13, 6:30 p.m. The Writing Seminars presents a reading by Karl Kirchwey, Bryn Mawr College and the American Academy in Rome. Kirchwey will read from his sixth collection of poems and from new translations of Verlaine. Mudd Auditorium. HW
Research and Policy. W4013 SPH. EB Mon., April 11, 12:15 p.m.
“What Can Multiple-IRB Review Teach Us?” a Berman Institute of Bioethics seminar with Jerry Menikoff, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. West Lecture Hall, Armstrong Medical Education Bldg. EB Mon., April 11, 12:15 p.m.
“The Canonical and Unconventional Functions of Mitochondria for Synapse,” a Carnegie Institution Embryology seminar with Zheng Li, NIH. Rose Auditorium, 3520 San Martin Drive. HW Mon.,
“New Myseries of an Old Antibiotic: From Cholesterol Trafficking to mTOR and Angiogenesis,” a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology seminar with Jun Liu, SoM. W1020 SPH. EB Mon., April 11, 12:10 p.m.
“Evaluation Methodologies for Disability Measurement Instruments,” a Graduate Seminar in Injury Research and Policy with Mitch Loeb, National Center for Health Statistics. Co-sponsored by Health Policy and Management and the Center for Injury
1:30
p.m.
The David Bodian Seminar—“Parietal Selection Signals Guiding the Acquisition of Reliable Information” with Simon Kelly, CUNY. Sponsored by the Krieger Mind/ Brain Institute. 338 Krieger. HW Mon., April 11, 4 p.m. “On Micro-
local Analyticity and Smoothness of Solutions of First Order Nonliner PDEs,” an Analysis/PDE seminar with Shiferaw Berhanu, Temple University. Sponsored by Mathematics. 304 Krieger. HW Mon.,
April
11,
4:30
p.m.
“Moduli Spaces of 2-Stage Postnikov Systems,” a Topology seminar with Martin Frankland, University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign. Sponsored by Mathematics. 302 Krieger. HW Women, Gender and Sexuality seminars with distinguished
visiting professor Sandra Laugier, Universite de Paris 1. Part of the series Inexpressiveness: Voice, Women and Film. Cafe Conference Room, Muller Bldg. HW •
Mon., April 11, noon.
Mon., April 11, noon.
11,
Mon., April 11, 4 p.m.
S E M I N AR S
“Using Structure to Understand Signaling in Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Systems,” a Biophysics seminar with Rebecca Page, Brown University. 111 Mergenthaler. HW
April
“Statistical Methods in Cancer Biology,” a Biomedical Engineering seminar with Mathukumalli Vidyasagar, University of Texas, Dallas. 709 Traylor. EB (Videoconferenced to 110 Clark. HW )
•
•
Mon., April 11, 5:30 p.m.
“Cavell, Meaning and (In) expressivity: From ‘Must We Mean What We Say?’ to ‘A Pitch of Philosophy and Little Did I Know.’ ” Fri., April 15, 5:30 p.m.
“The Inner and the Outer: Wittgenstein and the Myth of Inexpressivity.” Mon., April 18, 5:30 p.m.
“What Becomes of Women on Film: Ethics, Style and Voice.”
Tues., April 12, 11 a.m. “Submesoscale Mixing Observations and Modeling: From Vertical Density Currents to Horizontal Barriers to Mixing,” a CEAFM seminar with Hezi Gildor, Hebrew University, Israel. 50 Gilman. HW
“Mutation as a Stress Response and the Regulation of Evolvability,” a Biological Chemistry seminar with Susan Rosenberg, Baylor College of Medicine. 612 Physiology. EB Tues., April 12, noon.
April
1 1 12,
– 4:30
1 8 p.m.
“Information Visualization and Its Application to Machine Translation,” a Center for Language and Speech Processing seminar with Rebecca Hwa, University of Pittsburgh. B17 Hackerman. HW Tues.,
April
12,
4:30
p.m.
“Hyperelliptic Jacobians and Prymians: Endomorphisms and Hodge Classes,” an Algebraic Geometry/Number Theory seminar with Yuri Zarhin, Pennsylvania State University. Sponsored by Mathematics. 308 Krieger. HW Wed., April 13, 9 a.m. “Involvement of RLIP (Ral BP-1) in Cell Morphogenetic Movements During Gastrulation in Xenopus laevis,” a Carnegie Institution Embryology seminar with Nathalie Houssin, Institut Jacques Monod, Paris. Conference Room 204, 3520 San Martin Drive. HW
“Targeting Tyrosine Kinases and Autophagy in Prostate Cancer,” a Molecular Pathology seminar with Hsing-Jien Kung, UC Davis Cancer Center. G-007 Ross. EB
Wed., April 13, noon.
Wed., April 13, 12:15 p.m.
Wednesday Noon Seminar— “Race and Sex Differences in Substance Use Treatment and Mental Health Service Use in the First Generation JHU PIRC Intervention Trial” with Anne Sawyer, SPH. B14B Hampton House. EB Wed., April 13, 1 p.m. “Cerebellar Coordination Cut Into Cellular Components,” a Neuroscience special research seminar with Chris De Zeeuw, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam. West Lecture Hall (ground floor), WBSB. EB Wed.,
April
13,
1:30
p.m.
“Molecular Mechanism of CoTranslational Protein Targeting— “A Tale of Two GTPases and an RNA,” a Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry seminar with Shu-ou Shan, Caltech. 701 WBSB. EB Wed.,
April
13,
1:30
p.m.
