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Articles for Malaysia

Cogito Interview: The WorldMapper Project

Malaysian Students Conduct Astrophysics Research—in the Lab and on the Roof

What Is It? #01

Cogito, 07.01.2011 When Muhammad Nur Sadiqin and Nurul Ain Bt Ali Sudirman go to school, they go not only to classrooms and libraries, but also to the National University of Malaysia's Institute of Space Science.

Academic Triathlon Recommended Etched on his Mind: Review of "Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood" A Conversation with Richard Dawkins Queerer Than We Suppose: The Strangeness of Science

Cogito Conversation: Ruszymah Bt Hj Idrus, Regenerative Medicine Researcher Cogito, 06.17.2011 Her childhood ambition has led to a rewarding career, not just in terms of awards and accolades but also in terms of truly making a difference in human life.

Malaysian Students Win Accolades at Intel ISEF 2008 SC Cyberworld, 05.20.2008 Four local winners did Malaysia proud with their innovative research

October 31, 2011

The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University

Volume 41 No. 10

Malaysian Students Develop Bio-fuel Alternative Intel Malaysia, 05.18.2007 http://www.cogito.org/Articles/ArticleMap.aspx

Page 1 of 2

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

O U T R E A C H

CSOS moves to School of Education

Sowing the seeds of community

By Greg Rienzi

The Gazette

Continued on page 6

will kirk / homewoodphoto.jhu.edu

he Center for Social Organization of Schools, a 45-yearold institution that has helped change the landscape of K-12 education nationally, now calls the Johns Hopkins School of Education home. CSOS officially moved on Oct. Leadership 21, ending its long and successful relasays new tionship with the School of Arts and pairing is Sciences. Leadership of ‘mutually CSOS and the School of Education beneficial’ said that the new collaboration would be “mutually beneficial” and allow the School of Education to expand nationally its efforts in school reform. “CSOS has a long-standing, excellent reputation dealing with nonacademic barriers and closing the achievement gap,” said David Andrews, dean of the School of Education. “We are pleased to enter into this new relationship. We see it as a great fit with the School of Education and what we are trying to accomplish with U.S. school reform. It’s our vision to be a major contributor in this area, implementing best practices that will work.” James McPartland, co-director of CSOS and a professor of sociology in the Krieger School, said that the time was right. McPartland said that the move was first considered not long after the School of Education—a discipline at Johns Hopkins since 1909—was established as a separate division in 2007. “The School of Education is really our natural home at Johns Hopkins,” said McPartland, who joined Johns Hopkins in 1968 and became CSOS director in 1976. “The still relatively new School of Education has been broadening its focus from local to national school reform, so it’s more of a close match for us now. The school’s goal to become a national leader

Plotting the plan for the community garden project on the Johns Hopkins at Eastern campus are Audrey Swanenberg, Anna Belous, Raychel Santo and Wei-ting Chen.

New 4,000-square-foot garden welcomes JHU affiliates and neighbors By Greg Rienzi

The Gazette

community garden will take root this fall on the Johns Hopkins at Eastern campus, thanks to the nurturing efforts of a small group of students and the support of several university offices. The garden was the idea of representatives from Real Food Hopkins, a student-run group committed to bringing local, sustain-

able, humane and fairly priced food to the Homewood campus and the surrounding Baltimore area. The group had been cultivating a small garden behind 3105 N. Charles St. but learned that they could no longer use the site (though it’s since been reinstated). Continued on page 4

R E S E A R C H

Switching IV to pill form of drugs could save millions Study by Johns Hopkins researchers finds potential for huge cost savings By Stephanie Desmon

Johns Hopkins Medicine

witching hospitalized patients able to take medication by mouth from intravenous to pill forms of the same drugs

In Brief

An app for New Horizons’ followers; James Webb Telescope; holiday turkey program

could safely save millions of dollars a year, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. In a review of computerized records for the year 2010 at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, the researchers estimated savings of more than $1.1 million in the Department of Medicine alone—not including surgical patients—by swapping out four commonly prescribed IV medications with their oral equivalents. A report on the study is published in the journal Clinical Therapeutics. “Our study looked at just four drugs administered by one department in one hospital in

one year and found more than a million dollars in potential savings,” said Brandyn D. Lau, a medical informatics specialist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study’s leader. “Imagine if every hospital took a hard look at substituting oral medications for IV ones whenever possible. We’re talking about an enormous financial impact, with no risk to patients.” According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, roughly 12 percent

C A L E N D AR

Peabody Opera Potpourri; universal design workshop; ‘Here There Be Monsters’ talk

Continued on page 9

10 Job Opportunities 10 Notices 11 Classifieds

2 31,2011 2011 2 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• October August 15,

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I N B R I E F

On the path to Pluto: APL creates New Horizons app

JHU Nobelists seek support for James Webb Telescope

he team behind the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt has launched a free app that takes iPhone and iPad users along on this historic voyage to the planetary frontier. Now available in the iTunes App Store, New Horizons: A NASA Voyage to Pluto brings users the latest news and pictures from the mission, as well as details on the spacecraft and scientific instruments, and offers access to educational activities. Produced by programmers at APL— which built and operates the New Horizons spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA—the app includes reports from the New Horizons news center and Twitter feed, images taken by New Horizons from space, videos that tell the New Horizons story and a “tour” of the spacecraft. It also offers a locator for following the spacecraft along its path toward Pluto, and a countdown clock to check how much time remains—down to the second—before it sails past the dwarf planet on July 14, 2015. Another tool connects users to the “Ice Hunters” program to find potential New Horizons flyby targets in the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto. To download the app, go to itunes.com/ apps/newhorizonsanasavoyagetopluto.

wo Johns Hopkins Nobelists—Adam Riess and Riccardo Giacconi of the Krieger School’s Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy— participated in a press conference at the Maryland Science Center last week to support funding of the James Webb Space Telescope, which is expected to launch in 2018. The occasion was the unveiling of a permanent exhibit about the James Webb, called “the next generation Hubble Space Telescope.” The exhibit was donated to the science center by Northrop Grumman Corp., which is currently building the real thing under contract to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. (A life-size model of the JWST was on display outside the science center for 12 days in October.) Riess pointed out that it was because of the Hubble that his High-z Supernova Research Team was able to make the “astounding discovery” that the expansion of the universe was speeding up, due to a “strange and mysterious” new component called dark energy. “Dark energy comprises 73 percent of the universe and it’s still a giant mystery to us, and we look forward to using the James Webb Space Telescope to finish the job and to understand the nature of this dark energy,” he said, specifically thanking U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski for her steadfast support of the Hubble and now, the James Webb. Speaking at the press conference, Mikulski said she expects that the Senate will pass a budget Nov. 1 that includes $500 million to support the new infrared telescope, which will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. It will allow astronomers to observe the universe’s most distant objects and will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed.

Two JHU teams in Collegiate Inventors Competition finals

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wo student teams from Johns Hopkins—one each in the undergraduate and graduate categories—have made it to the finals in the Collegiate Inventors Competition. The program, now in its 21st year, is run by Invent Now, a nonprofit organization that recognizes and encourages invention in people of all ages. This year’s 11 finalists are in the biomedical engineering, cancer research and IT fields. The undergraduate team—Ryan Chang, Steven Dalvin, Ashkay Krishnaswamy and James Lin, advised by Gerard E. Mullin— developed QuanTube, a replacement gastric feeding tube designed for nonspecialist use. The graduate team—Deok-Ho Kim and Kshitiz Gupta, advised by Andre Levchenko— created a nanopatterned cardiac stem cell graft, a specially designed biodegradable tool to improve heart repair after tissue death. On Nov. 14, the finalists will present their inventions to a panel of judges that includes National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees, science and intellectual property experts from Abbott Laboratories and representatives of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Kaufmann Foundation, the presenting sponsors of the competition. The winners will be announced Nov. 15 at the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.

Editor Lois Perschetz Writer Greg Rienzi Production Lynna Bright Copy Editor Ann Stiller Photography Homewood Photography

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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

Holiday turkey program aims to feed 100 needy families

n honor of the 10th anniversary of Vernon Rice’s death, the Office of Work, Life and Engagement aims to provide food baskets to 100 families through its annual Vernon Rice Memorial Holiday Turkey Program. All members of the Johns Hopkins community are invited to donate $25 to purchase a food basket of a fresh turkey and vegetables from local and freerange farms. St. Anthony of Padua Church will deliver the baskets directly to needy families for the Thanksgiving and December holidays. To participate in the program, go to hopkinsworklife.org/community/turkey.html or call Brandi Monroe-Payton at 443-9970338. Payment must be received by Nov. 10 to assist families for Thanksgiving and by Dec. 9 for the December holidays.

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 Communications 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.

October 31, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

Through-the-nipple breast cancer therapy shows promise By Jim Schnabel

Johns Hopkins Medicine

elivering anticancer drugs into breast ducts via the nipple is highly effective in animal models of early breast cancer, and has no major side effects in human patients, according to a report by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers in Science Translational Medicine on Oct. 26. The results of the study are expected to lead to more-advanced clinical trials of so-called intraductal treatment for early breast cancer. “Our results support the theory that by treating the breast tissue directly we can reach a much more potent drug concentration where it is needed, with far fewer adverse effects on tissues outside the breasts,” said oncologist Vered Stearns, who supervised the clinical part of the study. Cancer biologist Saraswati Sukumar, who supervised the animal tests, said, “This has been a classic translational medicine collaboration between a bench researcher and a clinician scientist.” Stearns, who holds the Breast Cancer Research Chair in Oncology, and Sukumar, the Barbara B. Rubenstein Professor of Oncology, are co-directors of the Breast Cancer Program at the Kimmel Cancer Center. Sukumar began intraductal research more than a decade ago, reasoning that because most breast cancers originate from cells lin-

ing the milk ducts, early or preventive therapies should be delivered directly to the ducts via the nipple rather than intravenously. In 2006, in the journal Cancer Research, Sukumar and her colleagues reported on an initial successful test of the technique using the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin against early ductal breast cancers in rats. For the current study, Stearns set up a small clinical trial to determine the feasibility of Sukumar’s technique in 17 breast cancer patients. Starting first with dextrose—essentially sugar water—and later with escalating doses of the same doxorubicin formulation used on Sukumar’s rats— pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, or PLD— she was able to infuse patients’ breast ducts via a small catheter placed into the nipple. The technique wasn’t used in this case to treat cancer; the patients in the study all had established breast tumors and were awaiting mastectomies. But Stearns was able to establish that single doses of PLD to breast ducts caused only mild side effects including slight nipple pain and breast fullness. A comparison of 12 patients receiving PLD intraductally and three patients treated with PLD by the standard intravenous route also was revealing, Stearns said. “Intraductal delivery of PLD resulted in much higher concentration in the breast compared to the circulation, whereas in the women with intravenous doses, we saw relatively high concentrations in the blood but very little, if any, in the breast,” she noted.

