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L EADER S + L EGENDS

Covering Homewood, East Baltimore, Peabody,

Harvard Law School professor

Robert L. Johnson, founder

SAIS, APL and other campuses throughout the

presents ‘A Skeptical View of

of BET and RLJ Cos., to give

Baltimore-Washington area and abroad, since 1971.

Constitution Worship,’ page 7

Carey School lecture, page 12

September 13, 2010

The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University

O R G A N I Z A T I O N

E V E N T

Serving up dinner and discourse

A new home for IPS in Public Health

Two programs bring Homewood undergrads, profs together at dean’s

By Greg Rienzi

B y A m y L u n d ay

The Gazette

Homewood

Continued on page 4

uess who’s coming to dinner? If you’re Katherine Newman, the answer is 800 undergraduates. That’s the number of students the new James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences expects to welcome to her home throughout the 2010–2011 academic year, thanks to two informal dinnerand-discussion programs pairing distinguished Krieger School faculty and Homewood students. The first 75 undergraduates will visit Newman’s North Charles Street home this week through the Four-Course Dinners program, now in its third year of bringing together faculty and students from both the Krieger and Whiting schools for casual conversation about a variety of topics in the humanities. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will mark the first dinnertime sessions of the noncredit four-week courses on the Bible, Yiddish humor and European film. Continued on page 5

Tonight, KSAS Dean Katharine Newman opens the doors of her new home to the first of 800 Homewood undergraduates she expects to entertain at two series of informal dinner-and-discussion programs this year.

WILL KIRK / HOMEWOODPHOTO.JHU.EDU

he Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies, a longtime freestanding organization of the university, has a new academic home: the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The move, effecPolicy tive immediately, is institute will intended to maximize IPS’s potential as a resource for the remain on university. Current plans are for the Homewood institute to remain on the Homewood campus campus. The IPS director previously reported to the Provost’s Office, which announced the move earlier this month in an internal letter. In the message, Provost Lloyd Minor said that the move would best position the institute going forward. “As plans for identifying a new permanent director [for the institute] were discussed, it became increasingly clear that aligning IPS more closely with the Bloomberg School and HPM would benefit both organizations. In particular, a school affiliation enhances the potential to recruit new faculty to IPS,” Minor said. Ellen MacKenzie, the Fred and Julie Soper Professor of Health Policy and Management and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, said that she believes the move will raise the profile of the institute and directly fuel work going on in the university. “We’re very excited about this,” MacKenzie said. “We see IPS as bringing expertise in the area of policy that we don’t necessarily have. We see public health researchers and those focused on social policies working very closely together. This brings a lot to the table.” MacKenzie said that two main goals are to foster IPS as a resource that develops and applies policy analysis to a broad array of social issues, and to provide an

Volume 40 No. 3

T E C H N O L O G Y

Cloud computing method improves gene analysis Researchers develop free software that cuts both processing time and cost By Tim Parsons

Bloomberg School of Public Health

esearchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed software that greatly improves the speed at which scientists can analyze RNA sequencing data. Known as

In Brief

Arts Innovation Grants; test of Homewood emergency system; Swim Across America

Myrna, the new software—which is available for free download at http://bowtie-bio.sf.net/ myrna—uses “cloud computing,” an Internetbased method of sharing computer resources. RNA sequencing is used to compare differences in gene expression to identify those genes that switch on or off when, for instance, a particular disease is present. However, sequencing instruments can produce each day billions of sequences, which can be time-consuming and costly to analyze. Faster cost-effective analysis of gene expression could be a valuable tool in understanding the genetic causes of disease. The findings are published in the current edition of the journal Genome Biology.

C a l e nd a r

Community Involvement Fair; ‘Mark Twain’s America’; Yom Kippur services

Cloud computing bundles together the processing power of individual computers using the Internet. A number of firms with large computing centers, including Amazon and Microsoft, rent time on their unused computers over the Internet. “Cloud computing makes economic sense because cloud vendors are very efficient at running and maintaining huge collections of computers. Researchers struggling to keep pace with their sequencing instruments can use the cloud to scale up their analyses while avoiding the headaches Continued on page 7

10 Job Opportunities 10 Notices 11 Classifieds

2 THE GAZETTE • September 13, 2010 I N B R I E F

T HE 2010 C ONSTITUTIONAL F ORUM

MICHAEL J. KLARMAN Kirkland and Ellis Professor Harvard Law School

“A SKEPTICAL VIEW OF CONSTITUTION WORSHIP” September 16, 2010 8 P.M. 110 Hodson Hall Homewood Campus For more information email: constitution@jhu.edu

SPONSORED BY The Department of Political Science and the Office of Government, Community and Public Affairs SUPPORTED BY The George Huntington Williams Memorial Lectureship

Arts Innovation Grants available for Homewood faculty, students

roposals for Arts Innovation Grants for intersession and the spring and fall 2011 semesters are now being accepted from Homewood faculty and staff. The initiative is designed to help faculty develop for-credit interdisciplinary courses in the arts—across departments, divisions or institutions—for Homewood undergraduates, and to help undergraduates create new co-curricular activities in the arts or significantly increase the impact of existing ones within both the university and greater Baltimore communities. The deadline for submissions is Friday, Oct. 1. For more information, go to www .library.jhu.edu/about/news/announcements/ artsinnovationgrants.html.

Swim Across America to benefit JH Kimmel Cancer Center

wim Across America, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment through swimming-related events, will hold its first swims in the Baltimore area on Sunday, Sept. 19. Pledges collected by the swimmers, corporate sponsors and online donations will support a lab directed by Luis Diaz at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. Among those signed up to swim are Cancer Center director Bill Nelson, Nobel laureates Peter Agre and Carol Greider and a 19-member team rallied by John Burton of Bayview. Olympian Michael Phelps will serve as the official starter for the one- and threemile open water swims, which will be held in Gibson Island Harbor, starting at 8 a.m. from the Waltjen Shedlick Farm in Pasadena. A one-mile pool swim begins at the same time at the Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center in Baltimore. The races are open to swimmers of all ages and skill levels. For more information, go to www.swimacrossamerica.org/Baltimore.

Homewood emergency alert system to be tested Tuesday

omewood Campus Safety and Security will conduct a test of the campus siren/public address system and the Johns Hopkins Emergency Alerts text messaging system at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 14. The test will be a full-scale simultaneous activation of both systems. The siren/PA system, which is activated by radio signal from the Homewood Communication Center, is composed of speakers on Garland Hall, Whitehead Hall and the O’Connor Recreation Center. The sirens will simultaneously sound the alert tone and then

Editor Lois Perschetz Writer Greg Rienzi Production Lynna Bright Copy Editor Ann Stiller P h o t o g r ap h y Homewood Photography A d v e rt i s i n g The Gazelle Group Business Dianne MacLeod C i r c u lat i o n Lynette Floyd Webmaster Tim Windsor

sequentially broadcast the voice message, announcing, “This is a test of the Homewood campus emergency warning system.” Those who have subscribed to the text message alert system will receive a brief message that reads, “This is a test of the Johns Hopkins Homewood Emergency Alert text message system. There is NO emergency at this time.” Shortly after the public address broadcast, an all-clear alert tone will sound, followed by a message saying, in part, “This has been a test of the Homewood campus emergency warning system. Had there been an actual emergency, you would have been given specific instructions on what to do.” Because the public address system incorporates a silent self-test feature that exercises each module on a weekly basis, Campus Safety and Security schedules “live” tests only three times a year. The main purpose of the exercise is to familiarize the Homewood community with the sound of the system. Except for these periodic tests, the system will be used only in the event of a confirmed incident that presents an immediate danger to the Homewood campus. To subscribe to text message alerts, go to http://my.johnshopkins.edu and sign in using your JHED ID and password. Click on the “myProfile” icon in the upper left-hand side of the page, then click on the “Emergency Alerts” link on the right.

Esther Brimmer of State Dept. to give lecture at SAIS

sther Brimmer, assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, will speak at SAIS at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15. Brimmer, a former SAIS faculty member, will speak about “The United States at the U.N. and Beyond: A World of Transnational Challenges.” A live webcast will be accessible at www.sais-jhu.edu. The event will be held in the Nitze Building’s Kenney Auditorium. NonSAIS affiliates should RSVP to the International Development Program at developmentroundtable@jhu.edu.

‘Sculpture at Evergreen’ is site of Sunday block party

unday, Sept. 19, is the day to explore Evergreen Museum & Library’s largest gallery—its 26-acre park, which is now featuring the biennial exhibition Sculpture at Evergreen 6: Simultaneous Presence. Visitors are invited to bring a picnic, enjoy performance art by David Page and Shannon Young, and meet the artist team of Eric Leshinsky, C. Ryan Patterson and Fred Scharmen, who will host chalk drawing, a community photo wall and a lemonade stand at its urban-park installation. Outdoor activities are free; regular admission policies apply to museum tours.

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, Katerina 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.