“Neurophysiologic Monitoring and Therapeutic Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest,” a Biomedical Engineering seminar with Xiaofeng Jia, SoM. 709 Traylor. EB (Videoconferenced to 110 Clark. HW ) “Controlling Human Immunity Using Rationally Designed Small Molecules,” a Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences seminar with David Spiegel, Yale University. West Lecture Hall (ground floor), WBSB. EB
Wed., April 13, 4 p.m.
Thurs., April 14, 10:45 a.m.
“Field-Assisted Assembly of Anisotropic Colloids,” a Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering seminar with Michael Solomon, MIT. 301 Shaffer. HW “Mighty Microtubules Save the Day (or at Least the Dendrites): A Pathway That Protects Dendrites From Degeneration When Axons Are Under Duress,” a Cell Biology seminar with Melissa Rolls, Pennsylvania State University. Suite 2-200, 1830 Bldg. EB Thurs., April 14, noon.
The Bromery Seminar—“Biosphere 2: Ecosystems Under Glass to Better Understand Links Between Ener-
Thurs., April 14, noon.
13
gy, Water and Life” with Mitch Pavao-Zuckerman, University of Arizona. Olin Auditorium. HW Thurs., April 14, 2:15 to 5:30 p.m., and Fri., April 15, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Futures Sem-
inar—Department of Biophysics/ Program for Molecular Biophysics, with panelists Stephen Desiderio, SoM; Susan Marqusee, University of California, Berkeley; Vijay Pande, Stanford University; Joseph Puglisi, Stanford University Medical School; Olke Uhlenbeck, Northwestern University; and James Williamson, Scripps Research Institute. Mason Hall Auditorium (Thursday) and Banquet Hall, L Level, Charles Commons (Friday). HW “Reengineering the Hand: Novel Approaches to Robotic Manipulation,” a Mechanical Engineering seminar with Aaron Dollar, Yale University. 111 Mergenthaler. HW
Thurs., April 14, 3 p.m.
Fri., April 15, 11 a.m. “The Life Cycle of Anelastic Internal Wavepackets,” a CEAFM seminar with Bruce Sutherland, University of Alberta. 50 Gilman. HW Fri., April 15, 4 p.m. “Eudaimonism and Accountability,” a Philosophy seminar with Mark LeBar, Ohio University. 288 Gilman. HW
“ ‘Conversions’: African Political Theologies/Political Economies,” an Anthropology seminar with JHU faculty and guest speakers. 400 Macaulay. HW Sat., April 16, daylong.
Mon., April 18, noon. “Miracles and Literary Representation in Sono Ayako’s Kiseki,” an East Asian Studies seminar with Kevin Doak, Georgetown University. 366 Mergenthaler. HW Mon.,
April
18,
12:10
p.m.
“Safe Kids Worldwide: A Vaccine for Childhood Injury,” a Graduate Seminar in Injury Research and Policy with Martin Eichelberger, founder, Safe Kids Worldwide. Sponsored by Health Policy and Management and the Center for Injury Research and Policy. W4013 SPH. EB “Tissue Stem Cells in Aging and Cancer,” a Carnegie Institution Embryology seminar with Amy Wagers, Harvard University. Rose Auditorium, 3520 San Martin Drive. HW
Mon., April 18, 12:15 p.m.
SPECIAL EVENTS
a series of events presented by the African Public Health Network, the Gates Institute, the Center for Global Health, Alumni Relations and the Student Assembly. EB
Faces of Africa Spring 2011,
•
Mon.,
•
Tues., April 12, noon.
•
Wed., April 13, 10 a.m. to noon. Outreach at Dunbar
•
Thurs., April 14, 4 p.m.
•
Fri., April 15—
April
11,
4
p.m.
Screening of the Ugandan documentary War Dance. E2030 SPH. Panel discussion. W1214 SPH.
High School, 1400 Orleans St.
Keynote address by Elizabeth Lule, World Bank. E2030 SPH. 5 p.m.
SPH.
Fashion Show. E2014
7:30 p.m.
Cafe.
Dinner at Jay’s
The 2010 Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards poster session and recognition ceremony with Provost Lloyd Minor. (See story, p. 1.) Glass Pavilion, Levering. HW
Tues., April 12, 3 p.m.
The House Beautiful Lecture Series— “Collectors and the Finest Rooms” by decorator and scholar Thomas Jayne. (See In Brief, p. 2.) $20 general admission, $15 for museum members and students. Reservations are suggested; go to www.brownpapertickets.com/ event/157391 or call 410-5160341. Bakst Theater, Evergreen Museum & Library.
Wed., April 13, 6:30 p.m.
Wed., April 13, 8 p.m. The 2011
Foreign Affairs Symposium— Global Citizenship: Re-examining the Role of the Individual in an Evolving World, with R. Gil Kerlikowske, director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Mason Hall. HW
Thurs.,
April
14,
4
p.m.
Young Investigators’ Day, honoring junior researchers’ scientific accomplishments. Poster session and reception follow. Mountcastle Auditorium. EB Fri., April 15, to Sun., April 17. JHU Spring Fair, featuring
food, music, games, beer garden, arts and crafts, and rides. (See story, p. 12.) HW
Sat., April 16, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Physics Fair, sponsored by
Physics and Astronomy. (See story, p. 12.) Bloomberg Center. HW Sun., April 17, 9 a.m. Ninth Annual Blue Jay 5K Race for Juvenile Diabetes. Registration 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. Homewood Field. HW
SYMPOSIA
Fri., April 15, 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Philosophy and New
American TV Series, a Humanities Center international symposium, with various speakers. 208 GIlman. HW
W OR K S HO P S
Mon., April 11, 4 p.m. “Scholarly Metrics,” an MSE Library workshop on using various tools to assess the impact of research and publications. To register, go to www.library.jhu.edu/ researchhelp/workshops.html. Electronic Resource Center, M-Level, MSE Library. HW
“Don’t Perish: Publishing Tips From the JHU Press and the Sheridan Libraries,” a JHU Press and Sheridan Libraries workshop on how to find the right publisher and publish a first book. Salon C, Charles Commons. HW
Tues., April 12, 10 a.m.