In the animal portion of the study, Sukumar’s lab examined the intraductal effectiveness of four standard anticancer drugs, 5-fluorouracil or 5FU, carboplatin, methotrexate and paclitaxel, all compared with PLD. Of these drugs, intraductal 5FU prevented the most cancers compared to no drug or to intravenous delivery. It also shrank established breast tumors with striking effectiveness, completely eliminating them in 10 of 14 treated rats, she said. “As both a preventive and a therapy, 5FU worked extremely well in these tests,” Sukumar said. It has the additional advantage, she noted, of sparing breast ducts the kind of damage caused by PLD, which at therapeutic doses can destroy large parts of the ductal lining. But perhaps the most intriguing outcome of these tests, she said, was that preventive treatment of only four mammary glands in rats—which have a total of 12—showed a strong effect in preventing tumors in the untreated glands as well. “We think that 5FU, at the high concentration achieved with intraductal delivery, elicits an immune response that can suppress tumor formation in the other ducts,” Sukumar said. “This is an attractive feature because some breast ducts in women are ‘blind ducts’ that are unconnected to the nipple and, therefore, unreachable directly with intraductal therapy.” Sukumar and Stearns say that the next step is to set up a further clinical study with 5FU, based on the new findings. The goal is to use intraductal therapy to suppress

tumors in patients with a high genetic risk for breast cancer or premalignant lesions in their breast ducts. “In principle, one could do such a procedure every 10 years or so to keep one’s breasts tumor-free, as an alternative to having the breasts removed,” Sukumar said. The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, Windy Hill Medical Center, Mary Kay Ash Foundation and Susan Love Research Foundation. Contributors to the study, in addition to Sukumar and Stearns, were co–first author Tsuyoshi Mori, currently at the Shiga Institute of Medical Science in Japan; and Lisa K. Jacobs, Nagi F. Khouri, Edward Gabrielson, Takahiro Yoshida, Scott L. Kominsky, David L. Huso, Stacie Jeter, Penny Powers, Karineh Tarpinian, Regina J. Brown, Julie R. Lange, Michelle A. Rudek, Zhe Zhang and Theodore N. Tsangaris, all of Johns Hopkins.

Related websites Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center:

www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter .org Breast Cancer Program at Johns Hopkins:

www.hopkinsbreastcenter.org

Mountains solve the mysteries of short-legged Neandertals B y S a r a h L e wi

Johns Hopkins Medicine

hile most studies have concluded that a cold climate led to the short lower legs typical of Neandertals, researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that lower-leg lengths shorter than the typical modern human’s let them move more efficiently over the mountainous terrain where they lived. The findings reveal a broader trend relating shorter lower-leg length to mountainous environments that may help explain the limb proportions of many different animals. Their research was published online by the American Journal of Physical Anthropology and will appear in print in the journal’s November issue. “Studies looking at limb length have always concluded that a shorter limb, including in Neandertals, leads to less efficiency of movement because they had to take more steps to go a given distance,” said lead author Ryan Higgins, a graduate student in the Johns Hopkins Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution. “But the other studies only looked at flat land. Our study suggests that the Neandertals’ steps were not less efficient than modern humans’ in the sloped, mountainous environment where they lived.” Neandertals, who lived from 40,000 to

Related websites Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/fae Ryan Higgins:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/fae/ RWH.htm Christopher Ruff:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/fae/ CBR.htm ‘American Journal of Physical Anthropology’:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/ 10.1002/%28ISSN%291096-8644

200,000 years ago in Europe and in Western Asia, mostly during very cold periods, had a smaller stature and shorter lower-leg lengths than modern humans do. Because mammals in cold areas tend to be more compact, with a smaller surface area, scientists have concluded that it was the region’s temperature that led to the Neandertals’ truncated limbs compared to those of modern humans, who live in a warmer environment overall. Higgins’ work, however, adds a twist to this story. Using a mathematical model relating leg proportions to angle of ascent on hills, he has calculated that Neandertals on a sloped terrain would have held an advantage while moving compared to their long-legged cousins, the modern humans. Because the area that Neandertals inhabited was more mountainous than where modern humans tend to live, the researchers say that this assessment paints a more accurate picture of the Neandertals’ efficiency of movement as compared to humans. “Their short lower-leg lengths actually made the Neandertals more adept at walking on hills,” Higgins said. But the researchers didn’t stop there. “In our field, if you want to prove an adaptation to the environment, like mountains leading to shorter leg lengths, you can’t just look at one species; you have to look at many species in the same situation, and see the same pattern happening over and over again,” Higgins said. “We needed to look at other animals with similar leg construction that existed in both flat and mountainous areas, as Neandertals and humans did, to see if animals tended to have shorter lower leg length in the mountains.” The researchers decided to study different types of bovids—a group of mammals that includes gazelles, antelopes, goats and sheep—since these animals live in warm and cold environments on both flat and hilly terrain. The group took data from the literature on bovid leg bones and found that they fit the pattern: Mountainous bovids, such as sheep and mountain goats, overall had shorter lower leg bones than their relatives on flat land, such as antelopes and gazelles, even when they lived in the same climates. Investigating closely related bovids brought this trend into even sharper relief. Most gazelles live on flat land, and the one mountainous gazelle species examined had

relatively shorter lower legs, despite sharing the same climate. Also, among caprids (goats and sheep), which mostly live on mountains, the one flat-land member of the group exhibited relatively longer lower legs than all the others. “Biologists have Bergman’s and Allen’s rules, which predict reduced surface area to body size and shorter limbs in colder environments,” Higgins said. “Our evidence suggests that we can also predict certain limb configurations based on topography. We believe adding the topic of terrain to ongo-

ing discussions about limb proportions will allow us to better refine our understanding of how living species adapt to their environments. This improved understanding will help us better interpret the characteristics of many fossil species, not just Neandertals.” Funding for this research was provided by the Johns Hopkins Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution. This study was completed by Higgins and Christopher B. Ruff, also of the Johns Hopkins Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution.

A P P O I N T M E N T

Ted Dawson named director of the Institute for Cell Engineering

ed Dawson, scientific director of the Institute for Cell Engineering, has been appointed as the institute’s director. He succeeds Chi Van Dang, ICE’s inaugural director, who became head of the University of Pennsylvania’s cancer center. In a letter announcing Dawson’s appointment to colleagues, Edward D. Miller, the Frances Watt Baker, M.D., and Lenox D. Baker Jr., M.D., Dean of the Medical Faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said, “As ICE’s scientific director for the last year and a half, Ted already has been instrumental in energizing the institute’s extensive research programs. His considerable experience and leadership will serve it well, as he and his colleagues work to understand how the fate of cellular development is determined; to harness that information to select, modify and reprogram human cells; and to develop clinical approaches to combat the diseases that arise when cell functioning goes awry.” Dawson received his medical degree and doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Utah and completed his neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1990, he came to Johns Hopkins for a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience with Sol Snyder, University Distinguished Service Professor of Neuroscience, Pharmacology and Psychiatry in the School of

Medicine. He soon joined the faculty and in 2004 was named the inaugural Leonard and Madlyn Abramson Professor of Neurodegenerative Diseases. He is now the director of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson’s Disease Research Center of Excellence, as well as a professor of neurology and neuroscience. “Along with his wife, fellow neuroscientist Valina Dawson, founding director of the Neuroregeneration Program in ICE, Ted has achieved significant research breakthroughs in the neurobiology of disease and the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration,” Miller said. “The Dawsons’ important work has included discoveries revealing how the molecules nitric oxide and poly (ADP-ribose) within cells become ‘messengers of death,’ playing a prominent role in killing cells and nerves in the brain, heart and other organs during strokes, heart attacks and in the progress of such neurodegenerative diseases as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. “These seminal findings in the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration, enhanced through subsequent research by the Dawsons, have led to drugs—now being tested in clinical trials—that would target these molecules, block their operation and prevent the progressive destruction of cells and nerves in a variety of devastating neurodegenerative illnesses,” he said.

4 31,2011 2011 4 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• October August 15,

One dose of hallucinogen may create lasting personality changes Study of ‘magic mushrooms’ found participants displayed more ‘openness’ By Stephanie Desmon

Johns Hopkins Medicine

single high dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called “magic mushrooms,” was enough to bring about a measurable personality change lasting at least a year in nearly 60 percent of the 51 participants in a new study, according to the Johns Hopkins researchers who conducted it. Lasting change was found in the part of the personality known as openness, which includes traits related to imagination, aesthetics, feelings, abstract ideas and general broad-mindedness. Changes in these traits, measured on a widely used and scientifically validated personality inventory, were larger in magnitude than changes typically observed in healthy adults over decades of life experiences, the scientists say. Researchers in the field say that after the age of 30, personality doesn’t usually change significantly.

”Normally, if anything, openness tends to decrease as people get older,” said study leader Roland R. Griffiths, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The research, approved by a Johns Hopkins institutional review board, was funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and published Sept. 29 in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. The study participants completed two to five eight-hour drug sessions, with consecutive sessions separated by at least three weeks. Participants were informed that they would receive a “moderate or high dose” of psilocybin during one of their drug sessions, but neither they nor the session monitors knew when. During each session, participants were encouraged to lie down on a couch, use an eye mask to block external visual distraction, wear headphones through which music was played and focus their attention on their inner experiences. Personality was assessed at screening, one to two months after each drug session and approximately 14 months after the last drug session. Griffiths says he believes that the personality changes found in this study are likely permanent since they were sustained by more than a year by many participants.

Nearly all the participants in the new study considered themselves spiritually active (participating regularly in religious services, prayer or meditation). More than half had postgraduate degrees. Volunteers were considered to be psychologically healthy, and the sessions with the otherwise illegal hallucinogen were closely monitored. “We don’t know whether the findings can be generalized to the larger population,” Griffiths said. As a word of caution, Griffiths notes that some of the study participants reported strong fear or anxiety for a portion of their daylong psilocybin sessions, although none reported any lingering harmful effects. He warns, however, that if hallucinogens are used in less well–supervised settings, the possible fear or anxiety responses could lead to harmful behaviors. Griffiths says that lasting personality change is rarely looked at as a function of a single discrete experience in the laboratory. In the study, the change occurred specifically in those volunteers who had undergone a “mystical experience,” as validated on a questionnaire developed by early hallucinogen researchers and refined by Griffiths for use at Johns Hopkins. He defines “mystical experience” as, among other things, “a sense of interconnected-

ness with all people and things accompanied by a sense of sacredness and reverence.” Personality was measured on a widely used and scientifically validated personality inventory, which covers openness and the other four broad domains that psychologists consider the makeup of personality: neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. Only openness changed during the course of the study. Griffiths says he believes that psilocybin may have therapeutic uses. He is currently studying whether the hallucinogen has a use in helping cancer patients handle the depression and anxiety that comes along with a diagnosis, and whether it can help longtime cigarette smokers overcome their addiction. “There may be applications for this we can’t even imagine at this point,” he said. “It certainly deserves to be systematically studied.” This study was funded by the Council on Spiritual Practices, the Heffter Research Institute and the Betsy Gordon Foundation, as well as the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Other Johns Hopkins authors of the study are Matthew W. Johnson and Katherine A. MacLean.

‘Scarless’ surgery takes out tumors through natural skull opening Area above jawbone, below cheekbone, proves handy new route to skull base B y C h r i s t e n B r o wn

lee

Johns Hopkins Medicine

technique developed by Johns Hopkins surgeons is providing a new route to get to and remove tumors buried at the base of the skull: through the natural hole behind the molars, above the jawbone and beneath the cheekbone. In a report detailing the novel surgery, published in the October issue of The Laryngoscope, the surgeons say that the procedure, already performed in seven patients, yields faster recovery and fewer complications than traditional approaches. And, because the incisions are made inside the cheek, there are no visible scars.