September 13, 2010 • THE GAZETTE

A P P O I N T M E N T

WSE names Dexter G. Smith associate dean for EP programs By Phil Sneiderman

Homewood

exter G. Smith has been appointed the Whiting School of Engineering’s associate dean for Engineering for Professionals, which offers part-time education for working engineers and scientists. The appointment is effective Oct. 1. Smith, who has been affiliated with Johns Hopkins since 1995, currently serves as a member of the principal professional staff of the university’s Applied Physics Laboratory and as the EP program’s chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

In announcing the appointment, Nick Jones, the Benjamin T. Rome Dean of the Whiting School, said that Dexter brings to EP a combination of skills and experiences that makes him uniquely qualified for his new leadership role. EP offers master’s degrees in 15 disciplines. Currently more than 3,000 students are enrolled in EP courses at eight education centers in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. region, through partnerships with industry and locations nationwide, and online. In directing this program, Smith will succeed Allan Bjerkaas, who in 2001 became the associate dean for what was then called Parttime Programs in Engineering and Applied Science. Bjerkaas recently announced his retirement. “Thanks to Allan, EP is thriving and

is now positioned to achieve tremendous growth in areas that include corporate partnerships and partnerships with APL, distance learning, opportunities presented by the BRAC initiative and new academic programs,” Jones said. “This is a terrifically exciting time for EP, and I know that Dexter will provide the leadership necessary to bring these possibilities to fruition and to build upon them.” At APL, Smith is a member of the executive management team and is the biomedicine business area executive. He played a key role in organizing, staffing and writing the largest Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract ever awarded to the Laboratory, for a project called Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009. Previously, he served as the branch supervisor for APL’s Homeland

Protection, specializing in unique facilities characterization and chemo/bio sensor development. Before joining APL, Smith worked at Gould Electronics, Allied Signal and Noise Cancellation Technologies. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering, and a second master’s degree and a doctorate in electrical engineering, all from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also holds numerous U.S. patents and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a full member of the scientific research society Sigma XI and a licensed professional engineer in Maryland. In addition, he is a certified flight instructor and an instrumentrated commercial pilot.

JHM researchers unravel clues to infertility in obese women B y K at e r i n a P e s h e v a

Johns Hopkins Medicine

bese women have a well-known risk for infertility, but a new Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study has unraveled what investigators here believe is the mechanism that accounts for the risk. The research, conducted in mice and published online Sept. 8 in the journal Cell Metabolism, shows that the pituitary gland actively responds to chronically high insulin levels, triggering a cascade of hormonal changes that disrupt ovarian function and impair fertility. The findings challenge the widely held belief that infertility is a result of insulin resistance—a body’s insensitivity to chronically elevated insulin levels and a hallmark of obesity—and suggest a new culprit: heightened sensitivity to insulin’s effects on the pituitary gland. “What we propose is a fundamentally new model showing that different tissues respond to obesity differently, and that while cells in the liver and muscle do become insulinresistant, cells in the pituitary remain sensitive to insulin,” said principal investigator Andrew Wolfe, an assistant professor of pediatrics and endocrinology in the School of Medicine. Scientists traditionally have focused on treating infertility by lowering insulin levels as a way to treat insulin resistance. However, the new model suggests that decreasing the pituitary’s sensitivity to

insulin could be an important new target for treatment instead. Insulin resistance, marked by persistently elevated insulin, abnormal regulation of blood sugar and insensitivity to insulin in the liver and muscle cells, occurs in type 2 diabetes; metabolic syndrome; and polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, the most common cause of infertility, affecting up to one in 10 women. Because ovarian function and fertility are mostly regulated by the pituitary, the body’s master gland, the Johns Hopkins team set out to find out exactly how elevated insulin levels affect the pituitaries of obese women to render them infertile. The investigators focused on a class of pituitary cells called gonadotrophs, which secrete luteinizing hormone, or LH, which is critical for ovulation and fertility. The researchers suspected that when awash with too much circulating insulin, the gonadotrophs of obese mice start pumping out large amounts of LH, thus disrupting ovulation. To test their hypothesis, the scientists engineered mice with missing insulin receptors in their pituitary glands and compared them to mice with intact insulin receptors. After three months on a high-fat diet, the obese mice with intact insulin receptors developed all the classic symptoms of PCOS: elevated LH levels, high testosterone, irregular reproductive cycles and fewer ovulations. The mice with missing insulin receptors, however, maintained near-normal LH levels, regular cycles and normal ovulation despite their obesity. To further clarify the effect of insulin

on the pituitary, the researchers compared the gonadotrophs of obese mice to those of lean mice by injecting the animals with gonadotropin-releasing hormone, which stimulates LH and is critical for ovulation and fertility. Lean mice, with and without pituitary insulin receptors, had normal elevations of LH. Obese mice with intact insulin receptors experienced increases of LH twice as high. Yet the obese mice with missing insulin receptors in their pituitaries had near-normal LH elevations. These results, the researchers say, show that the high levels of insulin seen in obesity make the pituitary more sensitive to gonadotropin-releasing hormone and help initiate a hormonal chain reaction that disrupts fertility. To demonstrate insulin’s direct effects on the pituitary, the scientists injected mice with insulin. Mice with intact insulin receptors, lean or obese, had mild LH elevations, while mice with deleted insulin receptors, lean or obese, experienced none. To determine whether these hormonal differences would carry over into actual differences in fertility, the researchers allowed the mice to mate. The pregnancy outcomes mirrored the hormonal findings. Lean mice, with or without pituitary insulin receptors, had six times the number of successful pregnancies as obese mice. However, obese mice with missing pituitary insulin receptors had near-normal pregnancy outcomes, with five times more successful pregnancies than obese mice whose pituitary insulin receptors were intact. By deleting the insulin receptors in the

pituitary cells of mice, the researchers managed to restore normal LH levels, maintain ovulation and near-intact fertility even in obese mice with elevated insulin levels. Despite normal hormonal levels and ovulation, the obese mice with missing insulin receptors were not as fertile as lean mice with normal insulin levels. The finding suggests that since the ovaries share partial control of ovulation and fertility with the pituitary, they, too, may be affected by high insulin levels. Ronald Kahn, of the Joslin Diabetes Center at the Harvard School of Medicine, was co-investigator on the research. Johns Hopkins co-authors on the study were Kathryn J. Brothers, Sheng Wu, Sara DiVall, Marcus R. Messmer, Ryan S. Miller, Sally Radovick and Fredric E. Wondisford. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Related websites Johns Hopkins Children’s Center:

www.hopkinschildrens.org

www.hopkinschildrens.org/ Andrew-Wolfe-PhD.aspx

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/drtc/ index.html

Andrew Wolfe:

Baltimore Diabetes Research and Training Center:

Tick-Tock: Rods help set internal clocks, Hopkins biologist says By Lisa De Nike

Homewood

e run our modern lives largely by the clock, from the alarms that startle us out of our slumbers and herald each new workday to the watches and clocks that remind us when it’s time for meals, after-school pickup and the like. In addition to those ubiquitous timekeepers, though, we have internal “clocks” that are part of our biological machinery and help set our circadian rhythms, regulating everything from our sleep-wake cycles to our appetites and hormone levels. Light coming into our brains by way of our eyes sets those clocks, though no one is sure exactly how this happens. A Johns Hopkins biologist, however, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Southern California and Cornell University, has unlocked part of that mys-

tery recently in a study that found that rod cells—one of three kinds of exquisitely photosensitive cells found in the retina of the eye—are the only ones responsible for “setting” those clocks in low light conditions. What’s more, the study found that rods—which take their name from their cylindrical shape—also contribute (along with cones and other retinal cells) to setting internal clocks in bright light conditions. The study appeared in a recent issue of Nature Neuroscience. These findings are surprising for several reasons, according to study leader Samer Hattar, an assistant professor of biology in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. “One is that it had previously been thought that circadian rhythms could only be set at relatively bright light intensities, and that didn’t turn out to be the case,” he said. “And two, we knew going in that rods ‘bleach’ or become ineffective when exposed to very bright light, so it was thought that

rods couldn’t be involved in setting our clocks at all in intense light. But they are.” In the study, Hattar’s team used a group of mice that were genetically modified to have only rod photoreceptors, meaning that their cones and intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells—both of them lightsensitive cells in the animals’ retinas—were not functional. The team then exposed the rodents to varying intensities of light, measuring the animals’ responding level of activity by how often they ran on hamster wheels. The study results are important because they indicate that prolonged exposure to dim or low light at night (such as that in homes and office buildings) can influence mammals’ biological clocks and “throw off” their sleep-wake cycles. Hattar suggested that one way people can mitigate this effect is by making sure to get some exposure to bright daylight every day. In addition, the study has possible impli-

cations for older people being cared for in nursing homes and hospitals, he said. “Older adults often lose their rod cells to age, which means that their caretakers would be well-advised to regularly and deliberately expose them to bright natural daylight in order to make sure that their natural biological rhythms remain in sync so their sleep-wake cycles remain accurately set,” Hattar said. “Otherwise, they could have sleep disturbances, such as intermittent waking or difficulty falling asleep, not to mention the impact on their appetite and other bodily functions.” Hattar’s study was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Read The Gazette online http://gazette.jhu.edu

4 THE GAZETTE â&#x20AC;˘ September 13, 2010

Public health: Trauma center care found to be cost-effective

rauma center care not only saves lives, it is a cost-effective way of treating major trauma, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Healthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Center for Injury Research and Policy. Although treatment at a trauma center is more expensive, the authors say, the benefits of this approach in terms of lives saved and quality of life-years gained outweigh the costs. The study found that the added cost of treatment at a trauma center versus nontrauma center care is $36,319 for every lifeyear gained, or $790,931 per life saved; this is despite the fact that initial care in trauma centers is 71 percent higher than in nontrauma centers. While previous studies have found trauma center care decreases oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s likelihood of dying following injury, this is the most comprehensive study to date to also measure cost-effectiveness. The results are published in the July issue of The Journal of Trauma Injury, Infection and Critical Care. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic and health care climates, it is critical to determine whether the benefits of expensive therapies warrant their higher costs,â&#x20AC;? said Ellen MacKenzie, the Fred and Julie Soper Professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Taken together with our previous work demonstrating the effectiveness of trauma centers in saving lives, the results unequivocally support the need for continued efforts and funding for regionalized systems of trauma care in the United States.â&#x20AC;? The report found that while trauma center care is cost-effective for all patients taken together, it is of particular value for people younger than 55 years and for those with very severe injuries. The costs per lifeyear gained are higher for patients with less severe injuries. These results underscore the importance of designing trauma systems that assure that patients are taken to the level of care appropriate to their needs. Taking

the less severely injured to a lower level of trauma care will yield lower overall costs and increased efficiency in the system. Richard Hunt, director of the Division of Injury Response in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Each year in the United States, more than 2 million people are hospitalized for treatment of a traumatic injury. Because injuries often happen in children and young adults, the years of potential life lost are significant. We know that getting the most critically injured patients the right care, at the right place, at the right time can help save lives,â&#x20AC;? he said. To determine cost-effectiveness, the researchers used three metrics: cost per life

saved, cost per life-year gained and cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained. A total of 5,043 patients contributed to the costeffectiveness analysis from 69 participating hospitals (18 trauma centers and 51 nontrauma centers) across 14 states. In addition to care received in the hospital, costs associated with hospital transport, treatment at transferring hospital, rehospitalizations for acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, stays in long-term facilities, outpatient care and informal care from friends or family members were accounted for when estimating cost. Lifetime costs were modeled using age-specific estimates of per capita personal health expenditures for the general U.S. population and limited data on the impact of specific types of injuries on lifetime health care expenditures.