“Intermediate Photoshop,” a Bits & Bytes workshop. A basic knowledge of Photoshop is required. To register, go to www.cer.jhu.edu/ events.html. The training is open to Homewood faculty, lecturers and TAs; staff are also welcome to attend. Sponsored by the Center for Educational Resources. Garrett Room, MSE Library. HW
Thurs., April 14, 1 p.m.
14 THE GAZETTE • April 11, 2011 P O S T I N G S
B U L L E T I N
Job Opportunities The Johns Hopkins University does not discriminate on the basis of gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or other legally protected characteristic in any student program or activity administered by the university or with regard to admission or employment.
Notices
No notices were submitted for publication this week.
LNYW Continued from page 1
Homewood
Office of Human Resources: Suite W600, Wyman Bldg., 410-516-8048 JOB#
POSITION
45459 45953 45976 46001 46002 46011 46013 46014 46048 46050 46055
Sourcing Specialist Employer Outreach Specialist Associate Dean Librarian III DE Instructor, CTY Research Specialist Sr. Financial Analyst Budget Analyst Admissions Aide Research Program Assistant II Research Technologist
Schools of Public H e a l t h a n d N u r s i n g Office of Human Resources: 2021 East Monument St., 410-955-3006 JOB#
POSITION
44976 44290 44672 41388 44067 44737 44939 44555 44848
Food Service Worker LAN Administrator III Administrative Secretary Program Officer Research Program Assistant II Sr. Administrative Coordinator Student Affairs Officer Instructional Technologist Sr. Financial Analyst
School of Medicine
Office of Human Resources: 98 N. Broadway, 3rd floor, 410-955-2990 JOB#
POSITION
39157 41735 42411 45275 45401 45465 45691 45791 45811 46084 46280 46320 46412 46509 46527
Compliance Specialist Trainer Research Technologist Financial Analyst Laboratory Technician Compliance Specialist Trainer Compliance Specialist Trainer Immunohistotechnologist Flow Cytometry Lab Manager Sr. Medical Office Coordinator Case Manager Ophthalmic Technician Receptionist Research Service Analyst Programmer Analyst ICTR Communications Coordinator Laboratory Manager
46536
46064 46065 46071 46078 46085 46088 46090 46093 46097 46106 46108 46111 46127 46133 46152 46164
DE Instructor, CTY Assistant Program Manager, CTY Volunteer and Community Services Specialist Student Career Counselor Laboratory Coordinator Annual Giving Officer Campus Police Officer Curriculum Specialist LAN Administrator III Outreach Coordinator Executive Assistant Center Administrator Monitoring and Evaluation Adviser Employee Assistance Clinician HR Manager Sr. Software Engineer
44648 44488 43425 43361 44554 44684 42973 43847 45106 45024 42939 42669 44802 44242 44661 45002
Assay Technician Research Technologist Research Nurse Research Scientist Administrative Specialist Biostatistician Clinical Outcomes Coordinator Sr. Programmer Analyst Employment Assistant/Receptionist Payroll and HR Services Coordinator Research Data Coordinator Data Assistant Budget Specialist Academic Program Administrator Sr. Research Program Coordinator Research Observer
46614 46615 46783 46839
CME Assistant Coordinator Financial Manager Medical Transcriptionist Sr. Payroll/Financial Project Service Analyst Sr. Research Service Analyst Veterinary Technician Sr. Research Program Manager Academic Program Coordinator Disclosure Specialist Neuro Access Manager Clinical Skills Coordinator Research Assistant Medical Simulation Training Technician Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant
46852 46942 47032 47037 47057 47061 47287 47331 47383 47442
This is a partial listing of jobs currently available. A complete list with descriptions can be found on the Web at jobs.jhu.edu.
Woodcliffe Manor Apartments
S PA C I O U S
G A R D E N A PA RT M E N T L I V I N G I N
R O L A N D PA R K
• Large airy rooms • Hardwood Floors • Private balcony or terrace • Beautiful garden setting • Private parking available • University Parkway at West 39th St. 2 & 3 bedroom apartments located in a private park setting. Adjacent to Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus and minutes from downtown Baltimore.
410-243-1216
105 West 39th St. • Baltimore, MD 21210 Managed by The Broadview at Roland Park BroadviewApartments.com
the benefits of urban living while contributing to the vitality of our new neighborhoods.” Johns Hopkins—which, with more than 46,000 in-state employees, is Maryland’s largest private employer—began offering Live Near Your Work grants in 1997 through a collaboration with Baltimore City and the state.