Garden Continued from page 1 The students viewed the loss as an opportunity to create a bigger garden that could serve as a model for urban gardening and sustainable agriculture for both the community and Johns Hopkins affiliates. The hunt for a new site began. Real Food Hopkins, working with the university’s Office of Facilities Management, identified a roughly 4,000-square-foot triangular patch of grass adjacent to the running track at Johns Hopkins at Eastern. The effort received additional support from the university’s Sustainability Office, the Center for Social Concern, the Office of Government and Community Affairs, and Campus Kitchen at Johns Hopkins University. Students, staff and faculty will be able to sign up to garden their own individual plots or to work with a Waverly neighborhood community group, beginning next spring. The site offers space for more than 50 five-by-eight-foot plots, and student leaders anticipate that 15 to 20 will be established and actively maintained in the first growing season.

Kofi Boahene, an assistant professor of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery and of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says that the idea for the new approach came to him when a 20-year-old female patient previously treated for a brain tumor developed a new tumor deep in the skull base. Traditional surgeries to remove skull-base tumors require incisions through the face and also bone removal, which can sometimes be disfiguring. Additionally, these operations can harm facial nerves, leading to paralysis that affects facial expressions, and require days or weeks of hospitalization and recovery. Boahene said he was gazing at a skull model in his office, considering options to spare his patient from another traditional surgery. “I looked at the ‘window’ that already exists in the skull, above the jawbone and below the cheekbone, and realized this was an access route not previously recognized for this kind of surgery,” he said.

Knowing there was always the option of switching to the traditional approach while trying the new one, Boahene and his colleagues performed the new procedure on his patient last year. The expected surgery time shrank from six hours to two. Additionally, the patient was able to leave the hospital the next day and return to college, with no visible evidence that she had had surgery. The report in The Laryngoscope describes details of the surgeries on three of the seven patients Boahene and his colleagues have thus far treated with the new technique. Besides benefits for patients, he and his colleagues note, the new procedure is significantly less complicated for surgeons to perform, provides excellent visualization of the skull-base area and could potentially save health care dollars, due to patients’ shorter hospital stays. Not all patients are candidates for this procedure, Boahene cautioned. It isn’t an option for those with very large skull-base tumors or for those with tumors that wrap

around blood vessels. For these patients, traditional skull-base surgery is still the best choice, he said. In the future, he and his colleagues plan to try the new procedure using a surgical robot, which could provide even better visualization for surgeons and further reduce chances of complications for patients.

To promote the new endeavor, a town hall meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3, in the Training and Development room at Johns Hopkins at Eastern. Participants can learn about the new community garden, sign up for garden plots, help name the garden and offer input on its future use. Wei-ting Chen, a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Sociology and one of the garden’s champions, said that the students wanted Johns Hopkins to participate in the growing sustainable food production movement, and strengthen the university’s relationship with residents and community organizations in the Waverly neighborhood. “We can see people from Johns Hopkins working side by side with residents in the garden,” she said. “The garden has an educational component, too, where people can learn about food production and sustainability.” Joanna Calabrese, a sustainability outreach coordinator for Johns Hopkins, said that the garden promises great success, thanks to the students’ vision and hard work. “The student leaders of this project have demonstrated the potential for young leaders. They realized the potential of the urban agriculture movement to vital-

ize and strengthen our community,” she said. “Johns Hopkins University has the resources and opportunity to play a unique and meaningful role in Baltimore City’s own movement. Both JHU and Waverly community gardeners will benefit from greater access to healthy, nutritious food.” In addition to Chen, the student leaders of the community garden are Raychel Santo, a sophomore public health studies major and president of Real Food Hopkins; Audrey Swanenberg, a senior sociology major; and freshman Anna Belous. Chen said that the group expects the garden’s users to plant squash, tomatoes, herbs, beans and other vegetables. The students have already planted some garlic and perennial flowers, and expect to plant some fruit trees. The plot managers can keep what they produce as well as donate a portion of the crops to Campus Kitchen at Johns Hopkins, which is dedicated to using surplus food to provide balanced and nutritious meals for hungry men, women and children in the Baltimore area. The Office of Facilities Management has agreed to provide further assistance in the form of fencing, landscaping and the creation of the raised beds. Facilities and the students will also secure tools, such as

shovels and cultivators, to be shared among the garden users. Karen Geary, senior property manager with the Office of Facilities Management, said that her office was happy to work with this group of motivated students on such a worthwhile project. “And we think this is a great space. It’s large and visible, with direct access to water and 24-hour security,” Geary said. “The students view this as a long-term, viable project that can continue well after they graduate.” Santo said that she hopes the garden can create a long-lasting community of students, staff, faculty and neighborhood members devoted to learning about and growing healthy food together. “The idea is that it won’t be just a few individuals bearing the weight of the gardening but really a cooperative effort to show that we all care about our food and where it comes from,” Santo said. Johns Hopkins also has partnered with the University of Maryland Extension’s master gardener program to provide training and green tips. The students will update progress on the garden at jhucommunitygarden.wordpress .com. G For more information, email jhucommgarden@ gmail.com.

Related websites Kofi Boahene:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ facial_plastic_reconstructive_ surgery/our_team/our_surgeons/ kofi_boahene.html Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ otolaryngology

October 31, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

Genomewide hunts reveal new regulators of blood pressure By Maryalice Yakutchik

Johns Hopkins Medicine

study involving more than 200,000 people worldwide has identified 29 DNA sequence variations in locations across the human genome that influence blood pressure. These genes, whose sequence changes are associated with alterations in blood pressure and are linked to heart disease and stroke, were found with the help of decades’ worth of population data that were pooled and analyzed by a large international consortium, including Johns Hopkins researchers. Among the findings was evidence that the same common genetic variants associated with hypertension in European populations also are frequently found in individuals of Asian and African ancestry, according to the report that appears Sept. 11 in Nature. “A genetic risk score that adds up the effects of all of these variants shows that the

more of these variants an individual has, the greater are his or her chances of having hypertension, left ventricular wall thickness, stroke and coronary artery disease,” said Aravinda Chakravarti, a professor of medicine, pediatrics, and molecular biology and genetics at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins, and one of the lead authors. The individuals whose genomes were analyzed for this study had had their blood pressures recorded when they entered other long-term cardiovascular research studies, and scientists used these measures to assess the predictive value of the genes and blood pressures in terms of the subjects’ current cardiovascular status. This genomewide association study focused on systolic and diastolic blood pressures, measures of the maximum and minimum pressures exerted on the arteries. However, in a related genomewide investigation reported Sept. 11 in Nature Genetics, some of the same scientists found an additional

Feared spinal X-ray found to be safe, Johns Hopkins study shows B y D av i d M a r c h

Johns Hopkins Medicine

edical imaging experts at Johns Hopkins have reviewed the patient records of 302 men and women who had a much-needed X-ray of the blood vessels near the spinal cord and found that the procedure, often feared for possible complications of stroke and kidney damage, is safe and effective. Reporting in the journal Neurology online Sept. 14, the Johns Hopkins researchers found that none of the study participants, all of whom underwent a spinal digital subtraction angiography, or SpDSA, at The Johns Hopkins Hospital between 2000 and 2010, had suffered either a stroke or kidney damage as a result of the procedure, considered the “gold standard” test for distinguishing among many types of vascular disorders near the spine. These include strokes, hematomas, aneurysms, fistulas and tumors. “Patients and their physicians can now look with confidence to our study and see for themselves the real as opposed to perceived risks and complications from spinal angiography,” said study senior investigator and interventional neuroradiologist Philippe Gailloud. ”Advances in the procedure have made it much safer today than before, and neurologists and patients really should consider this valuable diagnostic tool based on the actual medical evidence and not on whatever unsubstantiated rumors they might hear secondhand or read on the Internet,” said Gailloud, an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Gailloud says that reports of stroke and kidney damage had been rather high, in as many as 3 percent of people, in the 1970s, when the procedure was introduced. At that time, preparing patients for testing and injecting a dye to make the blood vessels more visible often took hours instead of the half-hour it takes today, raising the chances that a clot could dislodge in the blood vessels and cause a stroke. The earlier process also used more than twice as much of the potentially toxic contrast agent than is needed today. Another key finding in the latest study was that spinal angiography could accurately rule out suspected cases of spinal inflammation, a condition known as transverse myelitis. Fourteen of 45 patients diagnosed and treated with steroids or other immunesuppressing drugs for transverse myelitis were later confirmed by SpDSA to have a vascular malformation instead. All of these patients were successfully treated for their actual spinal problem, and none of them suffered any complications as a result.

According to Gailloud, who is also director of Interventional Neuroradiology at Johns Hopkins, this finding shows physicians that anyone who is diagnosed with transverse myelitis and who does not show improvement after drug treatment but is still likely suffering from a spinal problem should consider having an SpDSA to either verify the original diagnosis or determine if it is actually a vascular malformation. The two conditions have similar symptoms, he says, with people often complaining of a weakening in the legs, even temporary paralysis; sudden and uncontrolled urination; and back pain. Lead study investigator James Chen, a Johns Hopkins medical student, began the study with encouragement from experts at the Johns Hopkins Transverse Myelitis Center after noticing reluctance by other specialists and patients to use spinal angiography because they believed the procedure to be too dangerous, despite growing acceptance of its efficacy. “To counter medical rumor and historical perception, we simply had to put some current numbers on its safety and risk,” said Chen, who is also a Doris Duke Charitable Foundation research fellow in interventional neuroradiology at Johns Hopkins. Gailloud and Chen have already begun the next phase of their research, a prospective study to monitor people for any possible complications months or even years after having an SpDSA. Initial results are expected in 2012. In the SpDSA procedure, a catheter tube is inserted into the larger blood vessels near the groin and gently threaded, one by one, into each of the major arteries branching from the aorta to the spine. Dye is released into each artery to help form multiple images of each artery, as taken by X-ray. The test is usually performed to specifically identify the source of the vascular problem after an MRI has ruled out any other physical disorders to the spine. Funding support for this study was provided by The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Related websites Philippe Gailloud:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ interventional_neuroradiology/ about_us/philippe_gailloud_ endovascular_interventional.html The Transverse Myelitis Center at Johns Hopkins:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ neurology_neurosurgery/specialty_ areas/transverse_myelitis

six locations across the genome where variants affect blood pressure by focusing on two other relevant measures: pulse pressure (the difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure) and mean arterial pressure (a weighted average of systolic and diastolic blood pressure). The group conducted a genomewide association meta-analysis of pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure in 74,064 individuals of European ancestry from 35 studies and then followed up the results in 48,607 additional individuals. “It’s like using four different cops to find the same culprit,” Chakravarti said. “The more ways we search for blood pressure genes, the better our ability to understand hypertension, whose effects are not uni-causal.” For the billion-plus people worldwide with hypertension, even small elevations in blood pressure are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Although it’s generally known that hypertension has a familial component, the genetic regulatory mechanisms of blood pressure have been challenging to pin down so far, Chakravarti says, citing similar genetic studies three years ago that failed to detect any genes. He credits the recent spate of genetic discoveries—more than 300 genes for cardiovascular diseases have been identified in just the last few years—to the collective analyses of longterm prospective research efforts such as the pioneering Framingham Heart Study, begun in 1948; the Cardiovascular Health Study, started in 1989; and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, started in 1987. “Too often, people look at these studies that have a long provenance and wonder what is it doing for them today,” said Chakravarti, who compares the studies to a retirement account. “Researchers visit them time and time again. Without them, this feat of genetic studies would be impossible.” Each genomewide association study, often referred to as GWAS, reported what effects were observed at which locations on

the genome in a scan of single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, throughout the genome. SNPs, pronounced “snips,” are sites where a single letter in the DNA code is variable between humans. “Your blood pressure is a function of these genes we just identified as well as perhaps a hundred others we haven’t found yet,” Chakravarti said. “By revealing the genetic architecture of blood pressure, both studies will help us to understand the biology of cardiovascular diseases and stroke and, eventually, may lead to better therapies.” Support for the international multi-institutional project came from many funding mechanisms, including the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and European and private funding agencies. More than 230 scientists contributed to the Nature study; Chakravarti is a corresponding author. The lead author is Georg B. Ehret, also of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins. Other Johns Hopkins authors are Vasyl Pihur, Josef Coresh, Judith A. Hoffman-Bolton, Linda Kao, Anna Kottgen and J.Hunter Young. In addition to Chakravarti, Johns Hopkins scientists who contributed to the Nature Genetics study are Ehret and Pihur.