While the value of a year of life is the subject of considerable debate, MacKenzie noted that the cost per life-year saved at a trauma center ($36,319, or $790,931 per life) are â&#x20AC;&#x153;well within an acceptable range of other cost-effective life-saving interventions reported in the literature.â&#x20AC;? For example, a threshold of $50,000â&#x20AC;&#x201C;$100,000 per year is often justified based on the cost-effectiveness of renal dialysis. Additional authors of the study include Daniel O. Scharfstein of the Bloomberg School. The research was funded by the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Prevention, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute on Aging. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Tim Parsons

IPS

or more students each year. There are more than 80 students currently enrolled in the program. Michael J. Klag, dean of the Bloomberg School, said that the move will strengthen an already robust relationship. â&#x20AC;&#x153;IPS has a stellar reputation, and we have long admired the work of the faculty there both on the research and education fronts,â&#x20AC;? Klag said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The institute has focused on health in the past, and I fully expect it will increasingly do more on urban health issues and extend its mission into health policy. This move will certainly create new synergies.â&#x20AC;? Klag said the move will also strengthen the Bloomberg Schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ties with the Homewood campus and facilitate even greater collaboration and scholarly interactions with Homewood faculty and students. School of Public Health faculty currently teach courses in the School of Arts and Scienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Public Health Studies program, which is one of the most popular undergraduate majors. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This gives us an exciting new bridge to

Homewood as weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never had a physical location there,â&#x20AC;? he said. The institute will transition to its new home in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the current academic year. Since July 2009, Donald Steinwachs, a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, has served as interim director of the Institute for Policy Studies. Steinwachs, who succeded longtime director Sandra Newman, will continue in his role until a permanent replacement is found. A search is expected to commence later this year. Steinwachs said he is very excited about the future of the institute and lauded the investment in its work. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a great opportunity to strengthen the IPS faculty and become involved very broadly across the university, through both education and research, as we continue to make significant contributions to the science of policy development, implementation and evaluation,â&#x20AC;? he said. G

Continued from page 1 outstanding graduate program in policy studies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I foresee IPS as being the go-to place in the university for a range of social issues,â&#x20AC;? she said. IPS is the primary social science policy research and teaching arm of the university, providing undergraduate and masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree programs in public policy and policy administration. The instituteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to strengthen public policy through rigorous analysis of the most pressing social issues. The instituteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interdisciplinary staff of faculty and scientists historically informs policies related to poverty, social welfare, urban housing and an effective workforce. The institute, founded in 1987, offers a Masters of Arts in Public Policy through the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences to 35

JHU graduate students are automatically approved with completed application. John Hopkins employees receive $0 app. fee & $0 security deposit with qualified application.

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September 13, 2010 • THE GAZETTE

Researchers identify genes tied to deadliest ovarian cancers By Karen Blum

Johns Hopkins Medicine

cientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have identified two genes whose mutations appear to be linked to ovarian clear cell carcinoma, one of the most aggressive forms of ovarian cancer. Clear cell carcinoma is generally resistant to standard therapy. In an article published online in the Sept. 8 issue of Science Express, the researchers report that they found an average of 20 mutated genes per each ovarian clear cell cancer incidence studied. Two of the genes were more commonly mutated among the samples: ARID1A, a gene whose product normally suppresses tumors, and PPP2R1A, an oncogene that, when altered, helps turn normal cells into tumor cells. ARID1A mutations were identified in more than half the tumors studied, and, according to Sian Jones, a research associate at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, “this gene may play a significant role in this type of cancer.”

Dinners Continued from page 1

were identified in 57 percent of the 42 tumors. PPP2R1A mutations were found in 7.1 percent of the tumors. The landscape of cancer-related genes can be likened to a few “mountains” (highly prevalent mutations) among many “hills” (genes with less prevalence), said Papadopoulos, and “ARID1A is one of the biggest mountains found in recent years.” The protein encoded by ARID1A is a component of a cellular structure called a chromatin remodeling complex. Chromatin compresses DNA to make it fit inside cells and shields it from any other chemical signals, providing a means for controlling how and when the DNA is read. When chromatin gets remodeled, the components are shuffled and certain areas of DNA become exposed, allowing genes to be switched on or off. When the ARID1A gene is mutated, the chromatin remodeling complex is altered, allowing genes to be incorrectly switched on or off. The Johns Hopkins scientists say that mutated ARID1A can now be linked to socalled “epigenetic” changes—alterations to DNA occurring outside the genome; in this case, in the chromatin.

“The mutations in ARID1A provide an important new link between genetic and epigenetic mechanisms in human cancer and may help identify epigenetic changes which can be targeted with therapies,” said Victor Velculescu, an associate professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. The researchers next plan to search for genes whose chromatin is specifically affected by ARID1A inactivation. Ovarian clear cell carcinoma accounts for about 10 percent of cancers that start in the cells on the surface of the ovaries. It mainly affects women ages 40 to 80 and is resistant to chemotherapy. Funding for this study was provided by the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation, AACR Stand Up to Cancer–Dream Team Translational Cancer Research Grant, Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Fund for Cancer Research, Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health. Additional study authors from Johns Hopkins are Tian-Li Wang, Ie-Ming Shih, Richard Roden, Luis A. Diaz Jr., Bert Vogelstein and Kenneth Kinzler.

tised it to the Whiting School as well. Last semester, we did have a lot of engineering students attend, and they loved it.” The schedule for the Zelicof Family Dinners with the Dean is still being finalized, but the first group—students of David’s, a political science professor—will call on Tuesday, Sept. 21. Both the Four-Course Dinners and the Zelicof Family Dinners with the Dean are funded by Caren Zelicof, who earned her bachelor’s degree from the Krieger School in 1986, currently serves on the Alumni Council and is a national chair emeritus of the Second Decade Society, the school’s alumni leadership development organization. When Zelicof marked the end of her tenure as chair of the society with a donation to the university, Paula Burger, then dean of undergraduate education, suggested using the funds to experiment with initiatives to create a more robust sense of community on campus, and the Four-Course Dinners program was born, said Monica Butta, director of the Second Decade Society. Recently, when Zelicof made a new donation to mark her 25th anniversary as a Johns Hopkins alumna, Newman, who is such a big fan of the Four-Course Dinners that she wanted to host some of the gatherings in her home, suggested the creation of the Zelicof Family Dinners with the Dean. Newman said that both dinner programs give undergraduates something they crave: more one-on-one time with their professors, and a greater sense of community. The same factors motivated the dean to want to live in a nearby neighborhood. “I chose this home because it’s so close to campus, and it’s huge,” Newman said. “I moved into it because what I was looking for was an opportunity to open up my home to students and faculty to increase the interaction between the two populations. I want everyone to think of my home as a people’s house.” The homecoming begins tonight with

Four-Course Dinners’ Chewing on Faith and Criticism: The Academic Study of the Bible, with Theodore Lewis, the BlumIwry Professor in Near Eastern Studies. On Tuesday, it’s Four Questions about Yiddish Humor, with Marc Caplan, the Zelda and Myer Tandetnik Professor in Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture in the Department of German and Romance Lan-

guages and Literatures; and on Wednesday, it’s Four European Film Movements, with Bernadette Wegenstein, a research professor in the Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures. The remaining three weekly 90-minute meetings of all Four-Course Dinners will take place in Charles Commons, in Nolan’s private dining hall. G

Wine bottles, decanters, coasters, glassware, corkscrews, cellarettes and other related equipage, all created between 1790 and 1840, have been gathered to illustrate the vast array of tools used to heighten the delight of imbibing. The exhibition, open through Nov. 28, is on view as part of the museum’s regular guided tours. The tastings, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., are titled “Mad About Madeira” (Sept. 24), “The Wines of Maryland’s First Families” (Oct. 1) and “Historic Home Brews” (Oct. 8). For ticket information, go to http://museums .jhu.edu/calendar.php?type=special.

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omewood Museum toasts the new academic year with the exhibition Cheers! The Culture of Drink in Early Maryland and three Friday evenings of traditional tastings. The opening reception is from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16. Presenting more than 50 objects drawn from local private and public collections and the museum’s own holdings, the exhibition explores the visual and material culture of wine, spirits, beer and “cyder” in early Maryland’s finest homes, with an emphasis on Baltimore and Homewood’s Carroll family.