T
B O A R D
offers an extra $500 from the city for people who buy a vacant home in certain target areas and meet city guidelines. • The $2,500 grant for home purchases within the Live Near Your Work footprints but outside the target tiers has been increased to $3,000, thanks to additional city funding. • An East Baltimore target area that is eligible for $17,000 grants has been expanded to include the Oliver neighborhood. • Because of another boost in city funding for the tier areas, Johns Hopkins is now offering an additional $1,000 for employees
Check out the neighborhoods
hese upcoming Live Near Your Work walking tours of neighborhoods and developments, being offered in partnership with various community associations, can enable an employee to qualify for the $1,000 bonus. For more information on the walking tours, including starting locations, go to hopkinsworklife.org/lnyw or call 443-997-7000. Saturday, April 30, 9 a.m. to noon.
The maximum a homeowner then could receive was $3,500 to be applied to closing costs. But as property values rose, these grants covered a smaller portion of these costs. In 2008, Johns Hopkins enhanced the program with help from a $2.5 million grant from The Rouse Company Foundation. The revised program established two large Live Near Your Work zones: one near the university’s Homewood campus, the other surrounding Johns Hopkins Hospital. Within these two areas, smaller neighborhood clusters, identified as tiers, became eligible for home-buying grants ranging from $6,000 to $17,000. Areas within the Live Near Your Work footprints but outside the tiers became eligible for $2,500 grants. Maps showing the eligible neighborhoods are posted on the Live Near Your Work website. Recently, The Rouse Company Foundation extended its support for the program through July 31, 2014, and the partnership with Baltimore City has opened the door to further program enhancements: • Johns Hopkins is now participating in the city’s Vacants to Value program, which
Waverly, Better Waverly and Abell. Thursday, May 12, 6 to 8 p.m. Patterson Park and Highlandtown. Thursday, June 9, 6 to 8 p.m. Bayview and Greektown. Saturday, July 9, 9 a.m. to noon. Remington. Thursday, Aug. 11, 6 to 8 p.m. Preston Place and Oliver at Heritage. Thursday, Sept. 8, 5 to 8 p.m. Central Baltimore. who attend an eligible Johns Hopkins Live Near Your Work home-buying event and settle on a house in target areas A, B or C by June 30, 2012. The first such home-buying event, called LNYW on Wheels, took place on April 2. Two charter buses transported interested employees on a three-hour tour of neighborhoods that are within the Live Near Your Work footprints. Beginning later this month, a series of walking tours will introduce employees to a wide range of areas [see box]. Grants are available to full-time, benefitseligible employees of Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Health Care, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, Johns Hopkins Bayview and Johns Hopkins Home Care Group. Grant recipients must occupy their Live Near Your Work home as a primary residence for at least five years. Johns Hopkins residents, postdoctoral fellows, house staff and students, and employees of the Applied Physics Laboratory are not eligible for the Live Near Your Work program. G
THE JHU GAZETTE Official newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University. Now celebrating our 40th year. Pick it up Mondays at more than 100 locations or read it online at gazette.jhu.edu.
April 11, 2011 • THE GAZETTE
Classifieds APARTMENTS/HOUSES FOR RENT Bayview, 2BR, 1BA house, CAC, front/back porches, yd, shed, quiet neighborhood, walking distance to Bayview. $1,100/mo + utils. 410-633-2064.
15
M A R K E T P L A C E
2BR, 1.75BA RH, 2 half-BAs, hdwd flrs, stainless steel appls, dw, microwave, W/D, closet space, partly fin’d bsmt, covered front porch, prkng pad, 1-yr lease req’d w/1-mo sec dep, avail July. $1,600/mo. June or Rishi, 267-2501434 or juneandrishi@gmail.com.
Furn’d BR in new TH, walking distance to JHMI, pref nonsmoker/no pets. $550/mo. 301717-4217 or jiez@jayzhang.com.
Bodywork massage studios for prof’l massage services; gift certificates available. 443-9837987.
1BR and common areas of furn’d 3BR, 1.5BA house in Original Northwood, renov’d BA, steam rm, 46" TV, back and front yds, patio, ample street prkng, direct bus to JHMI/JHU. $600/mo + utils. cjouny@gmail.com.
Mama, do you want your body back? Eightweek weight loss and fitness program, proven results. beata@strollerstrides.net.
CARS FOR SALE
Resident assistants needed, July 22-29, to supervise 100 high school students for 1-wk camp at Homewood campus. Shanna, skh9701@gmail.com.
’05 Honda Civic LX, looks and runs great, Md insp’d. $6,500. sheraman786@gmail.com
Entrepreneurial volunteer wanted for ambitious ecology project involving social networks. Mark, 410-464-9274.
Bayview, efficiency apt, mins walking to Bayview campus. $450/mo + utils. 443-386-8471 or fanauh2o@yahoo.com.
Roland Park, furn’d 2BR, 2BA condo, W/D, walk-in closet, swimming pool, cardio equipment, .5 mi to Homewood, secure area. $1,600/ mo. 410-218-3547 or khassani@gmail.com.
Bolton Hill (Park Ave), beautiful 2BR, 1BA apt, 8 rms, 1,300 sq ft, separate office + dining rm, gorgeous shared yd. $1,595/mo. gbaranoski@ covad.net.
Towson-Stoneleigh school district, 3BR singlefamily house, avail May. shashaye@hotmail .com.
’05 Subaru Forester X, silver, excel cond, Carfax Md inspection, orig owner, 100K mi. $10,200. 410-833-5781.
Union Square, upscale, modern, fully furn’d apt in historic Victorian RH, overlooks park, free WiFi, satellite TV, hdwd flrs, gourmet kitchen, clawfoot tub. $1,100/mo + elec + sec dep. 410-988-3137, richardson1886@gmail .com or http://therichardsonhouse.vflyer.com/ home/flyer/home/3200019.