Related websites Chakravarti lab:

chakravarti.igm.jhmi.edu/ AravindaChakravartiLab/Home .html

‘Nature’:

www.nature.com/nature/index .html ‘Nature Genetics’:

www.nature.com/ng/index.html

6 31,2011 2011 6 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• October August 15,

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in research-based school improvement provides a wonderful overlap for the work that we do.” Katherine Newman, the James B. Knapp Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said that the new arrangement recognizes that the mission of the CSOS is more closely aligned to that of the School of Education. “In collaboration with the vice deans and our colleagues throughout the school, we have been evaluating every enterprise the school supports, with an eye toward continued excellence and appropriate alignment with a distinguished program of scholarship and instruction,” Newman said. “CSOS is an important institution and a national treasure in the field of school reform. As an applied research and intervention organization, it shares with our colleagues in the School of Education a mission dedicated to reform and rigorous evaluation.” The move gives the School of Education direct responsibility for four Baltimore City schools. The School of Education, in partnership with Morgan State University’s School of Education and Urban Studies, assumed operating responsibilities for the East Baltimore Community School on Aug. 8. Johns Hopkins took over the day-to-day operation of the school through a contract with the school’s board. This fall, the school began its third year, with approximately 260 students in kindergarten and first, second, third, sixth and seventh grades. Grades four, five and eight will be added incrementally. The school, temporarily located at 1101 N. Wolfe St. and officially a charter school of the Baltimore City Public School System, was previously known as the Elmer Henderson Elementary School. CSOS operates the William C. March Middle School, the Baltimore Civitas

School (grades 6–12) and the Baltimore Talent Development High School. Both the Baltimore Civitas School and Baltimore Talent Development High School were created by CSOS. The William C. March Middle School was an existing school for which CSOS assumed operation in July 2010. Andrews said that the merger with CSOS brings a “critical mass” of schools under the School of Education umbrella that could, in the near future, justify an administrative support structure to help with day-to-day operations and long-term planning at these four sites. “We are now officially in the business of running schools,” Andrews said. “Having four certainly puts us out there.” CSOS was established in 1966 as an educational research and development center at The Johns Hopkins University. The center has a 120-person staff of full-time sociologists, psychologists, social psychologists and educators who conduct programmatic research to improve the education system, as well as full-time support staff engaged in developing curricula and providing technical assistance to help schools use the center’s research. The center currently includes the Center on School, Family and Community Partnerships, and the Everyone Graduates Center. Since the founding of the center, its mission has been to study how changes in the organization of schools can make them more effective for all students in promoting academic achievement, development of potential and eventual career success. The center’s stated belief is that changes in the structure of a learning environment can produce positive results in the attitudes, behaviors and accomplishments of students and faculty. CSOS staff, for example, look to develop learning environments that minimize student apathy or disruption, and examine how to connect schools with families and communities. The center’s middle and high school studies focus on the development, evaluation and dissemination of its Talent Development secondary school model, which includes all

elements of curricular and social organization, as well as professional development and specific transitional courses in math and English. Other studies at the center focus on dropout prevention, content literacy, the effects of coaching on literacy instruction and effective algebra instruction. The center’s researchers publish regularly in leading social science journals and present their findings at annual conferences such as those of the American Educational Research Association, American Sociological Association and American Psychological Association. Success for All, a comprehensive restructuring program for elementary schools, with an emphasis on literacy skills, was developed at CSOS by School of Education professors Robert Slavin and Nancy Madden. Success for All is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the most effective evidence-based programs available to improve student performance. The whole-school reform program is currently being used in 1,000 schools and has received additional funding to nearly double that number over the next three to five years. Andrews said that CSOS’s long list of accomplishments will certainly help in the recruitment area. “This merger will help as we look to expand our faculty and attract world-class colleagues,” he said. McPartland said that CSOS looks forward to partnering with the School of Education and its graduate program in education research. “We want to help them develop the next generation of education researchers with a scientific base in school reform,” he said. “We welcome any involvement with graduate training.” CSOS receives federal funding for its work, supplemented by grants and contracts from both public and private sources. Its offices are at 2701 N. Charles St., a block south of the Johns Hopkins Education Building. G For more information on CSOS, go to www .jhucsos.org.

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October 31, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

Building better evacuation plans for U.S. municipalities APL software tool will give emergency managers more flexibility and time B y G e o f f B r o wn

Applied Physics Laboratory

COURTESY OF APL

magine trying to plan for the evacuation of a populated coastal area without a major bridge to safety, or having to adjust an evacuation if a wildfire suddenly rendered an interstate highway unusable. State and local emergency management agencies need accurate, reliable evacuation plans covering these different scenarios, but creating those plans often requires complex and expensive study results that can’t rapidly be updated to reflect developing situations. A new project from the National Security Technology Department at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory—the Real-Time Evacuation Planning Model (or RtePM, pronounced “route PM”)—is gaining interest from emergency managers because it can provide a fast, easy way to conduct analyses that result in better, more accurate plans. “We were tasked by the Department of Homeland Security in 2009 to find out what the emergency management community in the southeastern U.S. [an area frequently hit by hurricanes] wanted in terms of technology,” explained program manager D.J. Waddell, of the Homeland Protection Business Area, about the project’s beginnings. The NSTD team learned that the most requested capability was the ability to “draw an area on a map and tell me how long it will take to evacuate the people from there.” To simplify that task into a stand-alone and functioning model, Waddell said, “we had to constrain this for populations using passenger vehicles,” which is the primary way that Americans evacuate most areas during a disaster.

Hurricane evacuation planners currently update their plans every eight years, but the new APL tool would allow them to do it monthly, and for less cost.

The heart of the geographic information system–based RtePM is the Dynamic Clearance Time Calculator, which uses three sets of data to estimate how an evacuation plan will unfold. Those three data sets—roadway capacity, demographic and density information, and human behavior (the leastpredictable variable)—are combined into an easy-to-use graphical interface that requires little user training and offers enormous flexibility. New simulations and analyses can be achieved by simply drawing a line around an area, selecting from variables such as side streets and specific neighborhoods, and rerunning the calculator. For a small geographic area, performing a new simulation in RtePM will be finished in the time it takes to refresh the screen; a simulation for a densely populated area can take up to two hours. “We ran a large scenario for a Category 4 hurricane in the Houston/ Galveston, Texas, area,” Waddell said, “with a population of 1.6 million, and 922,000 of them evacuating, in a bit under two hours.” Similar results were obtained for the Hamp-

ton Roads region of Virginia. (For the largest metropolitan areas, Waddell said that the team would need to include models of public transportation and pedestrian evacuations.) While the system is not yet fully realtime, owing in part to a dearth of real-time traffic-monitoring data, RtePM can generate new simulations quickly enough to be effective in most cases, and has drawn praise from evacuation analysts for its current capabilities. Waddell said that having veteran emergency managers, including Russ Strickland, a former senior official at the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, work side by side with the project’s technical lead, Dave George, helped RtePM gain quick currency with the evacuation community. “We pair subject matter experts with our technical leads,” Waddell said, “and it helps us cut through miscommunication early on. We can focus on what the planners need, not in terms of technology but in terms of functionality.” RtePM was originally designed for the

southeastern United States, but it was soon getting demonstration requests from across the country, including San Diego, where wildfires threaten from June through October. “In San Diego, we learned that we needed to fine-tune which roads get included in the simulation for a locality,” Waddell said. “Ordinarily, we leave off smaller side roads because they don’t connect to major arteries. In San Diego, because of the terrain, they’re the only roads that do connect to those arteries. “Another regional difference in San Diego is that, understandably, people won’t leave their horses behind in a wildfire,” Waddell continued. “During the most recent wildfires there, 20,000 people and 3,000 horses were moved. So we have to account for people going to their horses, and then heading for safety.” Requests for RtePM information and trial use have also come from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., and from planners for Super Bowl XLVI, to be held in February 2012 in Indianapolis. RtePM is still in development for the Department of Homeland Security, with a target delivery date of April 2012 for a transition version that will be able to make the jump to a real-world tool for municipalities ranging in size from large cities to rural counties. “The idea is for this to be affordable,” Waddell said. “It’s all done with open source software, it’s Web-based, and it uses road-network data sets that local agencies can access for free, thanks to DHS initiatives. Hurricane evacuation planners update their plans every eight years based on data provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; with our tool, they could do it monthly, and for less cost. The corps has worked closely with us during RtePM development and testing, and [it has] initiated discussions with DHS for long-term maintenance of RtePM.” This article appeared previously in APL News.

K U D Cogito O S- Young Scientists - Young Scientists Article Map

10/26/11 11:16 AM

CTY site for gifted math, science students wins ‘Science’ top honor Search

By Maria Blackburn

Center for Talented Youth

ogito.org, a website and online community for gifted math and science students, won the prestigious Science Prize for Online Resources in Education (SPORE) Oct. 27 in recognition of its success at bringing students from all over the world together to “geek out” about a wealth of topics ranging from extrasolar planets to epigenetics. Cogito was developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth with help from eight partner organizations serving gifted pre-college students, and generous support from the John Templeton Foundation. Launched in 2006, the site includes profiles of young scientists, interviews with guest experts from all fields of science and math, blogs and a community section for Cogito members. Cogito is targeted to top students between the ages of 13 and 18. “We’re proud of Cogito for so many reasons,” said Patricia Wallace, CTY’s senior director of information technology and CTYOnline. “The site brings these very bright students together to interact with one another and with experts who are on the cutting edge of scientific discovery.” The award, which recognizes the best Internet resources in science education, is presented by Science magazine and its publisher, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, both highly regarded science resources. Past winners include MIT Open Courseware, a site that makes teaching materials used in MIT undergraduate and graduate courses avail-

able on the Web for use by the general public, and Science Buddies, a site that assists K-12 students and parents with science fair ideas and projects. AAAS invited the Cogito team to contribute an essay about the site, and the article appears in the Oct. 28 issue of Science. What’s distinctive about the free site, according to Cogito’s managing editor, Kristi Birch, is how it creates community among students who might not otherwise have a way to share with their peers their love of learning. “It’s not always cool to be smart, and it may not be socially acceptable at school for these students to have these kinds of conversations about math and science at such high levels,” Birch said. “Cogito is the one place you can go to get that social and intellectual connection.” For student Philip Streich, who was lauded by Discover magazine in 2008 as one of the top five young scientists under 20, Cogito helped nurture his early interest in science. “Living on a farm in rural Wisconsin, I’d had no opportunity to hear about and communicate with other kids my age who were as passionate as I was about science,” he said. “Cogito brought me into a scientific community that I would otherwise never have had a chance to be part of. It motivated me to start doing research myself.” Streich isn’t the only student who feels this way about the online community, says Science editorial fellow Melissa McCartney. “There is a common theme in all of [the users’] feedback: Student participation in Cogito resulted in a demystification of scientists and what they do, as well as increased ability for students to picture themselves doing research alongside them someday.”