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Need extra copies of ‘The Gazette’? A limited number of extra copies of The Gazette are available each week in the Office of Government, Community and Public Affairs, Suite 540, 901 South Bond St., in Fells Point. Those who know they will need a large number of newspapers are asked to order them at least a week in advance of publication by calling 443-287-9900.

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Next week, 40 more undergraduates will visit Newman’s house through the Zelicof Family Dinners with the Dean, a new program offering students and their professors who are in for-credit Krieger School courses a chance to get together outside the classroom. “My feeling about these programs is that they do some of what we are trying to encourage more of at Hopkins, to have informal fun meetings with professors, especially in the humanities, where professors can speak passionately about something that they know about,” said Steven David, vice dean for undergraduate education. “In the case of the Four-Course Dinners,” he said, “it’s often with students who are not majoring in that area to expose them to something new, to expose a biology or biophysics major to film or political science or Jewish humor. It’s all about good food and good conversation in an informal setting.” The Monday sessions of the Four-Course Dinners are full with 25 students, and the other two nights are nearly at capacity, said Jaclyn Cohen, program coordinator for the Four-Course Dinners. Students can e-mail Cohen at fourcoursedinners@jhu.edu to sign up for the remaining spots. Cohen said they are capping the events to ensure they are conducive to interaction. “The students really want to discuss and learn together, not simply listen to lectures,” said Cohen, a graduate student in Spanish in the Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures. “The goal is to reach out to any undergraduate at Hopkins. The main point of the program is to spark an interest in the humanities, so I have adver-

The researchers say that ARID1A and PPP2R1A had not previously been linked to ovarian cancer, and “they may provide opportunities for developing new biomarkers and therapies that target those genes,” said Nickolas Papadopoulos, an associate professor of oncology and director of Translational Genetics at the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. For the study, the scientists evaluated mutations in 18,000 protein-encoding genes in ovarian clear cell tumors from eight patients at Johns Hopkins and at institutions in Taiwan and Japan. They purified the cancer cells and analyzed genes from those cells and from normal cells obtained from the blood or uninvolved tissues of the same patients. Researchers identified 268 mutations in 253 genes among the eight tumors, with an average of 20 mutations per tumor. Next, they determined the amino acid makeup, or sequences, of four genes with the most prevalent mutations, including ARID1A, in the tumor and normal tissues of an additional 34 ovarian clear cell cancer patients. Altogether, ARID1A mutations

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6 THE GAZETTE • September 13, 2010

September 13, 2010 • THE GAZETTE

S P A C E

APL shapes ‘precursor’ mission for exploration of an asteroid Lab taps creativity of NASA/APL interns as well as experts By Michael Buckley

Applied Physics Laboratory

APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY

en years ago, NASA’s Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission made history as the first spacecraft to orbit and land on an asteroid. Now the team behind that successful mission proposes a sequel that could pave the way for astronauts to explore an asteroid for the first time. Engineers and scientists at Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory have teamed up with NASA’s Goddard and Johnson space flight centers to devise Next Gen NEAR, a concept of a robotic precursor for a human visit to a near-Earth asteroid. In April, President Barack Obama announced a new direction for the nation’s space program, including plans for NASA to send the first human mission to an asteroid by 2025. This requires building a capability to live and work in deep space, beyond the Earth-moon system. Beyond our moon, asteroids near Earth—called nearEarth objects, or NEOs—are our closest and most accessible planetary neighbors, making them a practical stepping stone for expanded human space exploration. Only two missions—NEAR and Japan’s Hayabusa—have ever visited and touched the surface of a near-Earth object, and scientists say we need more insight into these objects before we can safely send humans. “We’ve learned a lot about NEOs using telescopes, Earth-based radar and two robotic missions, but we’d have to get up close and personal with a specific asteroid again, and learn much more about its environment, before we could send human explorers,” said James Garvin, chief scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center. “But there is nothing

An artist’s illustration shows the Next Gen NEAR spacecraft approaching a nearEarth object. A concept based on the successful Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission, Next Gen NEAR could serve as a robotic ‘precursor’ for a human visit to a near-Earth asteroid.

intuitive about operating at an asteroid. In fact, sending humans to an asteroid would be one of the most challenging space missions ever. So to make sure we really understand that challenge, we’ve paired NASA experts in small-body robotic and human spaceflight with the only team in the U.S. to design, build and operate an asteroid-orbiter mission.” Planners say that the mission could be ready to launch as soon as 2014 and begin to return data from a target asteroid the following year. The mission’s goal is to collect data on the asteroid’s surface and interior, and to scope out potential resources, as well as hazards to human visitors. “We can’t make these measurements by telescopic remote sensing from Earth or even by spacecraft flyby encounters or distant rendezvous,” said Andrew Cheng, chief scientist in APL’s Space Department, who also served as NEAR’s lead scientist and is on the Hayabusa team. Experts say that landing on a small body,

without an atmosphere or gravity, is completely different from landing on a planet like Mars. Rob Landis, a NASA mission operations specialist, said, “We’ve worked together to design the Next Gen NEAR concept of operations to parallel, to the extent possible, operations of a future human mission.” Added Paul Abell, of the Johnson Space Center and also a member of the NEAR and Hayabusa science teams, “A mission like this requires extensive science operations from close-in orbit, including contact with the surface.” The Next Gen NEAR spacecraft would run on commercially available subsystems and carry lightweight scientific instruments (such as a camera, composition-measuring spectrometers and even a surface-interaction experiment) with flight heritage. It would be fitted with solar power, propulsion and communications systems that are compatible with launch on a medium-class

rocket toward any one of several targets. It would also have payload capacity to spare for a co-manifested mission, as was done with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/ LCROSS spacecraft. “This is a simple, straightforward workhorse of a mission that can launch quickly in 2014, stay within tight cost and schedule constraints, and return the necessary data for less than the cost of a low-risk Discoveryclass mission,” Cheng said. “It can provide the critical capability NASA needs for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate’s new robotic-precursor exploration program even when budgets for such missions are being severely cut.” The project has captured the spirit of NASA’s Summer of Innovation, with interns at APL playing a key role in the Next Gen NEAR study. Challenged to design an asteroid mission on a capped budget and tight schedule, 15 college interns worked in the APL concurrent engineering design center with senior engineers and scientists from APL, Goddard and the Johnson Space Center. Their innovative mission and spacecraft concepts contributed to Next Gen NEAR. “The experience and results of this study are a win-win for all stakeholders,” said Robert Gold, APL Space Department chief technologist and NEAR mission payload manager. Daniel Kelly, the systems engineer on the intern team and an aerospace engineering graduate student at the University of Michigan, said, “Everybody was fired up to work on this project. This joint team really clicked.” NEAR was the first mission to orbit an asteroid and—after a comprehensive yearlong study that yielded more than 160,000 images and measurements of the geology, composition and geophysics of asteroid 433 Eros—the first mission to land on an asteroid’s surface. Designed and built in just 26 months, the car-sized, solar-powered NEAR Shoemaker was one of 64 spacecraft APL has designed, built or operated over the past half-century.

Law prof presents ‘A Skeptical View of Constitution Worship’ B y A m y L u n d ay

Homewood

arvard Law School professor Michael J. Klarman will discuss civil rights and civil liberties at The Johns Hopkins University’s 2010 Constitutional Forum, a discussion of important legal issues held in conjunction with the annual observance of Constitution Day. During his talk, “A Skeptical View of Constitution Worship,” Klarman will discuss how our civil rights and civil liberties depend a lot less on the Constitution and courts than one might think. The forum will take place at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16, in Hodson Hall Auditorium on the Homewood campus. An expert in constitutional law and history with a particular focus on race, Klarman is the Kirkland and Ellis Professor at Harvard Law School, where he joined the faculty in 2008. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, his doctorate from the University of Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and his law degree from Stanford University. After law school, Klarman clerked for Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He joined the faculty at the University of Virginia School of Law in 1987 and served there until 2008 as the James Monroe Distinguished Professor of Law and professor of history. Klarman has won numerous awards for his teaching and scholarship, which are primarily in the areas of constitutional law

Movement and Unfinished Business: Racial Equality in American History, which is part of Oxford’s Inalienable Rights series. In 2009, Klarman was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The 2010 Constitutional Forum is supported by the George Huntington Williams Memorial Lectureship, which honors Johns Hopkins’ first professor of petrology. A pioneer in the microscopic study of rocks and minerals, Williams in the late 1880s founded what was then called the Department of Geology (now Earth and Planetary Sciences). In 1917, his family created an endowment in his memory for lectures by

distinguished public figures on topics of widespread contemporary interest. Speakers have included Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Klarman’s talk celebrates Constitution Day, Sept. 17, the day in 1787 when delegates convened in Philadelphia to sign the U.S. Constitution. Additional information about Constitution Day may be found by searching the website of the National Archives, www.archives.gov. The 2010 Constitutional Forum at Johns Hopkins is sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Office of Government, Community and Public Affairs.

Cloud

calculated differential expression from 1.1 billion RNA sequencing reads in less than two hours at a cost of about $66. “Biological data in many experiments— from brain images to genomic sequences— can now be generated so quickly that it often takes many computers working simultaneously to perform statistical analyses,” Leeks said. “The cloud computing approach we developed for Myrna is one way that statisticians can quickly build different models to find the relevant patterns in sequencing data and connect them to different diseases. Although Myrna is designed to analyze next-generation sequencing reads, the idea of combining cloud computing with statistical modeling may also be useful for other experiments that generate massive amounts of data.” The researchers were supported by grants from Amazon Web Services, the National Institutes of Health and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. G

Michael J. Klarman

Continued from page 1

and constitutional history. Klarman has also served as the Ralph S. Tyler Jr. Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, Distinguished Visiting Lee Professor of Law at the Marshall Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary, visiting professor at Stanford Law School and visiting professor at Yale Law School. His first book, From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality, was published by Oxford University Press in 2004 and received the 2005 Bancroft Prize in History. He published two books in the summer of 2007, also with Oxford University Press: Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights

associated with building and running their own computer center,” said lead author Ben Langmead, a research associate in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Biostatistics. “With Myrna, we tried to make it easy for researchers doing RNA sequencing to reap these benefits.” To test Myrna, Langmead and colleagues Kasper Hansen, a postdoctoral fellow, and Jeffrey T. Leek, senior author of the study and an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics, used the software to process a large collection of publicly available RNA sequencing data. Processing time and storage space were rented from Amazon Web Services. According to the study, Myrna

8 THE GAZETTE • September 13, 2010 S E P T .

1 3

–

2 0

Wed., Sept. 15, 12:15 p.m.