’04 VW Golf, reflex silver w/black interior, 43K mi, good mileage, dependable. $6,900. annenatk@yahoo.com.
Seamstress available for sewing and alterations. 410-404-3548 or lexisweetheart@yahoo .com.
ITEMS FOR SALE
Tutor avail for all subjects/levels; remedial and gifted; also help w/college counseling, speech and essay writing, editing, proofreading, database design and programming. 410-337-9877 (after 8pm) or i1__@hotmail.com.
Butchers Hill, 3BR, 3BA house, avail May 1, walking distance to JHMI, entire awesome house ($2,200/mo) or per rm. 443-851-0887 or schaudry@coastallendinggroup.biz. Canton, beautiful renov’d 2BR, 2.5BA RH, huge master suite, open floor plan, rooftop deck, nr JHH/Bayview. 443-527-1643.
’99 Nissan Sentra, manual 5-spd, good cond, 97K mi. $2,650. reaeg@gmail.com.
Dinette set, octagonal table w/4 chairs, blond/ black, you haul. $120. 443-983-2362.
Canton, lg 2- or 3BR, 2BA house, pets negotiable. $1,700/mo. 410-598-7337 (for more info).
Wyman Park, sunny 2BR apt, AC, laundry in bldg, easy walk to Homewood campus/JHMI shuttle, avail May 15. $1,150/mo. 443-6155190.
Charles Village, tenants wanted for lovely RH, 1 blk to Hopkins shuttle to JHH, ideal for a couple, but also folks who want to share. www .postlets.com/rts/5309241.
3BR RH w/2 full BAs, hdwd flrs, lg kitchen, fin’d courtyd, walking distance to JHH/KKI/ Fells Point and Harbor East, avail mid-June. $1,900/mo. 410-718-6134.
Heavy-duty motorized scooter, up to 500 lbs, like new. $2,500/best offer. 443-423-3410 or 240-758-4954.
Charles Village, spacious, bright 3BR apt in secure bldg, nr Homewood campus. $1,350/ mo. 443-253-2113 or pulimood@aol.com.
Storage garage, less than .7 mi from JHH, can fit a car. $120/mo. 410-294-2793.
Fisher-Price open top Take Along swing, for babies 3 mos and older, $15; folding guest bed, $30; Ikea “Jules” swivel chair, $20. 410-8892830 or kkraj21@hotmail.com.
Churchton, unique 2BR, 1BA house, CAC, W/D, wraparound porch, carport, spacious waterfront lot, avail in April. $1,500/mo. lesliedegnan@gmail.com. Deep Creek Lake/Wisp, cozy 2BR cabin w/full kitchen, call for wkly/wknd rentals, pics avail at jzpics@yahoo.com. 410-638-9417. Ednor Gardens, clean, peaceful 3BR, 2BA house, W/D, dw, pets OK, close to JHU/JHMI, avail August 1. $1,400/mo. mLj260@nyu.edu. Fells Point, fully furn’d efficiency, full-size BA, expos’d brick, hdwd flrs, rooftop deck, utils incl’d. 410-802-9918. Hampden, 3BR, 2BA TH, dw, W/D, nr lt rail. $1,100/mo + utils. 410-378-2393. Homeland, 2BR, 2BA condo in gated community, 15 mins to JHMI, renov’d kitchen and BAs, balcony, CAC, W/D, storage in bsmt, pool, exercise rm, prkng, avail May 15 (flexible). $1,300/mo incl heat. joanfreedman@ gmail.com. Ocean City, 2BR, 2BA condo on 120th St, sleeps 6, immaculate, new appls, flrs, living rm furniture, enclos’d courtyd, 2 blks to beach, indoor/outdoor pools, tennis, racketball. 410992-7867. Ocean City, Md, 3BR, 2BA condo on 137th St, ocean block, steps from beach, off-street prkng (2 spaces), lg pool, walk to restaurants/ entertainment. 410-544-2814. Pikesville, 3- or 4BR house w/full kitchen, bsmt, alarm system, in quiet area nr shopping center/Summit Park Elementary, ideal for Hopkins family. 410-236-1503. Riverside/Federal Hill, beautifully updated
5 Minutes from JHH Renovated 3br/2.5ba townhouse, roof deck, whirlpool tub, granite & stainless kitchen, AC, private backyard, & more! Big rooms, lots of closets. $325,000. Call 410-467-8950.
Beautiful 3BR, 2BA condo w/garage, spacious, great location, walk to Homewood campus. $1,800/mo. 443-848-6392 or sue.rzep2@ verizon.net. Newly remodeled TH avail, walk to JHMI. dmiltonb@gmail.com. Fully furn’d 3BR house, avail June 1 to August 15, nr Towson, beautiful backyd/patio. $1,250/ mo. ayvinijkul@gmail.com.
HOUSES FOR SALE Gardenville, 3BR, 1.5BA RH in quiet neighborhood, new kitchen and BA, CAC, hdwd flrs, club bsmt w/cedar closet, maintenancefree yd, carport, 15 mins to JHH. $139,500. 443-610-0236 or tziporachai@juno.com. Mt Washington, sunny 3BR, 2.5BA house, CAC, sunrm, yd, nr blue-ribbon Mt Washington Elementary, perfect for couple/family. $250,000. 410-979-3833 or aLb457@gmail .com. Springdale, 4BR, 2.5BA house, walk to Loch Raven reservoir and Dulaney High. $370,000. 410-560-3556. Waverly, 4BR, 2BA TH, EOG unit, fin’d bsmt, wooden deck, fenced yd. $125,000. Randy, 410-456-3775 or randy@homeownershipworks .com. 3402 Mt Pleasant Ave, stunning, completed rehabbed, nr everything in the city. $165,900. Pitina, 410-900-7436. Luxury 1BR condo in high-rise, secure bldg w/ doorman, W/D, CAC/heat, swimming pool, exercise rm, nr Guilford/JHU. $179,000. 757773-7830 or norva04@gmail.com.