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Articles for Malaysia

Cogito Interview: The WorldMapper Project

Malaysian Students Conduct Astrophysics Research—in the Lab and on the Roof

What Is It? #01

Academic Triathlon Recommended Etched on his Mind: Review of "Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood" A Conversation with Richard Dawkins Queerer Than We Suppose: The Strangeness of Science

Malaysian Students Win Accolades at Intel ISEF 2008 SC Cyberworld, 05.20.2008 Four local winners did Malaysia proud with their innovative research

Malaysian Students Develop Bio-fuel Alternative Intel Malaysia, 05.18.2007

Cogito showcases news by and about pre-college students from all over the world. http://www.cogito.org/Articles/ArticleMap.aspx Page 1 of 2 Clicking on a dot on an interactive map brings up a list of articles related to young scientists in that location. In this screenshot, the articles by and about young scientists in Malaysia appear, as well as a discussion forum students had with a Malaysian medical researcher.

8 31,2011 2011 8 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• October August 15, A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

Search committee appointed to identify next SAIS dean

resident Ronald J. Daniels announced last week that he had appointed a search committee to identify a successor to Jessica P. Einhorn, who will retire as dean of the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies on June 30, 2012, following what Daniels termed “a decade of exemplary service.” “There would be no more fitting tribute to Dean Einhorn and all of her accomplishments at SAIS and at Johns Hopkins than to identify a worthy successor,” Daniels said. “One of my highest priorities this academic year is to find an exemplary leader to build upon Jessica’s platform of success and to usher SAIS into the next phase of its remarkable history.” Lloyd Minor, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs will chair the search. Pam Cranston, vice provost

for international programs and vice dean of the Carey Business School, will be vice chair. Shelly Storbeck of the executive search firm Storbeck/Pimentel has been retained to facilitate the search, Daniels said, adding that thoughts and nominations, which will be kept in strict confidence, should be sent directly to the search committee at SAIS@ storbeckpimentel.com. Members of the committee, in addition to Minor and Cranston, are Karen Bandeen-Roche, the Hurley-Dorrier Professor and chair of the Department of Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health; L. Ebony Boulware, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology, associate director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, and associate director of the Johns Hopkins

O C T .

3 1

KL2 Clinical Research Scholars Program, schools of Medicine and Public Health; Steven David, vice dean for undergraduate education, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences; Michael Eicher, senior vice president for development and external affairs; Nicole Epps, graduate student in Middle East studies and international economics, SAIS; and Peter Flaherty, SAIS alumnus, chair of the SAIS advisory council and managing director of Arcon Partners LLC. Also, Louis Forster, SAIS alumnus, member of the SAIS advisory council, trustee of The Johns Hopkins University, senior managing director of Cerberus Capital Management and chairman of Cerberus Asia Pacific Advisors; Francisco Gonzalez, associate professor of Latin American studies, SAIS; Kenneth Keller, director of the Bologna Center and professor of science and technology

–

N O V .

Calendar Continued from page 12 M o n . , O c t . 3 1 , 4 p.m. “A Cen-

tre-Stable Manifold for Schroedinger’s Equation,” an Analysis/PDE seminar with Marius Beceanu, Rutgers University. Sponsored by Mathematics. 300 Krieger. HW “Disease Modeling and Drug Discovery Effort of Neural Crest-Related Diseases With Human Pluripotent Stem Cells,” an Institute for Cell Engineering seminar with Gabsang Lee, SoM. G-007 Ross.

Mon., Oct. 31, 4 p.m.

“The Nearby Lagrangian Conjecture and Fibered Spectra,” a Topology seminar with Thomas Kragh, MIT. Sponsored by Mathematics. 308 Krieger. HW Mon., Oct. 31, 4:30 p.m.

“Information Transduction Capacity of Noisy Biochemical Signaling Networks,” an Institute for Computational Medicine seminar with Andre Levchenko, WSE. Hackerman Auditorium. HW Tues., Nov. 1, noon.

Tues., Nov. 1, 3 p.m. The M. Gordon Wolman Seminar—“The Next Generation of Drinking Water Disinfection By-Products: Occurrence, Formation and Toxicity,” with Susan Richardson, Environmental Protection Agency. 234 Ames. HW Tues.,

Nov.

4:30

p.m.

“Detecting Deceptive Online Reviews,” a Center for Language and Speech Processing seminar with Claire Cardie, Cornell University. B17 Hackerman. HW “Tropical Hyperelliptic Curves,” an Algebraic Geometry/Number Theory seminar with Melody Chan, University of California, Berkeley. Sponsored by Mathematics. 302 Krieger. HW

Tues., Nov. 1, 4:30 p.m.

“Evaluating Interventions to Reduce

Health Care Disparities in the Era of Comparative Effectiveness Research,” a Center for Clinical Trials seminar with Lisa Cooper, SPH. W2030 SPH. EB

“Biblical Justice,” a Humanities seminar with Regina Schwartz, Northwestern University. 208 Gilman. HW

Wed., Nov. 2, 10 a.m.

Wed., Nov. 2, 12:15 p.m. The Mental Health Noon Seminar— “Culture and Its Influence on the Epidemiology of Common Mental Disorders and on Constructs of Mental Health” with Derrick Silove and Susan Rees, both of the University of New South Wales, Australia (in collaboration with the Behavioral Health International Student Group). B14B Hampton House. EB Wed., Nov. 2, 4 p.m. “Antibiotic

Resistance: Origins, Mechanisms and Inhibition,” a Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences seminar with Gerry Wright, McMaster University. West Lecture Hall (ground floor), WBSB. EB “eBird: Statistical Models for Online Crowdsourced Bird Data,” a Biostatistics seminar with Daniel Fink, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. W2030 SPH. EB

Wed., Nov. 2, 4 p.m.

Wed., Nov. 2, 6:30 p.m. Tropical Medicine Dinner Club of Baltimore—“Dengue Vaccine Development: How Close Are We?” with Anna Durbin, SPH. $20 for members for the seminar and buffet, $25 for non-members, $15 for residents and fellows and $10 for students. Johns Hopkins Club. HW Thurs., Nov. 3, 11 a.m. “Protein Biomarker Discovery Driven by Perturbed Cellular Networks,” a Pathology seminar with Ruedi Aebersold, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology. Owens Auditorium, CRB. EB

Wed., Nov. 2, 8:30 a.m.

Thurs.,

Nov.

noon.

The

Bromery Seminar—“Forecasting Fire Activity in Amazonia Using Sea Surface Temperatures” with Douglas Morton, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Sponsored by Earth and Planetary Sciences. Olin Auditorium. HW Advocacy and Action: Local, State, Regional and National Perspectives, the Health Policy and Management Fall Policy Seminar Series—This week, James Corless, director, Transportation for America. The seminar includes a Q&A session and discussion. B14B Hampton House. EB

Thurs., Nov. 3, noon.

“Probabilistic Models of Sensorimotor Control and Decision Making,” a Neuroscience research seminar with Daniel Wolpert, University of Cambridge. West Lecture Hall (ground floor), WBSB. EB Thurs., Nov. 3, 1 p.m.

Thurs.,

Nov.

1:30

p.m.

“Banded Estimation and Prediction for Linear Time Series,” an Applied Mathematics and Statistics seminar with Yulia Gel, University of Waterloo. 304 Whitehead. HW T h u r s . , N o v. 3 , 3 p . m . “Multiscale Mechanical Models of Native and Bioengineered Tissues,” a Mechanical Engineering seminar with Victor Barocas, University of Minnesota. 210 Hodson. HW Thurs., Nov. 3, 4 to 6 p.m., and Fri., Nov. 4, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Futures Seminar—The

Program in Latin American Studies, with Paul Gootenberg, SUNY at Stony Brook; Edmund Gordon, University of Texas at Austin; and Eric Hershberg, American University. Mason Hall Auditorium (Thursday) and Charles Commons (Friday). HW “Using Transport Timescales to Interpret Estuarine Eutrophication of the Chesapeake Bay,” a CEAFM

Fri., Nov. 4, 11 a.m.

policy, SAIS; David M. Lampton, dean of faculty, the George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies and director of the China Studies Program, SAIS; Peter Lewis, associate professor and director of the African Studies Program, SAIS; Tobie Meyer-Fong, associate professor and director of graduate studies in History, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences; Thomas Quinn, professor of medicine, pathology, international health, epidemiology, and molecular microbiology and immunology, and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health, schools of Medicine and Public Health; Dorothy Sobol, senior adjunct professor of international economics and emerging markets, SAIS; and Philip Tang (staff to the committee), senior adviser to the provost.

seminar with Jian Shen, Virginia Institute of Marine Science. 50 Gilman. HW Fri., Nov. 4, noon. “The Modern World-System as Intellectual Discovery and Adventure,” a Sociology seminar with Immanuel Wallerstein, Yale University. 526 Mergenthaler. HW Mon., Nov. 7, noon. “Chromosome 5 and 7 Abnormalities in Oncology Personnel Handling Anti-Cancer Drugs,” a Johns Hopkins Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health seminar with Melissa McDiarmid, University of Maryland School of Medicine. Lunch provided. W2030 SPH. EB Mon., Nov. 7, noon. “Chalk It Up to Biophysics,” a Biophysics seminar with Jon Lorsch, SoM. 111 Mergenthaler. HW

“Heme Trafficking From the Ground Up,” a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology seminar with Iqbal Hamza, University of Maryland. W1020 SPH. EB

Mon., Nov. 7, noon.

Mon., Nov. 7, 12:15 p.m. “Noncoding RNAs: With a Viral Twist,” a Carnegie Institution Embryology seminar with Joan Steitz, Yale University. Rose Auditorium, 3520 San Martin Drive. HW Mon., Nov. 7, 4 p.m. Hopkins Medicine Distinguished Speaker Series—“Viral Reaction: Emergent Disease in an Increasingly Connected Society—Implications for Science, Medicine and Policy” with Anthony Fauci, director, NIAID. West Lecture Hall, Armstrong Medical Education Bldg. EB

“Resolvent Estimates in Trapping Geometries,” an Analysis seminar with Jared Wunsch, Northwestern University. Sponsored by Mathematics. 300 Krieger. HW

Mon., Nov. 7, 4 p.m.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Thurs., Nov. 3, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Town Hall Meeting about planning the new community garden on the JHU at Eastern campus, a chance for Homewood faculty, staff and students and other local residents

to provide input in the creation of this new community space. (See story, p. 1.) Attendees can sign up for garden plots, participate in a naming contest and offer ideas for making the garden a fun and enriching space. For more information email jhucommgarden@ gmail.com. 1st floor, JHU@Eastern. W OR K S H O P S Tues., Nov. 1, 1:30 p.m. “Testing and Grading,” an Eyes on Teaching workshop open to all grad students, postdoctoral fellows, lecturers and faculty in KSAS or WSE. To register, go to www.cer .jhu.edu/events.html. Sponsored by the Center for Educational Resources. Garrett Room, MSE Library. HW Thurs., Nov. 3, 1 p.m. “Universal Design—How Accommodating Disabilities Improves Learning for All,” a Bits & Bytes workshop. The training is open to full-time Homewood faculty, lecturers and TAs; staff are also welcome to attend. Registration is strongly encouraged; go to www.cer.jhu .edu/events.html. Sponsored by the Center for Educational Resources. Garrett Room, MSE Library. HW Fri., Nov. 4, 12:30 p.m. “Job Search Strategies for International Students,” a SAIS Office of Career Services workshop. (The event is open to SAIS students only.) To RSVP, go to SAISWorks. 507 Nitze Bldg. SAIS

The Program for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality presents the second in its Material Emotionality workshop series. HW

Fri., Nov. 4, 2 to 6 p.m.