Calendar seminar with Erica Hlavin Bell. W1214 SPH. EB

Continued from page 12 Computational Genomics seminar with Sarah Wheelan, SoM. 517 PCTB. HW Mon., Sept. 13, 4 p.m. “The America of Luther Brooks: A Case of Slums, Paternalism and the Profits of Segregation,” a History seminar with Nathan Connolly, KSAS. 308 Gilman. HW

“Nodal Sets and Ergodic Eigenfunctions,” an Analysis/PCD seminar with Steve Zelditch, Northwestern University. Sponsored by Mathematics. 304 Krieger. HW

Mon., Sept. 13, 4 p.m.

“An Equivariant Main Conjecture and Applications,” a joint Topology/Algebraic Geometry/Number Theory seminar with Cristian Popescu, University of California, San Diego. Sponsored by Mathematics. 300 Krieger. HW

Mon., Sept. 13, 4:30 p.m.

“Effects of Cross-Link Structure on Replication-Independent DNA Interstrand Cross-Link Repair in Mammalian Cells,” a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology thesis defense

Tues., Sept. 14, noon.

Tues., Sept. 14, 1 p.m. “Force, Cell-Cell Adhesion and the Regulation of Collective Cell Migration,” a Center for Cell Dynamics seminar with Douglas DeSimone, University of Virginia. 490 Rangos. EB

“Linear-Time Dynamic Programming for Incremental Parsing,” a Center for Language and Speech Processing seminar with Liang Huang, University of Southern California. B17 CSEB. HW

Tues., Sept. 14, 4:30 p.m.

Tues.,

Sept.

14,

4:30

p.m.

“Motives Over Symmetric Monoidal Categories,” an Algebraic Complex Geometry/Number Theory seminar with Abhishek Banerjee, Ohio State University. 205 Krieger. HW “Bed Bugs: Why They’re Back, and the Public Health Response,” a MidAtlantic Public Health Training Center seminar with Madeleine Shea, Baltimore City Health Dept., and Susan Jennings, Environmental Protection Agency. E2014 SPH. EB

Wed., Sept. 15, noon.

“Three Generations of Schoolbased Prevention Intervention Trials,” a Mental Health seminar with Nicholas Ialongo, SPH. B14B Hampton House. EB M. Gordon Wolman Seminar—“UV Disinfectant of Drinking Water Treatment: Repair of Bacteria, Lamp Effect and Pilot-Testing” with Jiangyong Hu, National University of Singapore. Sponsored by Geography and Environmental Engineering. 212 Dunning. HW Wed., Sept. 15, 3 p.m.

“Probing Plasmonic-Photonic Interactions in Large-Area Nanoparticle Arrays for Improved SERS Sensors,” a Materials Science and Engineering seminar with Joshua Caldwell, Naval Research Laboratory. 110 Maryland. HW Wed., Sept. 15, 3 p.m.

“Structural Biology and Tropical Diseases,” a Molecular Microbiology and Immunology/Infectious Diseases seminar with Wim G.J. Hol, University of Washington. W1020 SPH. EB Thurs., Sept. 16, noon.

“Synapse Discrimination and Classification by Array Tomography: The Synaptome Meets the Connectome,” a Neuroscience research seminar with Stephen Smith, Stanford University. West Lecture Hall (ground floor), WBSB. EB

Thurs., Sept. 16, 1 p.m.

“Single-Molecule Tracking to Map

Thurs., Sept. 16, 4 p.m.

Kaleidoscope Lifelong Learning at Roland Park Country School Fall programs for everyone who enjoys learning!

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the Dynamic Interior of Dendritic Spines,” a Biology seminar with Thomas Blanpied, University of Maryland School of Medicine. 100 Mudd. HW “The Effects of the ‘Great Recession’ on New York City and Its Neighborhoods,” a Social Policy seminar with James Parrott, Fiscal Policy Institute, New York. Co-sponsored by IPS, Economics and Health Policy and Management. 132 Gilman. HW Thurs., Sept. 16, 4 p.m.

Mon., Sept. 20, 10 a.m. “Bringing Science to Policy: The Use of Research by Public Health Advocacy Organizations to Advance Policy Solutions,” a Health Policy and Management thesis defense seminar with Jonathan Kromm. 250 Hampton House. EB Mon., Sept. 20, noon. “NMR Studies of Histone Chaperones and Nucleosomes,” a Biophysics seminar with Yawen Bai, National Cancer Institute. 111 Mergenthaler. HW Mon., Sept. 20, 12:15 p.m.

“Seeing Through the Eyes of a Fish: Developmental and Genetic Control of Opsin Gene Expression,” a Carnegie Institution Embryology seminar with Karen Carleton, University of Maryland. Rose Auditorium, 3520 San Martin Drive. HW

ing seminar with Alan Russell, University of Pittsburgh. 709 Traylor. EB Mon., Sept. 20, 4 p.m. The David Bodian Seminar—“Visual Search Gets Real: From the Lab to the Airport to the Radiology Suite” with Jeremy Wolfe, Harvard School of Medicine. Sponsored by the Krieger Mind/Brain Institute. 338 Krieger. HW Mon., Sept. 20, 4 p.m. “Bleached

Bones and Unclaimed Corpses: Burying the Dead in 19th-Century Jiangnan,” a History seminar with Toby Meyer-Fong, KSAS. 308 Gilman. HW

Mon.,

Sept.

20,

4:30

p.m.

“Manifolds of Trees, With Possible Applications to Biology,” a Topology seminar with Jack Morava, KSAS. Sponsored by Mathematics. 300 Krieger. HW SPECIAL EVENTS Wed., Sept. 15, noon to 3 p.m. Community Involvement

Fair, sponsored by SOURCE, with representatives from communitybased organizations discussing ways to become involved. Free ice cream and prizes. E2030 SPH. EB

Thurs., Sept. 16, 5 to 7 p.m.

p.m.

Opening reception for Cheers! The Culture of Drink in Early Maryland. (See story, p. 5.) Homewood Museum. HW

“Directing and Killing Cells With Surfaces,” a Biomedical Engineer-

Continued on page 9

Mon.,

Sept.

20,

1:30

September 13, 2010 • THE GAZETTE S E P T .

1 3

–

2 0

Sun., Sept. 19, 1 to 4 p.m.

Calendar Continued from page 8 “Mark Twain’s America,” a one-man show by Ed Trostle, celebrating the 175th anniversary of Twain’s birth and the 100th anniversary of his death. Sponsored by Advanced Academic Programs. Admission is free but RSVP required; go to

Thurs., Sept. 16, 7 p.m.

www.greatthinkers.jhu.edu or call 410-516-4842. Shriver Hall Auditorium. HW The 2010 Constitutional Forum—“A Skeptical View of Constitution Worship” with Michael Klarman, Harvard Law School. (See story, p. 7.) 110 Hodson. HW Thurs., Sept. 16, 8 p.m.

Sculpture at Evergreen Block Party, explore biennial outdoor sculpture exhibition, see performance art and meet an artist team who will host chalk drawing, a community photo wall and a lemonade stand at its urban park installation; visitors are invited to bring a picnic. (See “In Brief,” p. 2.) Evergreen Museum & Library. SYMPOSIA Fri., Sept. 17, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. “Population Pressures and

the Health of the Chesapeake Bay: Can the Relationship Sus-

tain?” a Center for a Livable Future symposium on the impact of human activity on the health of the Chesapeake Bay, with panelists Brad Heavner, Environment Maryland; Brian Schwartz, co-director of the Program on Global Sustainability and Health and the Joint Geisinger-JHSPH Environmental Health Institute; and Tom Horton, widely published nature author. W1214 SPH. EB

information sessions on the Blackboard 9.1 interface. To register, go to www.bb.cer.jhu.edu. Garrett Room, MSE Library. HW •

“Getting Started With Blackboard.” •

The Center for Educational Resources presents a series of

Wed., Sept. 15, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. “Blackboard

Communication and Collaboration.”

•

W OR K S HO P S

Mon., Sept. 13, Tues., Sept. 14, and Fri., Sept. 17, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Thurs., Sept. 16, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. “Assessing Stu-

dent Knowledge and Managing Grades in Blackboard.”

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10 THE GAZETTE • September 13, 2010 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.

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Office of Human Resources: 98 N. Broadway, 3rd floor, 410-955-2990 JOB#

38035 35677 30501 22150 38064

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Biostatistician Clinical Outcomes Coordinator Sr. Programmer Analyst Employment Assistant/Receptionist Payroll and HR Services Coordinator Research Data Coordinator Malaria Adviser Data Assistant Budget Specialist Academic Program Administrator Sr. Research Program Coordinator Research Observer Manuscript Editor, American Journal of Epidemiology Research Service Analyst Health Educator Multimedia Production Supervisor Research Program Coordinator Research Data Manager Sr. Laboratory Coordinator Sr. Research Assistant Sr. Administrative Coordinator Research Assistant Budget Analyst

37442 37260 38008 36886 37890

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This is a partial listing of jobs currently available. A complete list with descriptions can be found on the Web at jobs.jhu.edu.