ROOMMATES WANTED Share 2BR apt in Symphony Center w/Peabody and Homewood senior w/2 sm dogs, W/D in unit, gym in bldg, great facilities, move in July 15, 1-yr lease. $775/mo + utils. 816-304-8829.
HICKORY HEIGHTS WYMAN COURT Come one come all-Free Parking Just Renovated! A lovely hilltop setting on Sat., APRIL 30, 2011- eat in/carry out! Hickory Avenue Beech Ave. adj. to JHU! 5 pm – 8 pm $10/Dinner Children $6 in Hampden! Studios - $595 - $630 Pastitsio & Greek Salad 2 BD units from $750 1 BD Apts. - $710-740 Drinks & Dessert Al-La-Cart w/Balcony - $785! 2 BD from $795 Shown by appointment - 410-764-7776 www.BrooksManagementCompany.com
Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation Corner of Maryland & Preston Streets
Beautiful green chandeliers (2), still in boxes. $100/best offer. lynnnona84@gmail.com.
RCA TV, old, non-HD, gets good picture w/ cable box, $20; Sunbeam mini-chopper, $6; antique, gooseneck rocker, dk green, $75. johannecoll@hotmail.com. Antique wooden cradle, ca early 1900s, in good cond. $75/best offer. 410-207-2217. Four tickets to see <Wicked> at the Kennedy Center, 7:30pm on July 21, section TR2C (center, second tier), row B, seats 205-208. $330 (firm). 443-231-8143. Several pieces of nicely kept, high-quality furniture. www.apt5Efurnituresale.blogspot.com (for pics/details). Antique bedroom dresser, lg 3-drawer, oak, in excel cond. $75. Judy, 410-889-1213. Conn alto saxophone, best offer; exercise rowing machine, $50; both in excel cond. 410-488-1886.
SERVICES/ITEMS OFFERED OR WANTED Sweet pit bull stray needs home, cuddly, adorable, about 1.5 yrs old. Alonzo, adljr@comcast .net. FT nanny needed over summer for 2 children, ages 3 and 7, both will be in school, must keep kids safe and happy, also run errands, cook, some housecleaning, must drive. 410241-3953. Fourth annual multi-family Geneva Condos yd sale, 10am-2pm, Saturday, April 16 (rain date April 17), 3406 St Paul St (next to Hopkins Inn), proceeds benefit our condo beautification fund.
Free standard size pool table, if you can move it, you can have it; located just off Homewood campus. 410-243-5890. Drupal 7 instruction needed, willing to pay by the hour. polyphemus421@gmail.com.
Affordable and professional landscaper/certified horticulturist available to maintain existing gardens, also designing, planting or masonry; free consultations. David, 410-683-7373 or grogan.family@hotmail.com. Let a seasoned pro take fantastic photos for interviews/auditions, special events or to create lasting family memories. Edward S Davis photography/videography. 443-695-9988 or esdavisimaging@gmail.com. Licensed landscaper avail for lawn maintenance, yd cleanup, fall/winter leaf and snow removal, trash hauling. Taylor Landscaping LLC. 410-812-6090 or romilacapers@comcast .net. Mobile detailing and power wash service. Jason, 443-421-3659. Peabody grad student offering private French horn/trumpet lessons, affordable rates. shonagleopold@gmail.com. Masterpiece Landscaping: knowledgeable, experienced individual, on-site consultation, transplanting, bed preparation, installation, sm tree and shrub shaping; licensed. Terry, 410-652-3446. Affordable and professional mobile auto detailing, we come to you. Erik, 443-934-3750. Johns Hopkins International is seeking Mandarin, Cantonese, Greek, Korean, Farsi, Burmese and Nepalese interpreters. $35-$45/hr. pdiaz3@jhmi.edu. Do you speak Chinese/Arabic/Russian? Earn $20/hr for participating in my survey, will pay for interview to be used for research purposes, simple questions, can complete by e-mail, phone or in person. 443-471-6121 or jchris1@ umbc.edu. Looking to rent or sublet 1- or 2BR apt in safe neighborhood during my summer teaching position at JHU, July 5 to August 5, pref partly furn’d, walking distance to Homewood campus. bLguLick8@gmail.com. Garage sale, Ellicott City area, 8:30am-1pm, Saturday, April 16, rain or shine. 443-6761046.
PLACING ADS Classified listings are a free service for current, full-time Hopkins faculty, staff and students only. Ads should adhere to these general guidelines: • One ad per person per week. A new request must be submitted for each issue. • Ads are limited to 20 words, including phone, fax and e-mail.
• We cannot use Johns Hopkins business phone numbers or e-mail addresses. • Submissions will be condensed at the editor’s discretion. • Deadline is at noon Monday, one week prior to the edition in which the ad is to be run. • Real estate listings may be offered only by a Hopkins-affiliated seller not by Realtors or Agents.
(Boxed ads in this section are paid advertisements.) Classified ads may be faxed to 443-287-9920; e-mailed in the body of a message (no attachments) to gazads@jhu.edu; or mailed to Gazette Classifieds, Suite 540, 901 S. Bond St., Baltimore, MD 21231. To purchase a boxed display ad, contact the Gazelle Group at 410-343-3362.