• “Situated Sublimations: Art and Psychic Displacement in a Mexican City” with Karen Rodriguez, University of Guanajuato, Mexico. 132 Gilman. • “Listening: Kinesthetic Aware ness in Contemporary Dance” with Gabrielle Brandstetter, Free University of Berlin. Cosponsored by German and Romance Languages and Literatures. 388 Gilman. • “Seeing Ecstasy: Kleitsts Theatre,” with Katrin Pahl, KSAS. 132 Gilman.

October 31, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

Researchers try correcting sickle cell disease with stem cells B y V a n e ss a M c M a i n s

Johns Hopkins Medicine

sing a patient’s own stem cells, researchers at Johns Hopkins have corrected the genetic alteration that causes sickle cell disease, a painful, disabling inherited blood disorder that affects mostly African-Americans. The corrected stem cells were coaxed into immature red blood cells in a test tube that then turned on a normal version of the gene. The research team cautions that the work, done only in the laboratory, is years away from clinical use in patients but should pro-

Related websites Linzhao Cheng:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ institute_cell_engineering/experts/ linzhao_cheng.html www.stemcelllab.org/Cheng_ Laboratory/Main.html Institute for Cell Engineering:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ institute_cell_engineering vide tools for developing gene therapies for sickle cell disease, or SCD, and a variety of other blood disorders. In an article published online Aug. 31 in Blood, the researchers say that they are one step closer to developing a feasible cure or long-term treatment option for patients with SCD, which is caused by a single DNA letter change in the gene for adult hemoglobin, the principal protein in red blood cells needed to carry oxygen. In people who inherit two copies of the genetic alteration—one from each parent—the red blood

IV to pills Continued from page 1 of U.S. health care expenditures in 2009— $293.2 billion—were for medications and nondurable medical products. Lau said that a large-scale switch to oral medications has the potential not only to decrease costs but also to reduce the need for puncturing veins to insert intravenous tubes or medications directly, procedures that carry a higher risk of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections and longer hospital stays. Simple reminders to physicians that their patients may be eligible to switch medication types could yield large savings, the researchers said. The four medications reviewed in the study were chlorothiazide, used to treat high blood pressure and address fluid retention; voriconazole, an anti-fungal drug; levetiPS-2011 JHU Gazette 10-3.qxd

cells are sickle-shaped rather than round. The misshapen red blood cells clog blood vessels, leading to pain, fatigue, infections, organ damage and premature death. Although there are drugs and painkillers that control SCD symptoms, the only known cure—achieved rarely—has been bone marrow transplant. But because the vast majority of SCD patients are African-American and few African-Americans have registered in the bone marrow registry, it has been difficult to find compatible donors, says Linzhao Cheng, a professor of medicine and associate director for basic research in the Division of Hematology in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and also a member of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering. “We’re now one step closer to developing a combination cell and gene therapy method that will allow us to use patients’ own cells to treat them.” Using one adult patient at The Johns Hopkins Hospital as their first case, the researchers isolated the patient’s bone marrow cells. Then, after generating induced pluripotent stem, or iPS, cells—adult cells that have been reprogrammed to behave like embryonic stem cells—from the bone marrow cells, they put one normal copy of the hemoglobin gene in place of the defective one using genetic engineering techniques. The researchers sequenced the DNA from 300 different samples of iPS cells to identify those that contained correct copies of the hemoglobin gene and found four. Three of these iPS cell lines didn’t pass muster in subsequent tests. “The beauty of iPS cells is that we can grow a lot of them and then coax them into becoming cells of any kind, including red blood cells,” Cheng said. In its process, his team converted the corrected iPS cells into immature red blood cells by giving them growth factors. Further testing showed that the normal hemoglobin gene was turned on properly in these cells,

although at less than half of normal levels. “We think these immature red blood cells still behave like embryonic cells and, as a result, are unable to turn on high enough levels of the adult hemoglobin gene,” Cheng said. “We next have to learn how to properly convert these cells into mature red blood cells.” The Food and Drug Administration has approved only one drug treatment for SCD, hydroxyurea, whose use was pioneered by George Dover, chief of Pediatrics at the

he Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum is celebrating Halloween by unveiling a recently conserved 2,000-year-old Roman curse tablet, which spells out an anonymous plea for the grisly demise of a slave named Plotius. It is one of five tablets that have been part of the university’s collection since 1908, when graduate student William Sherwood Fox began the painstaking process of studying and deciphering the lead tablets. Plotius’ curse “was found rolled together with four others and pierced through by an iron nail,” according to Elisabeth Schwinge, a graduate student in the interdepartmental program in Classical Art and Archaeology, which is based in the Krieger School’s Classics Department. “The Latin name for a curse is defixio, which means ‘to pin down.’” The individual tablets are stand-ins for the cursed people, with

the nail symbolizing their pinning down, Schwinge said. No one knows what Plotius did to invite someone to implore the gods to summon “the triple-headed hound to snatch away [his] heart,” or to plague him with fevers so intense that they “overcome him to the point where they snatch away his soul.” And no one knows who placed the curse on poor Plotius; while the cursed person had to be identified very carefully, the identity of the person placing the curse was just as carefully concealed out of fear of retribution. But Plotius’ curse is now visible, in part due to the recent conservation work of the tablet by Sanchita Balachandran, the museum’s curator and conservator. Schwinge and Balachandran will be offering their insight into the Plotius tablet during two short talks starting at 12:15 p.m. today, Oct. 31, in the museum, which is in Room 150 of Homewood’s Gilman Hall. The curse will also be on view for the remainder of the semester. For a sneak peak at the tablet, go to the museum’s website at tinyurl.com/6x9arbx.

racetam, to stop seizures; and pantoprazole, for acid reflux. By combing Johns Hopkins’ computerized provider order entry system, the researchers examined whether patients receiving these drugs intravenously also were prescribed oral medications or if they were being fed solid meals, another indication that they would likely be able to swallow pills. In 2010, 10,905 doses of the four medications were given intravenously to patients admitted through the Department of Medicine. Lau said that the drugs are given even more frequently in surgery patients. The team compared those results with the cost of the various medications. For example, the wholesale cost of a 5-milligram tablet of chlorothiazide is $1.48; an equivalent dose of the drug given intravenously is $357.24, more than 200 times as much. Pantoprazole, the most commonly administered medication in the study, is $4.09 per 40-milligram tablet, while a 40-milligram vial is $144. That medication is often given to patients several times a day. The potential

cost savings per patient for the acid reflux medication would be $680.98, the researchers found. The researchers noted that not all patients are able to switch from the intravenous to the oral form of a drug. Diet orders may change, Lau said, or a physician may have a reason for not switching a particular patient to an oral medication. But even a small increase in the conversion of patients from IV to oral medication would have a substantial financial impact due to the considerable difference in costs between the two forms. Although this research looked at only the wholesale costs of the drugs, Lau said that other costs associated with giving medication by IV could be reduced if fewer drugs were administered that way. The researchers chose these four drugs to study because the oral and IV forms are similar, but many other drugs potentially could also be swapped out for an even greater cost savings. To implement the swaps, Lau said, hospi-

tals with computerized medication systems could add alerts to their programs that would appear when a patient on an IV medication meets eligibility criteria for oral medication intake. Lau cautioned, however, that doctors are already bombarded with reminders, and it might be best to start with drugs with the highest savings per dose, such as levetiracetam and chlorothiazide. “There is a danger in overreminding,” Lau said. “Constant reminders may annoy doctors to the point where they stop paying attention. We need to study the best way to get doctors to switch from IV to oral medications.” Education, he said, is another avenue. Teaching doctors that oral medication is a cheaper alternative to IV may encourage them to make the switch without subjecting them to regular, potentially irritating reminders. Other Johns Hopkins researchers involved in the study are Brian L. Pinto, David R. Thiemann and Christoph U. Lehmann. G

10/3/11

6:22 PM

Page 1

Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Outside of bone marrow transplants, frequent blood transfusions and narcotics can control acute episodes. The research was funded by grants from the Maryland Stem Cell Fund and the National Institutes of Health, and by a fellowship from the Siebel Foundation. Authors on the paper are Jizhong Zou, Xiaosong Huang, Sarah Dowey, Prashant Mali and Cheng, all of Johns Hopkins.

Unveiling an ancient Roman curse to celebrate Halloween B y A m y L u n d ay

Homewood

An Army intelligence officer in Afghanistan A geologist in Chile A banker in Budapest A professor at Oxford A biotech business owner in Sweden A Park education takes you places.

Tours with Principals November 4, December 9

8:45 to 10:30 a.m. Parents only Reservations required, 410-339-4130 or admission@parkschool.net

PARK Learn to think 2425 Old Court Road, Baltimore, MD 21208 410-339-4130 • www.parkschool.net

10 31,2011 2011 10 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• October August 15, H U M A N

R E S O U R C E S

B U L L E T I N

Notices

Hot Jobs

Minority Global Health Disparities Research Program — Students in the

Listed below are some of the university’s newest openings for indemand jobs that we most urgently need to fill. In addition to considering these opportunities, candidates are invited to search a complete listing of openings and apply for positions online at jobs.jhu.edu.

Homewood Office of Human Resources Wyman Park Building, Suite W600 410-516-7196

Advanced Academic Programs

Fiduciary Services Specialist Senior Research Analyst

School of Medicine Office of Human Resources 98 N. Broadway, Suite 300 410-955-2990 Are you a mid-level care provider looking for a great employment opportunity? The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, which is committed to both superb patient care and cutting-edge research, has several vacancies for applicants who strive to provide state-of-the-art patient care of the highest quality and compassion. For a detailed job description and to apply, go to jobs.jhu.edu. 48971 48972 48973

Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant

Schools of Public Health and Nursing Office of Human Resources 2021 E. Monument St. 410-955-3006 The Bloomberg School of Public Health is seeking skilled applicants for several administrative coordinator positions. We are looking for individuals who posses good computer, organizational and communication skills. For a detailed job description and to apply, go to jobs.jhu.edu. 50132 49663 50157

Senior Administrative Coordinator Administrative Coordinator Administrative Coordinator

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

professionals in the field of biotechnology enterprise and entrepreneurship to fully commercialize the vast number of products from the research-heavy industry. Graduates will have the knowledge to comply with federal and state regulatory statutes for the development, approval and commercialization of drugs, biologics, foods and medical devices. The MBEE leverages the best enterprise and regulatory components of the existing graduate programs in the Johns Hopkins Center for Biotechnology Education. The degree allows working professionals, who need weekend, evening and online courses, to fit their educational ambitions into their professional careers. This degree will be offered online, at the Montgomery County Campus and at the Homewood campus. The biotechnology enterprise and entrepreneurship degree consists of 10 graduate courses, including a final practicum course to gain real-world experience. Although not required, students may choose a concentration in legal/regulatory or marketing and communications and must complete three courses in that concentration area. For more about the MBEE degree, go to advanced.jhu.edu/academic/biotechnology/ m-in-bee/index.htm.