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Notices Professional Clothing Drive — The

Office of Work, Life and Engagement invites the Hopkins community to donate new and gently used professional men and women’s clothing and handbags to formerly homeless, disabled and underprivileged individuals just entering or re-entering the workforce. Donations will be collected through Sept. 21 in

B O A R D

support of the employment programs and services of the League for People with Disabilities, Million Dollar Man, Bea Gaddy’s Women and Children’s Center, Success in Style and Project PLASE. To locate a university drop-off site or to volunteer to coordinate the professional clothing drive at the White Marsh, SAIS or Bayview campuses, contact Brandi MonroePayton at 443-997-6060 or bmonroe6@jhu .edu. For general information, go to www .hopkinsworklife.org/community/clothing_ drive.html.

Scientists map epigenetic changes during blood cell differentiation Johns Hopkins–led team sees potential application for stem cell therapies B y M a r y al i c e Y a k u t c h i k

Johns Hopkins Medicine

aving charted the occurrence of a common chemical change that takes place while stem cells decide their fates and progress from precursor to progeny, a Johns Hopkins–led team of scientists has produced the first-ever epigenetic landscape map for tissue differentiation. The details of this collaborative study by Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Harvard universities appeared Aug. 15 in the early online publication of Nature. The researchers, using blood-forming stem cells from mice, focused their investigation specifically on an epigenetic mark known as methylation. This change is found in one of the building blocks of DNA, is remembered by a cell when it divides and often is associated with turning off genes. Employing a customized genomewide methylation-profiling method dubbed CHARM (for comprehensive high-throughput arrays for relative methylation), the team analyzed 4.6 million potentially methylated sites in a variety of blood cells from mice to see where DNA methylation changes occurred during the normal differentiation process. The team chose the blood cell system as its model because it’s well-understood in terms of cellular development. The researchers looked at eight types of cells in various stages of commitment, including very early blood stem cells that had yet to differentiate into red and white blood cells. They also looked at cells that are more committed to differentiation: the precursors of the two major types of white blood cells, lymphocytes and myeloid cells. Finally, they looked at older cells that were close to their ultimate fates to get more complete pictures of the precursor-progeny relationships—for example, at white blood cells that had gone fairly far in T-cell lymphocyte development. “It wasn’t a complete tree, but it was large portions of the tree, and different branches,” said Andrew Feinberg, the King Fahd Professor of Molecular Medicine and director of the Center for Epigenetics at Johns Hopkins’ Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. “Genes themselves aren’t going to tell us what’s really responsible for the great diversity in cell types in a complex organism like ourselves,” Feinberg said. “But I think epigenetics—and how it controls genes— can. That’s why we wanted to know what was happening generally to the levels of DNA methylation as cells differentiate.” One of the surprising finds was how widely DNA methylation patterns vary in cells as they differentiate. “It wasn’t a boring linear process,” Feinberg said. “Instead, we saw these waves of change during the development of these cell types.” The data show that when all is said and done, the lymphocytes had many

more methylated genes than myeloid cells. However, on the way to becoming highly methylated, lymphocytes experience a huge wave of loss of DNA methylation early in development and then a regain of methylation. The myeloid cells, on the other hand, undergo a wave of increased methylation early in development and then erase that methylation later in development. Rudimentary as it is, this first epigenetic landscape map has predictive power in the reverse direction, according to Feinberg. The team could tell which types of stem cells the blood cells had come from because epigenetically those blood cells had not fully let go of their past; they had residual marks that were characteristic of their lineage. This project involved a repertoire of talents, “none of whom were more integral than Irv Weissman at Stanford,” Feinberg said. “He’s a great stem cell biologist, and he lent a whole level of expertise that we didn’t have.” One apparent application of this work might be to employ these same techniques to assess how completely an induced pluripotent stem cell has been reprogrammed. “You might want to have an incompletely reprogrammed cell type from blood, for example, that you take just to a certain point because then you want to turn it into a different kind of blood cell,” Feinberg said, cautioning that the various applications are strictly theoretical. Because the data seem to indicate discrete stages of cell differentiation characterized by waves of changes in one direction and subsequent waves in another, cell types conceivably could be redefined according to epigenetic marks that will provide new insights into both normal development and disease processes. “Leukemias and lymphomas likely involve disruptions of the epigenetic landscape,” Feinberg said. “As epigenetic maps such as this one begin to get fleshed out by us and others, they will guide our understanding of why those diseases behave the way they do, and pave the way for new therapies.” The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and a grant from the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation. Johns Hopkins authors, in addition to Feinberg, are Hong Ji, Peter Murakami, Akiko Doi, Hwajin Lee, Martin J. Aryee and Rafael A. Irizarry.

Related websites Andrew Feinberg discusses epigenetic map:

www.youtube.com/ watch?v=odHAL67rAWk

Andrew Feinberg:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ geneticmedicine/People/Faculty/ Feinberg.html

‘Nature’:

www.nature.com/nature

DNA methylation query website:

http://charm.jhmi.edu/hsc

September 13, 2010 • THE GAZETTE

Classifieds APARTMENTS/HOUSES FOR RENT

Baltimore City (Old Pimlico Rd), furn’d 2BR, 2BA condo in secure community, nr light rail/Summit Park ES, free prkng, swimming, tennis. $950/mo incl utils. Tinghuai, 443-846-8750 or tinghwu@gmail.com. Baltimore City, updated 1BR condo in secure gated community, assigned prkng, swimming, tennis, nr hospital and university; option to own ($135,000). $1,200/mo incl utils. 410-951-4750. Bayview, 3BR, 1.5BA house w/new kitchen and BAs, 2-car garage. $1,800/mo. rubycell7103@gmail.com or https://sites .google.com/site/essexhouserental. Canton, rehabbed 2BR, 2.5BA TH, second BR good size office or child’s rm, great location nr JHH. Courtney, 410-340-6762. Cedonia, 1BR apt w/new kitchen and BA, walk-in closet, W/D, priv entrance, deck, landscaped fenced yd, free prkng, nr JHH/ Homewood/Morgan State and public transportation, pets welcome. $710/mo + utils. 410-493-2435 or aprede1@yahoo.com. Charles Village, spacious 1BR apt, close to Homewood/JHMI shuttle, avail Oct 1. $782/mo + utils. 410-484-4224. Charles Village, refurbished, spacious 1BR apt in Tudor-style bldg, hdwd flrs, kitchen w/new appls, high ceilings, 5-min walk to JHU shuttle/Homewood, lease Oct-Feb (renewable). $1,025/mo + utils. 443-2481169 or mckeightley@hotmail.com. Glen Burnie/Pasadena, waterfront w/boatlift, 2 lg BRs, 1BA, open flr plan. $1,800/ mo. Frank, 410-980-0686. Hampden, 3BR, 2BA TH, dw, W/D, fenced yd, nr light rail. $1,100/mo + utils. 410378-2393. Hampden/Medfield, 4BR house, furn’d/ unfurn’d, laundry, priv prkng, walk to campus/shopping/public transit. $1,400/mo + utils. adecker001@yahoo.com. Lauraville, beautiful, sunny rm in historic neighborhood, nr JHH/JHU. $500/mo + utils. Melissa, 443-844-4094. Little Italy TH. $1,800/mo. 410-578-0382 or quinnabato1@verizon.net. Mt Vernon, spacious 2nd flr studio nr Peabody, great location, perfect for JHMI students/couples. $899/mo incl water. 443691-1439 or wjjhkust@gmail.com. Owings Mills, 2BR, 2BA condo, W/D, walk-in closets, storage, prkng, pool/tennis court privileges, backs to woods, conv to metro, walk to grocery, sm pets negotiable ($250 nonrefundable deposit), pics avail, 1-yr lease. $1,100/mo. 410-336-7952 or ljohnsto@mail.roanoke.edu. Rodgers Forge, 3BR TH in family neighborhood, good schools, conv location, no pets. $1,300/mo. bwverlywise@hotmail.com. Roland Park, cheerful, furn’d 3BR house, avail January-July, walk to Homewood, 15-min drive to medical school. http:// tinyurl.com/2a83whe. Roland Park, spacious, furn’d 2BR, 2BA condo in secure area, W/D, walk-in closet, pool, cardio equipment, .5 mi to Homewood campus. $1,600/mo. 410-218-3547 or khassani@gmail.com. WYMAN COURT HICKORY HEIGHTS Beech Ave. adj. to JHU!

Studio from $570 1 BD Apt. from $675 2 BD from $785

Hickory Ave. in Hampden, lovely Hilltop setting!

2 BD units from $750, or, with Balcony - $785!

Shown by appointment - 410-764-7776

www.BrooksManagementCompany.com

M A R K E T P L A C E

St Agnes Hospital area, 2BR, 1.5BA TH w/ club bsmt. $900/mo + sec dep ($900). 443244-5044. 2907 St Paul St, studio apt in great neighborhood, 2nd flr, safe and quiet, off-street prkng (w/additional fee). $675/mo incl heat, water. murilo_silvia@hotmail.com. Waverly (E 33rd St at Westerwald Ave), spacious, remodeled 4BR, 1.5BA TH, partly furn’d, W/D, CAC/heat, alarm, storage, new deck, garage, no smokers/no pets, 2 blks to YMCA/Giant. $1,450/mo + sec dep. e33rdstreet@gmail.com. New studios (8) avail in secure historic bldg, nr JHU shuttle. $675/mo-$800/mo. ecolib@ verizon.net. Beautiful, lg 4BR, 2.5BA house, kitchen, living rm, dining rm, utility rm, full front porch, nr hiking/biking trails, 15 mins west of campus, need clean, responsible tenants. $2,000/mo. dogwood5300@yahoo.com (pics/info). Furn’d rm in owner-occupied single-family house, safe neighborhood, free prkng, nr Owings Mills metro, convenient commute to JHMI, no smoking/no pets. h.iyer16@ gmail.com. Nice 3BR EOG TH, 2 full and 2 half-BAs, backs to trees on quiet street, 2 assigned prkng spaces, 5 mins to Owings Mills metro. 410-258-5338.