16 THE GAZETTE • April 11, 2011 A P R I L
1 1
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1 8
Calendar
COLLOQUIA
Tues.,
April
12,
4:15
p.m.
FORU M S
Third annual Black Faculty and Staff Association’s Men’s Forum— “The Changing Role of AfricanAmerican Men in Today’s American Society” with guest speakers Michael Hanchard, KSAS, and Dermell Brunson, Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Center Inc. $10 general admission; free for BFSA members. To register, go to bfsa .jhu.edu, link to “Special Events” then “Men’s Forum.” Great Hall, Levering. HW
Tues., April 12, noon.
“Energy Migration and Relaxation in Molecules and Materials Used for Organic Solar Cells,” a Chemistry colloquium with David Blank, University of Minnesota. 233 Remsen. HW
Wed.,
Mon., April 11, 8:30 a.m.
April
13,
3:30
p.m.
“A Brain for All Seasons: What Songbirds Can Teach Us About the Neurogenetics of Social Behavior,” a Psychological and Brain Sciences colloquium with Tyler Stevenson, KSAS. 234 Ames. HW
Wed., April 13, 4 p.m.
Thurs., April 14, 3 p.m. “ ‘No More Monsters’? Medical Museums and Institution Building at the Karolinska Institute, 1860–1910,” a History of Science, Medicine and Technology colloquium with Eva Ahren, Uppsala University. Seminar Room, 3rd floor, Welch Medical Library. EB Fri., April 15, 2 p.m. “Other Universes,” an Applied Physics Laboratory colloquium with Joe Rosen, George Washington University. Parsons Auditorium. APL
D I S C U S S I O N S / TA L K S
“What Makes Healthy Schools? Understanding and Effectively Scaling Development Programs,” a SAIS Global Health and Foreign Policy Initiative discussion with Richard Rheingans, University of Florida. (Event open to the SAIS community and invited guests only.) For more information or to RSVP, email kdiefen1@jhu.edu or call 202-663-5929. 714 BernsteinOffit Bldg. SAIS
Mon., April 11, noon.
Mon., April 11, 12:30 p.m.
“China’s New Talent Policy: Implications and Impact for China’s Development,” a SAIS China Studies Program discussion with Wang Huiyao, director general, Center for China and Globalization. For information, email zji@ jhu.edu or call 202-663-5816. 200 Rome Bldg. SAIS Mon., April 11, 12:30 p.m.
“What Should Ireland and Europe Do Now? Prospects for the Euro and the European Union,” a SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations discussion with John Bruton of SAIS and former prime minister of Ireland. For information, email transatlanticrsvp@jhu.edu or call 202-663-5880. 500 Bernstein-Offit Bldg. SAIS Mon., April 11, 3 p.m. “The Future of Cancer Prevention and Treatment—Research Innova-
I N FOR M AT I O N SESSIONS
Online information session for the Geographic Information Systems online certificate program, a chance to learn about admission requirements, curriculum design, course structure and to participate in an online discussion with the program coordinator. RSVP online at http:// advanced.jhu.edu/rsvp/index .cfm?ContentID=2934.
Tues., April 12, 7 p.m.
The Juilliard-educated protege of legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman, 23-year-old violinist Hahn-Bin chases after 64th notes, zaps the audience with virtuosity and woos with buttery tone, all while wearing dramatic lipstick and a hairstyle as sculpted as a swirl of ice cream. He performs this week at Evergreen Museum & Library. See Music.
tions, Health Disparities and Advocacy,” an Anna Baetjer Society for Public Health Practice panel discussion with Noreen Fraser, founder, the Noreen Fraser Foundation; Ben Park, SoM; Darcy Phelan, SPH; James Yager, SPH; and Deborah Stewart, SoM. W1030 SPH. EB “Mining and Violence in Guatemala: Indigenous Women Resist,” a SAIS International Economics Program discussion with Victoria Cumes, member of Guatemala’s Tz’ununija Indigenous Women’s Movement, and Crisanta Perez, Marlin Mine community, Guatemala. Co-sponsored by the Network in Solidarity With the People of Guatemala. To RSVP, email LcaLbrer1@jhu.edu. 812 Rome Bldg. SAIS
Mon., April 11, 4:30 p.m.
Mon., April 11, 6 p.m. “U.S. Policy Toward Latin America: Perspectives From the George H.W. Bush Administration to Present,” a SAIS Latin American Studies Program discussion with Bernard Aronson, former assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs. (Event open to SAIS students only.) To RSVP, email jzurek@ jhu.edu or call 202-663-5734. 507 Nitze Bldg. SAIS
“Much Ado About Nothing? British Foreign Policy After the Blair/Brown Era,” a SAIS European Studies Program discussion with Klaus Larres, University of Ulster, Ireland, and SAIS. For information, email atobin1@jhu.edu or call 202-6635796. Rome Auditorium. SAIS
Tues., April 12, 5 p.m.
Wed., April 13, 4:30 p.m.
“A
Career in Leadership: Do You See What I See?” a Men in Nursing/ Black Student Nurses Association talk with Courtney Lyder, dean, UCLA School of Nursing. (See story, p. 2.) A Q&A will follow the talk. Lyder’s talk will be available live at http://webcast.jhu.edu/ mediasite/viewer/?peid=12cfaefa6 ed04333b442c439aef6905c. Carpenter Room, Anne M. Pinkard Bldg. EB Thurs., April 14, 12:30 p.m.