Fewer Canadian drivers alcoholimpaired in U.S. fatal car crashes Bloomberg School of Public Health

Woodcliffe Manor Apartments

S PA C I O U S

he Johns Hopkins University is now accepting applications for the Master’s in Biotechnology Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, or MBEE, a unique graduate degree launching in spring 2012 that is grounded in the life sciences but intended for biotechnology professionals working outside the research setting to commercialize biotechnology products. The degree will be offered by Advanced Academic Programs in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. “This highly targeted, applied professional degree will develop students capable of working in mid- to senior-level positions who understand science and who are also skilled in the complexities of biotechnology commercialization,” said Lynn Johnson Langer, director of Johns Hopkins’ Biotechnology Enterprise and Regulatory Affairs programs. “We’re looking to prepare the next generation of life science professionals by bringing together a strong science foundation with biotechnology enterprise and entrepreneurship.” Biotechnology companies need trained

By Alicia Samuels

Johns Hopkins University is an equal opportunity employer and 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, other legally protected characteristics or any other occupationally irrelevant criteria.

One student from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences will be chosen to participate. An application and two recommendation letters must be turned in to Lisa Jia, 237 Mergenthaler Hall, no later than Tuesday, Nov. 15. Additional information on research locations and application materials is available in 237 Mergenthaler Hall and online at www.krieger.jhu.edu/research/globalhealth .html.

Master’s in biotech enterprise and entrepreneurship launches B y K at e P a l l a n t

Critical postings within our Homewood Division include the following two positions; applications are being accepted for these immediate opportunities. For a more detailed job description and to apply, go to jobs.jhu.edu. 49902 49667

Krieger School of Arts and Sciences are invited to apply for the Minority Global Health Disparities Research Program, known as MHIRT, a summer internship for up to three months (from June to August).

B O A R D

new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy and at Columbia University finds that the rate of alcohol involvement in fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States is much lower among drivers with Canadian licenses than among drivers with U.S. or Mexican licenses. The prevalence of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes was 27 percent for both U.S. and Mexican drivers, and 11 percent for Canadian drivers. Similarly, alcohol impairment was found in 23 percent of U.S. and Mexican drivers and 8 percent of Canadian drivers involved in a fatal crash. Research from other countries finds that foreign drivers are at greater risk of crashes than native drivers. In contrast, this study shows that drivers licensed in Mexico and Canada who were involved in fatal crashes in the United States had the same or less alcohol impairment than U.S.-licensed drivers. The report is published in the October issue of Injury Prevention and is available on the journal’s website. “Our findings were unexpected, partly because the substantial cultural differences between the U.S. and Mexico led us to anticipate differences in alcohol-related crashes,” said lead study author Susan P. Baker, a professor with the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “We also anticipated that Canadian drivers in U.S. crashes would be similar to U.S. drivers because the rate

of alcohol-related fatal crashes is similar within the two countries.” Together, Mexican and Canadian drivers comprise more than 70 percent of all foreign-licensed drivers involved in fatal crashes in the United States. As a possible explanation, the researchers speculate that the less prominent role of alcohol in fatal crashes of Canadian-licensed drivers in the United States may suggest that a larger proportion of Canadians were traveling on family vacation or business, situations that may be less likely to involve alcohol. Crashes at night, when alcohol is more likely to be involved, were also least common among Canadian-licensed drivers. And finally, it is also possible that Canadians are less likely to drive after drinking. Data for this study came from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration database of fatal traffic crashes. Study subjects were drivers age 16 years or older who were licensed in the United States, Mexico or Canada and involved in a U.S. crash from 1998 to 2008 that resulted in at least one death. Alcohol involvement was defined as having a blood alcohol content of 0.01 g/ dl or greater, and alcohol impairment was defined as having a blood alcohol content of 0.08 g/dl or higher. Additional authors of the study are Joanne E. Brady and Guohua Li, both of Columbia University; and George W. Rebok, of Johns Hopkins. The research was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

October 31, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

Classifieds APARTMENTS/HOUSES FOR RENT

Bolton Hill, 1BR studio apt, huge windows, fp, full kitchen, deck, yd, priv prkng, huge BA has double vanities, sep shower and soaking tub, can be partly furn’d, great for short-term residents, nr metro. $950/mo incl utils. erasmocha@yahoo.com. Deep Creek Lake/Wisp, cozy 2BR cabin w/ full kitchen, call for wkly/wknd rentals. 410638-9417 or jzpics@yahoo.com (for pics). Fells Point, 3BR, 1BA house, 3 stories, office, laundry, shed, storage, walking distance to JHH/shuttle/Carey Business School. $1,100/mo + utils. 410-283-1730 or zaremaz2003@yahoo.com. Mt Vernon, lg bsmt apt, could accommodate 3 people, nr JHMI shuttle. $1,350/mo incl all utils. 425-890-1327 or qinyingtan@ gmail.com. Mt Washington, 3BR, 2.5BA condo, dw, W/D, CAC, lg balcony, garage prkng, lg swimming pool and tennis court, nr I-83/ light rail, avail Nov 1. $1,400/mo + utils. 443-220-2138 or hLhuang@gmail.com. Nottingham/White Marsh, 2BR, 2BA TH w/vaulted ceilings, fp, W/D. $1,200/mo. 240-522-9075 or matenerichards@mris.com. Perry Hall, 1BR apt w/new appls, fresh paint, crpt, laundry rm, on dead-end street (no facing houses for privacy), great for senior living or mature tenant, easy access to 95/695. $1,000/mo. 443-882-5266 or christineepps0@msn.com. Towson, 5BR house w/2.5 BAs, new kitchen, appls, hdwd flrs, next to university. $2,500/mo. 410-236-1504. Towson, 3BR rancher w/double BA, central gas heat and AC, fin’d bsmt, fenced yd, openair garage. 410-821-0058 or hlfreycorp@ yahoo.com.

M A R K E T P L A C E

de-sac location, great school district, perfect for young family. $550,000. 410-531-0321 or www.homesandland.com/Real_Estate/ MD/City/Ellicott_City/listingid/17510859 .html. Fells Point (300 blk S Durham St), 3 stories, just renov’d, big yd, 3 blks to JHH. $175,000. Dorothy, 410-419-3902. Guilford, amazing, fully renov’d 3BR, 3BA architect-designed condo, 2,900 sq ft (incl huge terrace), gourmet kitchen, living rm, dining rm, family rm, 2 prkng spaces, located at JHU shuttle stop, 5-min walk to Homewood campus. 410-366-8507 or jz1234@ earthlink.net. Owings Mills New Town, 2BR condo, nr metro, ready for immediate sale. www.4409silverbrook.info. Rosedale, 4BR house in quiet neighborhood, 2 full BAs, all appls, off-street prkng, movein cond at an affordable price. $199,900. Don, 410-499-2139. Timonium/Lutherville, 4BR, 2.5BA house, 5 fin’d levels, fp, hdwd flrs, nr I-83, easy access to all Hopkins campuses. $420,000. Val, 443-994-8938.

ROOMMATES WANTED

Share furn’d Fells Point house (N Collington Ave), w/2 F SPH students, new W/D, lg, renov’d kitchen, BR is well lit w/new blinds and crpt, access to rooftop deck w/garden, nr waterfront/JHMI/downtown by public transportation, possibility to renew lease. $600/ mo + utils. Jordan, 303-257-2929. F prof’l/grad student wanted to share 3BR, 1.5BA TH in Middle River, fp, walk-in closet, off bus line and train station. $600/mo incl utils, cable, Internet. marquitah2001@ yahoo.com.

2BR, 1BA RH in NE Balto, nr Good Sam/ Morgan, CAC/heat. $1,000/mo. 917-5536461.

F grad or staff wanted to share furn’d 3BR, 2BA house, short-term OK, avail mid-Dec. $550/mo incl utils + sec dep. skbzok@ verizon.net.

Sublet 1BR apt, Nov 19–30, quiet neighborhood, 15-min walk to Penn Station. $25/day all-inclusive. 573-529-4358 (eve) or qhgb253@gmail.com.

Share all new refurbished TH w/medical students, 4BRs, 2 full BAs, CAC, W/D, dw, w/w crpt, 1-min walk to JHMI, 924 N Broadway. gretrieval@aol.com.

3BR, 3.5BA house 6 blks south of JHH, 2-car garage. jodyseshadri@yahoo.com.

M nonsmoker wanted for 2BR, 3BA TH, 2 blks to the JHMI campus, prking provided, no pets. $700/mo. maimon.hubbi@gmail .com.

2907 St Paul St, newly renov’d 1BR apt, 1st flr, hdwd flrs, new cabinets, safe and quiet neighborhood. $900/mo incl heat, water. murilo_silvia@hotmail.com.

HOUSES FOR SALE

Catonsville, fully renov’d 3BR, 2BA RH, hdwd flrs throughout, new windows, movein ready, affordable. $149,900. 443-8516414 or panfile@gmail.com. Ellicott City, 4BR, 2BA+ colonial, quiet cul-

CARS FOR SALE

’89 Chevy 3/4 or 1-ton pickup truck, 4x4, rebuilt motor, new tires. $2,600. John, 443750-7750.

ITEMS FOR SALE

Oak entertainment center, $500; 1967 Wurlitzer Americana jukebox w/100+ 45 records; baby swing, like new, $55; Fender acoustic guitar, $200; best offers accepted. Chris, 443-326-7717.

Free classical guitar concert, 3pm, Sunday, Nov 6, at St Thomas Aquinas, 37th and Roland Ave in Hampden.

New exterior French doors, music cassette tapes, fitness chair, 21" TV, 35mm cameras, silk flowers and vase, Asian decor pillows, office file units, men’s travel bag, dining rm set, full-length silver fox coat, BlackBerry Bold accessories, other misc items. 443-8242198 or saleschick2011@hotmail.com. Sand beach chairs (2), inkjet printer, oilfilled heaters (3) and baseboard heaters (2), portable canvas chair, keyboard case, 100W amplifier. 410-455-5858 or iricse .its@verizon.net. Round wood kitchen table w/4 chairs, $175/ best offer; twin bed w/metal frame, mattress, boxspring, sheets incl’d, $110; KidCo Configure safety gate w/2 fence and 1 gate sections, $60; buyer must pick up. 202-360-8468.

boston street | baltimore 410.534.3287 | langermanns.com

Shown by appointment 410.764.7776 www.BrooksManagementCompany.com

Clean up for winter, pet-friendly and reliable cleaning service, one time or wkly service, special rates. 443-528-3637. Transmission repairs, rebuilt or used, free estimate, 20% discount for all JHU employees, faculty, staff and students. 410-5748822. Clarinet and piano lessons offered by Peabody master’s student. 240-994-6489 or hughsonjennifer@gmail.com.

Conn trombone, nice horn, $175; Yamaha Yas23 alto sax, like new, $775. Suzette, 443912-8055.

Piano lessons, patient instruction from experienced teacher w/Peabody doctorate. 410-662-7951.

Floor lamps (2), $10; plastic storage boxes (3), $5; wireless router, Belkin model F6D4230-4, v2, $20; bookshelf (free). Roy, 303-332-6418.

Matlab tutor avail (GUI, image processing, engineering), flexible schedule, rate varies case by case but low rate guaranteed. qhgb253@gmail.com.

Basic treadmill, Tivo box, wireless router, Queen Anne coffee table. $20/ea. wreisig4@ comcast.net.

Chinese tutor available for students interested in learning the language. 443-956-4255.

Belkin Surf N300 wireless and wired router, all parts incl’d (but not orig box), $30; copy of Introductory Quantum Mechanics, 4th edition, by Liboff, hardcover, covers, binding and pages nearly flawless, $80. 201669-0967. Conn alto saxophone, in excel cond. 410488-1886. Dark wood entertainment center, 68"H x 50"W x 17"D, $150; 4-drawer locking lateral file, 53"H x 42"W x 19.5"D, in great shape, $400. 443-690-7706 or jozsa@ quixnet.net.