HOUSES FOR SALE

Arcadia/Beverly Hills (3019 Iona Terrace), spacious, renov’d 4BR, 2.5BA detached house in beautiful neighborhood, open kitchen/dining area, deck, landscaped, mins to Homewood campus. $229,900. 410-2949220. Old Greenbelt (suburban DC), quiet 1BR, co-op handles most maintenance. $122,000. www.39hridge.com. Towson, 3BR, 2BA TH, easy commute to hospital or university. 443-615-4639 or www .homesbyriley.com/address.php?property_ ID=699. White Marsh (Baltimore County), renov’d 4BR, 2.5BA house nr mall, 2,900 sq ft, must see. $229,000. 410-241-8936. 3BR, 2BA Victorian shingle-style house, office, fp, AC, garage, nr Eddie’s (Roland Park), schools; buyer’s agent fine. 443-5620595. A Craftsman’s dream house, very close to all Johns Hopkins campuses/downtown; just reduced. Joe, 302-981-6947 or www .3402mountpleasantavenue.canbyours.com.

ROOMMATES WANTED

M wanted for 1BR, 1BA in 2BR, 2BA apt at 222 E Saratoga St, cable, WiFi, garage prkng for extra fee, avail until April 1. $800/mo incl utils. Matt, mdlouie24@gmail.com. Rm in Canton (S Streeper St), great area, lots to do, share w/1 respectful roommate. $675/mo + utils. 970-576-5476 or navitatl@ hotmail.com. F nonsmoker wanted to share new, spacious 4BR, 4.5BA TH in Canton, prking space Buying, Selling or Renting? “Leave all your worries to me.” Maria E. Avellaneda Realtor & MD Certified Interpreter

www.mariaismyagent.com

410-672-3699 908-240-7792

provided, no pets. $660/mo + 1/2 utils. mdodds687@gmail.com. F grad student/young prof’l wanted for furn’d 2-flr loft apt, 24-hr security, gym, laundry, nr University of Maryland/JHU/ UB, nr JHU shuttle/metro, walk to Inner Harbor/Lexington Market, pref nonsmoker. $850/mo. 443-310-3450. Share all new, refurbished TH w/other med students, 4BRs, 2 full BAs, CAC, W/D, dw, w/w crpt, 1-min walk to JHMI (924 N Broadway). gretrieval@aol.com. M wanted to share 2BR, 2.5BA RH w/grad student, nr Patterson Park/JHMI/Bayview. prattsthouse@gmail.com.

CARS FOR SALE

’97 Lincoln Town Car, loaded, garage-kept, nice and clean. $3,900. 410-980-0686. ’99 Toyota Camry LE, 4-cyl, automatic, in good cond, insp’d, 135K mi. $3,300. 410916-5858. ’05 Jeep Liberty Renegade, 4x4, tan/beige, all options, dependable, 55K mi. $11,500/ best offer. 240-401-6602. ’99 BMW 328i, maroon w/beige leather, premium sound, new battery and tires, excel cond, 42K mi. $10,000/best offer. alvin.stuff .for.sale@gmail.com. ’01 Chevy Cavalier, automatic, blue, 2-dr, AC, needs muffler, 145K mi. $2,000/best offer. Laszlo, 443-825-2554.

ITEMS FOR SALE

Crib and mattress w/free bedding, $60; travel system incl infant carseat and stroller, $60; more. 443-418-7811 or shyzh2006@ yahoo.com. 3-pc full-size bedroom set, headboard w/ drawers, bedframe, dresser w/mirror, chest; mattress not incl’d. $150. balt.furniture4sale@hotmail.com. Sports equipment, full mattress and bedspring w/frame, coffeemaker, kitchen tools, dishes, computer case, more. zshah26@ yahoo.com (for complete list). Gift card for Dick’s Sporting Goods, $105.98 value. $95/best offer (cash only). anuray6@ gmail.com. Lg collection of books, both old and new, fiction or nonfiction. $50. 443-912-3690. Exercise rowing machine, $50; Conn alto saxophone, best offer; both in excel cond. 410-488-1886. Werner aluminum ladders: $133 for 40' or $56 for 24'; Craftsman 10" radial arm saw, model# 22010, $300. 410-207-5467. Comic book collection, 300+, mid-80s to mid-2000s, Marvel, DC and Image, kept in bags/boards, $300; Nintendo 32-bit game sys, w/console, controllers (2), gun, games (2), great cond, $100; ESP M-155 guitar, gunmetal blue, barely used, 15W Squier amp incl’d, $150; best offers accepted. cavergas@ gmail.com. Dansko shoes (2 pair): size 40, dk brown suede leather, and size 39, black leather,

both in lightly worn cond. $50/ea or best offer. Joyce, 410-493-1045.

SERVICES/ITEMS OFFERED OR WANTED

Seeking piano teacher for student familiar w/Taubman technique, student is 88 yrs old and lives in Homeland (Baltimore City); ideally lessons would take place in her home. 410-444-1273. Prof’l Hopkins couple looking to house- or pet-sit during the month of October, honest, capable, dependable, clean homeowners w/excel refs. 443-527-8869 or r1100r@ gmail.com. Guitar lessons by accomplished guitarist w/5 yrs’ experience, seeking beginner and advanced students, all ages welcome, reasonable rates. 410-889-4228. Weekend help wanted for fall planting in Reisterstown—planting sm trees/shrubs, spreading mulch; you provide references, I’ll provide transportation/food/drinks. $50 per day. jchris1@umbc.edu. Flea mart, Saturday, Sept 18, 8am-noon at 37th and Roland Ave (Hampden/Homewood area, nr Rotunda); also quarter auction from noon to 3pm. 410-366-4488 or stamusicministry@gmail.com. Expert clock restoration and repair. Rich, 215-465-5055 or rich@restoredclocks.com. Licensed landscaper avail for scheduled lawn maintenance, other landscaping services, trash hauling, fall/winter leaf and snow removal. Taylor Landscaping LLC. 410-8126090 or romilacapers@comcast.net. Free ballroom dancing and lessons (waltz, rumba, tango), Fridays at 8pm at JHU ROTC bldg, everyone welcome. Anne or Dave, 410-599-3725. Great photos! Headshots for interviews/ auditions, family pictures, production shots, events. Edward S Davis photography and videography. 443-695-9988 or eddaviswrite@comcast.net. Seamstress available for clothes alterations and window treatments. 443-604-2797 or lexisweetheart@yahoo.com. Piano lessons w/Peabody doctorate, all levels/ages welcome. 410-662-7951. Tutor available: all subjects/levels; remedial, gifted and talented; can also help w/ college counseling, speech and essay writing, editing, proofreading, database design and programming. 410-337-9877 or i1__@ hotmail.com. Affordable landscaper/certified horticulturist available to maintain existing gardens, also design, planting or masonry; free consultations. David, 410-683-7373 or grogan .family@hotmail.com. Residential cleaning service, move in/move out, we do it all, reasonable rates, free estimates, pet-friendly. 443-528-3637. Quality, personalized horse avail at Bel Air farm, lessons on our horse or yours w/ qualified instructor. $325 (full care) or $250 (partial care). www.baymeadowfarm.net. Piano tuning and repair, PTG craftsman serving Peabody, Notre Dame, homes, churches, etc, in central MD. 410-382-8363 or steve@conradpiano.com.

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.

12 THE GAZETTE • September 13, 2010 S E P T .

1 3

–

2 0

Calendar B L OO D D R I V E Tues., Sept. 14, and Wed., Sept. 15, 7:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Sickle Cell Awareness Month blood drive at Homewood. Schedule a donation online at http:// hopkinsworklife.org/community/ blood_drive.html or call 443-9976060. Glass Pavilion, Levering. HW

COLLOQUIA Tues., Sept. 14, 4 p.m. “The BioNecroPolitics of Omnilife: Aftermaths of War in Guatemala,” an Anthropology colloquium with Diane Nelson, Duke University. 400 Macaulay. HW Wed.,

Sept.

15,

4:30

p.m.

“Understanding the Complexity of Light Signaling Through Melanopsin Photoreceptors,” a Biology colloquium with Samer Hattar, KSAS and SoM. Mudd Hall Auditorium. HW “An Evolving Utopia: The Cultural Work of the Evening Primrose in Early 20th-Century America,” a History of Science and Technology colloquium with Jim Endersby, University of Sussex, UK. 300 Gilman. HW

Thurs., Sept. 16, 3 p.m.

“Top Quark as a Window to New Physics,” a Physics and Astronomy colloquium with Petar Maksimovic, KSAS. Schafler Auditorium, Bloomberg Center. HW

Thurs., Sept. 16, 3 p.m.