“State Building in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Theory and Practice (Part 2),” a SAIS African Studies Program discussion with Crawford Young, professor emeritus, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Pascal Kambale, deputy director, AfriMAP. For information or to RSVP, email itolber1@jhu.edu or call 202-663-5676. 500 Bernstein-Offit Bldg. SAIS Thurs., April 14, 4:30 p.m.
“Risk-Sharing Trade Coalitions,” a SAIS International Economics Program discussion with Ahmed Mahmud, KSAS. (Event is open to the SAIS community only.) For information, call 202-663-7787. 714 Bernstein-Offit Bldg. SAIS Fri., April 15, 12:30 p.m. “Fault
Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy,” a SAIS/Bernard L. Schwartz Forum on Constructive Capitalism with Raghuram Rajan, University of Chicago. For information or to RSVP, email rbwashington@jhu .edu or call 202-663-5650. Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg.
SAIS
Wed.,
April
13,
6:30
p.m.
Information session for the Master of Arts in Government degree program. To RSVP, go to http:// advanced.jhu.edu/calendar/index .html?ContentID=2899. Washington D.C. Center. Online information session for the MA in Museum Studies online degree program, a chance to participate in an online Q&A with the program director. RSVP at http:// advanced.jhu.edu/rsvp/index .cfm?ContentID=2934.
Thurs., April 14, 7 p.m.
L E C TURE S
Mon., April 11, 4:30 p.m. The Passano Lecture—“The Fascinating Biology of Skin: From Its Stem Cells to Its Genetic Disorders and Cancers” by Elaine Fuchs, Rockefeller University. Sponsored by Molecular Biology and Genetics. East Lecture Hall, WBSB. EB Tues.,
April
12,
5:15
The 2010/2011 Acheson J. Duncan Lectures by Joel Zinn,
Texas A&M University. Sponsored by Applied Mathematics and Statistics. HW •
Thurs., April 14, 1:30 p.m. “A Meandering ‘Trip’
Through High Dimensions.” 101 Remsen.
•
Fri., April 15, 1:30 p.m.
“Limit Theorems in High Dimensions.” 50 Gilman.
“Betise en Conversation: Ionesco, Sarraute,” a German and Romance Languages and Literatures lecture by Francoise Gaillard, Universite Paris Diderot–Paris 7. 388 Gilman. HW
Thurs., April 14, 4 p.m.
G RA N D ROU N D S
“Epigenetically Silenced Genes: A Rich Source of Markers for Prognosis, Prediction and Targets of Therapy,” Pathology grand rounds with Saraswati Sukumar, SoM. Hurd Hall. EB
“The Lick Observatory Supernova Search With the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope,” an STSci colloquium with Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley. Bahcall Auditorium, Muller Bldg. HW
Mary. Sponsored by Near Eastern Studies. 205 Krieger. HW
Thurs., April 14, 4:30 p.m.
The Provost’s Lecture Series— “How Science Outreach Impacts Urban Science Education: Project BioEYES Inspires the Next Generation of Scientists” by Steve Farber, Carnegie Institution of Washington. Q&A session and reception to follow. (See In Brief, p. 2.) RSVP to provostrsvp@ jhu.edu. The Hall, Education Bldg., 2800 N. Charles St. The fifth annual George G. Graham Lecture—“From Bench to Bush in Designing Nutrition Interventions: Avoiding Snakes and Climbing the Ladders” by keynote speaker Andrew Prentice, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Also a special presentation by Keith West, SPH, and Michael Klag, SPH dean. Sponsored by International Health and the Middendorf Foundation. W1214 SPH. EB
Thurs., April 14, 5 p.m.
Thurs., April 14, 5:15 p.m.
The Spring 2011 Singleton Center Lecture—“The Reformation of the Generations: Youth, Age and Religious Change in England, ca. 1500–1700” by Alexandra Walsham, Trinity College, Cambridge. Reception follows in Azafran Cafe. Sponsored by the Charles Singleton Center for the Study of Pre-Modern Europe. Bahcall Auditorium, Muller Bldg. HW Thurs., April 14, 5:15 p.m.
“A Genealogical Approach to the Narconovel,” a German and Romance Languages and Literatures lecture by Hermann Herlinghaus, University of Pittsburgh. 479 Gilman. HW
p.m.
“Michelet and Secularization,” a German and Romance Languages and Literatures lecture by Barbara Vinken, University of Munich. 288 Gilman. HW The 2011 Richard J. Carroll Memorial Lecture—“Application of Smart Materials in Natural Hazard Mitigation” by Reginald DesRoches, Georgia Institute of Technology. Sponsored by Civil Engineering. Boardroom, 3rd flr, Hodson Hall. Wed., April 13, 1:30 p.m.
HW Wed., April 13, 5:30 p.m. The William Foxwell Albright Lecture 2011—“Untangling Text and Archaeology: From Phrygians to Galatians at Ancient Gordion” by Mary Voigt, College of William and
Continued on page 13
Calendar Key APL BRB CRB EB HW JHOC
(Events are free and open to the public except where indicated.)
Applied Physics Laboratory Broadway Research Building Cancer Research Building East Baltimore Homewood Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center KSAS Krieger School of Arts and Sciences NEB New Engineering Building PCTB Preclinical Teaching Building SAIS School of Advanced International Studies SoM School of Medicine SoN School of Nursing SPH School of Public Health WBSB Wood Basic Science Building WSE Whiting School of Engineering