C O N FERE N C E S Tues., Sept. 14, noon. “Developing Mental Health Treatment Guidelines for Low-Income Countries,” a Psychiatry research conference with Graham Thornicroft, King’s College London. 1-191 Meyer. EB Thurs., Sept. 16, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Closing the Gender Gap:

Global Perspectives on Women in the Boardroom,” a SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations conference with participants including government officials, academics, corporate executives, institutional investors and advisers, stock exchange representatives and associations of women directors. Registration and continental breakfast begin at 8 a.m. For information or to RSVP, go to http://transatlantic.sais-jhu .edu/events/2010/gender_conf .htm. Co-sponsored by Corporate Women Directors International, EuropeanPWN, Women Corporate Directors, ION, Vital Voices Global Partnership and Women’s Foreign Policy Group. Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg. SAIS

D I S C U S S I O N / TA L K S

“Japan Economic Outlook: From Sweet Spot to Sweat Spot,” a SAIS International Economics discussion with Robert Feldman, Morgan Stanley MUFG. 500 Bernstein-Offit Building. SAIS

Mon., Sept. 13, 5 p.m.

BET founder Robert L. Johnson to give Leaders + Legends talk

By Andrew Blumberg

Mon., Sept. 20, 5:30 p.m. “The Frugal Superpower: America’s Global Leadership in a CashStrapped Era,” a SAIS American Foreign Policy Program discussion of Michael Mandelbaum’s book of the same name, with Eliot Cohen, director, SAIS Strategic Studies Program; Eric Edelman, Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies; and Walter Shapiro, author and political columnist, Politics Daily. For information or to RSVP, e-mail kkornell@jhu.edu or call 202-663-5790. Rome Auditorium. SAIS

ter Question, will discuss her book and plans for oyster aquaculture in the Chesapeake Bay. Sponsored by the Center for a Livable Future. W3030 SPH. EB World War II survivor Henny Brenner will read from her book, The Song Is Over: Survival of a Jewish Girl in Dresden. Co-sponsored by the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Program in Jewish Studies and by German and Romance Languages and Literatures. Smokler Center.

Mon., Sept. 20, 5 p.m.

Carey Business School

obert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of the RLJ Cos. and Black Entertainment Television, is the featured speaker at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School’s Leaders + Legends lecture series on Thursday, Sept. 16. The event will be held from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Legg Mason Tower in Harbor East. Johnson’s remarks are titled “A Society Divided: The Growing Wealth Gap and the Role of American Business.” Core assets of the RLJ Cos. include RLJ Development, a privately held hotel real estate investment company; RLJ Select Investments; RLJ Equity Partners, a private equity fund formed in association with the Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm; Urban Trust Bank, a federal thrift institution; Rollover Systems, a provider of outsourced retirement plan rollover services; Our Stories Films, a film production studio producing urban comedies and family dramas geared toward an African-American audience; Casino and Gaming Entertainment; and RLJ/McLarty Landers Automotive, a partnership with dealerships in the Southeast and Midwest. Before forming the RLJ Cos., Johnson was founder and chairman of Black Entertainment Television, the nation’s first television network providing entertainment, music, news, sports and public affairs programming geared to an AfriRobert L. Johnson can-American audience. Under his leadership, BET, launched in 1980, became the first African-Americanowned company publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2001, Johnson sold the cable network to Viacom for approximately $3 billion and remained chief executive officer through 2006. In 2003, Johnson purchased the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association, becoming the first African-American to own a major league sports franchise. In July 2007, he was chosen by USA Today as one of the 25 most influential business leaders of the past 25 years. Johnson’s board affiliations include KB Home, Lowe’s Cos., International Management Group and Deutsche Bank Advisory Committee. Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in international affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Prince ton University. The Leaders + Legends monthly breakfast series, which features today’s most influential business and public policy leaders addressing topics of global interest and importance, is designed to engage business and community professionals in an examination of the most compelling issues and challenges facing society today. Admission to the lecture, which includes breakfast, is $35. To register and for more information, go to carey.jhu.edu/leadersandlegends.

G RA N D ROU N D S

RE L I G I O N

“Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism—The Johns Hopkins VTE Collaborative 2010,” Pathology Grand Rounds with Michael Streiff, SoM. Hurd Hall. EB

Yom Kippur Services —Fri., Sept. 17, and Sat., Sept. 18.

Mon., Sept. 13, 8:30 a.m.

L E C TURE S Wed.,

Sept.

15,

4:30

p.m.

“Miss HIV and Us: Beauty Queens Against the HIV/AIDS Pandemic,” a Women, Gender and Sexuality lecture by Neville Hoad, University of Texas at Austin. Cosponsored by English. 113 Greenhouse. HW “The Baroque Tsunami: An Event Analysis of Neo-Baroque Form,” a German and Romance Languages and Literatures lecture by Gregory Lambert, Syracuse University. 479 Gilman. HW

Thurs., Sept. 16, 6 p.m.

Thurs.,

Sept.

16,

7:30

a.m.

The Leaders + Legends Series— “A Society Divided: The Growing Wealth Gap and the Role of American Business” by Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of RLJ Cos. and Black Entertainment Television. (See story, this page.) Sponsored by the Carey Business School. Legg Mason Tower, Harbor East. Mon., Sept. 20, 2 to 4 p.m. The

Beatrice and Jacob H. Conn Lecture in Regenerative Medicine— “Reprogramming and Pluripotent Stem Cells” by George Daley, Harvard Stem Cell Institute/Harvard Medical School. Sponsored by the Institute for Cell Engineering. Owens Auditorium, CRB2. EB MUSIC

Tues., Sept. 14, 5 p.m. “EU Foreign Policy Making After Lisbon,” a SAIS European Studies Program discussion with Sergio Fabbrini, University of Trento, Italy/University of California, Berkeley. Rome Auditorium. SAIS

discussion with Esther Brimmer, assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs. (See “In Brief,” p. 2.) Co-sponsored by the SAIS International Law and Organizations Program. Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg. SAIS

Wed., Sept. 15, noon. “Reporting

Thurs., Sept. 16, 4:30 p.m.

From China,” a SAIS International Reporting Project panel discussion with Rana Foroohar, deputy editor, Newsweek; Joseph Frolik, chief editorial writer, The Plain Dealer; Elizabeth Krist, senior photo editor, National Geographic; and Peter Thomson, environmental editor, BBC/PRI’s The World. Co-sponsored by the SAIS China Studies Program and National Geographic. For information or to RSVP, e-mail irp@jhu.edu or call 202-663-7726. Rome Auditorium. SAIS “The United States at the United Nations and Beyond: A World of Transnational Challenges,” a SAIS International Development Program

Wed., Sept. 15, 12:30 p.m.

“Burma and U.S.–China Relations,” a Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies panel discussion with Quansheng Zhao, American University, and Kent Calder (moderator), director, Reischauer Center. To RSVP, e-mail reischauer@jhu.edu. 806 Rome Bldg. SAIS Fri., Sept. 17, 9:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Evaluating Peacebuild-

ing and Promoting Learning,” a SAIS Conflict Management Program panel discussion with various speakers. For information, go to https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/ o/6060/p/salsa/event/common/ public/?event_KEY=18540. Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg. SAIS

KengYuen Tseng, chair of the Peabody Conservatory’s Strings Department, will give the first public performance on the Kostoff Maggini, a 17th-century violin donated by Karl Kostoff to Peabody. $15 general admission, $10 for senior citizens and $5 for students with ID. Goodwin Recital Hall. Peabody

Sun., Sept. 19, 3 p.m.

O P E N HOU S E S Mon., Sept. 13, 6:25 to 8 p.m. Open house and reception

for the Certificate on Aging program. RSVP to 410-516-4842 or odyssey@jhu.edu. Sponsored by Advanced Academic Programs. 3 Shaffer. HW REA D I N G S / B OO K TA L K S

Christine Keiner, Rochester Institute of Technology and author of The Oys-

Mon., Sept. 20, noon.

Conservative and Reform services sponsored by Hillel of Greater Baltimore; Orthodox by Chabad of Central Baltimore. Reform service in the evening only. Pre-fast meal for students, Smokler Center, $17; break-fast meal, Levering, free for students. Advance registration required for both meals. Register at www.hopkinshillel.org. HW Conservative. Led by Jewish Theological Seminary student Rabbi Ravid Tilles; Glass Pavilion, Levering. Fri., Kol Nidre, 6:45 p.m. ; Sat., 9:15 a.m. ; Yizkor, approx. 11:30 a.m. ; rabbi’s discussion, 4:30 p.m. ; Mincha, 5:30 p.m. ; Neilah, 6:30 p.m. , Shofar, 7:53 p.m.

Reform. Led by Rabbi Debbie Pine, director of Hopkins Hillel; Smokler Center. Fri., Kol Nidre, 6:45 p.m.

Orthodox. Led by Rabbi Zev Gopin; Inn at the Colonnade, 4 W. University Parkway. Fri., Kol Nidre, 7 p.m. ; Sat., 9:30 a.m. ; Yizkor, approx. 11 a.m. ; Mincha and Neilah, 6 p.m. S E M I N AR S

“Molecular Recognition of Chromatin: Crystal Structure of the Chromatin Factor RCC1 in Complex With the Nucleosome Core Particle,” a Biophysics seminar with Song Tan, Penn State University. 111 Mergenthaler. HW

Mon., Sept. 13, noon.

Mon., Sept. 13, noon. “SUMOTargeted Ubiquitin Ligases as Molecular Selectors,” a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology seminar with Amir Orian, TechnionIsrael Institute of Technology. W1020 SPH. EB

“Top Five Mistakes Made Using Biological Programs: Crimes Committed Using BLAST,” a Center for

Mon., Sept. 13, 2:30 p.m.

Continued on page 8

Calendar Key

(Events are free and open to the public except where indicated.)

BRB Broadway Research Building CRB Cancer Research Building CSEB Computational Science and

Engineering Building

EB East Baltimore HW Homewood KSAS Krieger School of Arts

and Sciences

International Studies

PCTB Preclinical Teaching Building SAIS School of Advanced SoM School of Medicine SoN School of Nursing SPH School of Public Health WBSB Wood Basic Science Building