Masterpiece Landscaping: knowledgeable, experienced individual, on-site consultation, transplanting, bed preparation, installation, sm tree and shrub shaping; licensed. Terry, 410-652-3446. Tutor for all subjects/levels; remedial and gifted; also help w/college counseling, speech and essay writing, editing, proofreading. 410-337-9877 (after 8pm) or i1__@ hotmail.com. Affordable and professional landscaper/certified horticulturist available to maintain existing gardens, also designing, planting or masonry; free consultations. David, 410683-7373 or grogan.family@hotmail.com. Friday Night Swing Dance Club, open to public, great bands, no partners necessary. 410-663-0010 or www.fridaynightswing.com. Licensed landscaper avail for lawn maintenance, yd cleanup; other services incl trash hauling, fall/winter leaf or snow removal. Taylor Landscaping LLC. 410-812-6090 or romilacapers@comcast.net.

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:

HICKORY HEIGHTS WYMAN COURT Just Renovated! A lovely hilltop setting

2 BD units from $760 w/Balcony - $790!

Certified prof’l career coach avail to provide coaching to students/young prof’ls. 410-375-4042 or mmoLten1@yahoo.com.

Certified nursing asst avail, 17 yrs’ experience w/seniors and nanny care. Linda, 443467-2833.

PT babysitter needed for Mt Washington–area family, must be responsible, excel driver w/own car, take kids to school AM, pick up late afternoon, lt cooking and housekeeping, free time during the day, free rm and board w/pay. 301-412-5588 or helenliucfa@gmail.com.

on Hickory Avenue in Hampden!

Mature but relaxed prof’l looking for a rm, sublet, apt or share in the Charles Village vicinity, beginning Nov 1 (flexible). 347403-2066 or josephmauricio@yahoo.com.

Boy’s toddler clothes, sizes 18 mo to 2T, pants ($2/ea), shirts ($1.50/ea), in excel cond. 443-303-9047.

F prof’l wanted for lg, unfurn’d BR in 3BR home nr Ft Meade, on golf course, gym area w/treadmill and weight system, community swimming pool, tennis court, walking/running trails. $700/mo + 1/3 elec and 1/3 cable + $400 sec dep (terms negotiable). Timisha, 301-887-3066 or timishalp@hotmail.com.

Studios - $595 - $630 1 BD Apts. - $710-740 2 BD from $795

Responsible and loving pet-, baby- or housesitter avail, experienced w/special needs children and cats or dogs, refs avail. 202288-1311 or janyelle.thomas@gmail.com. Horse boarding in Baltimore Co, beautiful trails in Greenspring and Worthington valleys from farm. $500/mo (stall board) and $250/mo (field board). 410-812-6716.

SERVICES/ITEMS OFFERED OR WANTED

Beech Ave. adj. to JHU!

Looking for tutor to teach Dutch, an eager student seeks patient tutor; also want complete Nikon Multiphot macro camera system or parts. jtvriv@hotmail.com.

Beautiful sofa, in excel cond, lg entertainment system, 27" TV; buyer haul all three items. $165. rtr635@gmail.com.

Nonsmoker wanted for rm in new TH, walking distance to JHMI, no pets. 301-7174217 or jiez@jayzhang.com.

Quiet prof’l wanted for BR in TH 10 mins from Homewood, walk to MTA #11 bus, must be quiet, very clean, nonsmoker, love dogs, credit and background check req’d. $500/month-to-month incl cable, WiFi, heat/H20. jennyedd@gmail.com.

In the restaurant or in the boardroom let Chef Langermann handle the details.

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12 THE GAZETTE • October 31, 2011 O C T .

3 1

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N O V .

Calendar

Xuetong, Tsinghua University, China. To RSVP, call 202-6635816 or email zji@jhu.edu. Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg. SAIS F I L M / V I D EO

Screening of Eric Rohmer’s The Marquise of O, sponsored by Women, Gender and Sexuality in conjunction with its workshop series, Material Emotionality. (See “Workshops,” p. 8.) 113 Greenhouse. HW

Wed., Nov. 2, 7 p.m.

Mon., Oct. 31, and Tues., Nov. 1, daylong. The Lavy Colloqui-

um—“Jews and Empire,” with various speakers. Sponsored by the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Jewish Studies Program. Smokler Center for Jewish Life (Hillel). “Televising the Live Event: Spectacle and Doubt in the Making of Indian Television News,” an Anthropology colloquium with Amrita Ibrahim. 404 Macaulay. HW 3:30

DISCUSSIONS/ TALKS

“The Birth of the First Republic in Asia,” a SAIS China Studies Program discussion with Mi Chu and July Lu, both of the Library of Congress. To RSVP, call 202-663-5816 or email zji@jhu.edu. 806 Rome Bldg. SAIS

Mon., Oct. 31, noon.

Tues., Nov. 1, 4:30 p.m. “How to End the Stalemate in Somalia,” a SAIS African Studies Program discussion with J. Peter Pham and Bronwyn Bruton, both of the Ansari Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. For more information, call 202-663-5676 or email itolber1@jhu.edu. 500 Bernstein-Offit Bldg. SAIS

“SelfDestruct: Why Economic Paradigms Rise and Fall,” a SAIS European Studies Program discussion with Mitchell Orenstein, SAIS. For more information, call 202-663-5796 or email atobin1@ jhu.edu. 806 Rome Bldg. SAIS

Tues., Nov. 1, 5 p.m.

Peabody Opera Potpourri. Free, but advance tickets required; call 410-234-4800. Friedberg Hall.

“Thinking About Contracts: The Merchant of Venice,” a Humanities lecture by Regina Schwartz, Northwestern University. 208 Gilman. HW

Peabody

O P E N H OU S E S Wed., Nov. 2, 3 to 6 p.m. JHU Center for Social Concern Open House, a chance to learn about opportunities for getting involved in the community; enjoy cider, pumpkin cake and appetizers; and receive CSC sunglasses. 3103 N. Charles St. (behind the red door). HW

Tues., Nov. 1, 4 p.m.

“Electroweak Physics in Molecules,” a Physics and Astronomy colloquium with David DeMille, Yale University. Schafler Auditorium, Bloomberg Center. HW

Society: A New Approach to Participation in Combating Trafficking, a SAIS Protection Project conference with a keynote address, “The Role Business Can Play to End Trafficking in Persons” by BeatheJeanette Lunde, Carlson Hotels. To RSVP, call 202-663-5896 or ieLgiba1@jhu.edu. Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg. SAIS

p.m.

Mon., Oct. 31, 5:15 p.m.

Thurs., Nov. 3, 3 p.m.

Mon., Nov. 7, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Five Elements of Civil

4:15

“Kafka’s Labyrinth,” a German and Romance Languages and Literatures seminar with Bettine Menke, University of Erfurt. 479 Gilman.

p.m.

C O N FERE N C E S

L E C T URE S

“Detecting Gravitational Waves (And Doing Other Cool Physics) With Millisecond Pulsars,” an STSci colloquium with Scott Ransom, National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Bahcall Auditorium, Muller Bldg. HW

The Max M. Fisher Lecture—“After the Crisis, the Compromise: The Politics of Economic Adjustment” by SAIS’ Matthias Matthjis, recipient of the 2011 Max M. Fisher Prize for Excellence in Teaching. To RSVP, call 202-663-5636 or email saisevents@jhu.edu. Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg. SAIS

Tues., Nov. 1, 6:30 p.m. KATE ASTLEY

Fri., Nov. 4, 4 p.m. “Instrumentalism Revisited,” a Philosophy colloquium with Arthur Fine, University of Washington, Seattle. 288 Gilman. HW

Nov.

Screening of Enemies of the People: A Personal Journey Into the Heart of the Killing Fields, sponsored by the SAIS Southeast Asia Studies Program. To RSVP, email seasia@ jhu.edu. Rome Auditorium. SAIS

Tues., Nov. 1, 4 p.m.

MUSIC Mon., Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m.

Thurs.,

Nov.

The 2011 Turnbull Lecture presents Irish literary critic and cultural commentator Edna Longley. (See photo, this page.) Sponsored by the Writing Seminars. Mudd Auditorium. HW

Mon., Nov. 7, 6:30 p.m.

COLLOQUIA

Wed.,

Millard, University of Liverpool. Sponsored by Near Eastern Studies. 50 Gilman. HW

Edna Longley, an Irish literary critic and cultural commentator specializing in modern Irish and British poetry, will give the Percy Graeme Turnbull Memorial Lecture this week. Born in Cork in 1940, Longley studied in the 1960s at Trinity College Dublin, where her contemporaries included the poets Michael Longley, Derek Mahon and Eavan Boland. She taught for many years in the School of English at Queen’s University, Belfast, where she is now professor emerita. She has written on W.B. Yeats, Louis MacNeice, Edward Thomas and the Great War poets. Her criticism of Northern Irish poetry is contained in ‘Poetry in the Wars’ (1986), ‘The Living Stream’ (1994) and ‘Poetry and Posterity’ (2000). The Turnbull Lecture series, which began in 1891, has brought to Homewood some of the most distinguished voices in poetry and criticism, including Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, W.H. Auden, Charles Eliot Norton, R.P. Blackmur, Northrop Frye, W.S. Merwin and Harold Bloom. See Lectures.

Wed., Nov. 2, noon. “Equity and Empowerment,” an International Health panel discussion with Alfred Sommer (dean emeritus), SPH; Asha George, SPH; Cesar Victora, Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil, and SPH; Daniel Taylor, Future Generations Graduate School of Applied Social Change and SPH; and moderator Robert Black, SPH. The event takes place in conjunction with the release of Daniel Taylor’s new book, Empowerment on an Unstable Planet: From Seeds of Human Energy to a Scale of Global Change. A book signing reception will take place in the courtyard next to Sheldon Hall following the panel discussion. W1214 SPH. EB

“Revolutions and Transformations,” a Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at SAIS discussion with Temuri Yakobashvili, Georgian ambassador to the United States. To RSVP, call 202-663-7721 or email saiscaciforums@jhu.edu. Rome Auditorium. SAIS

Wed., Nov. 2, 5:30 p.m.

“A Magician’s Perspective,” a U.S.-Korea

Thurs., Nov. 3, 7 p.m.

Institute at SAIS discussion with Dale Salwak, Citrus College, the only American magician invited to perform in North Korea. To RSVP, go to uskoreainstitute.org/ events/?event_id=89. Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg. SAIS Fri.,

Nov.

12:30

p.m.

“Energy and Security in South Asia: Cooperation or Conflict?” a SAIS Energy, Resources and Environment Program discussion with Charles Ebinger, Brookings Institution To RSVP, email eregloballeadersforum@jhu.edu. 806 Rome Bldg. SAIS Mon.,

Nov.

4:30

p.m.

“Tunisians and Their Hopes for Democracy: Toward Democracy,” a SAIS Conflict Management Program discussion with Hatem Bourial, Tunisian TV personality and author. Co-sponsored by the American Tunisian Association. To RSVP, email itlong@jhu.edu. 500 Bernstein-Offit Bldg. SAIS “Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power,” a SAIS China Studies Program discussion with Yan

Tues., Nov. 1, 8 p.m. “Here There Be Monsters,” a Space Telescope Science Institute public lecture by Nolan Walborn, STSci. Bahcall Auditorium, Muller Bldg. HW

The Asher Achinstein Inaugural Lecture in Philosophy of Science— “Explanation and Scientific Progress” by Arthur Fine, University of Washington, Seattle. Sponsored by the Center for History and Philosophy of Science. 132 Gilman. HW

Wed., Nov. 2, 4:15 p.m.

“The Middle East Upheavals and Israel’s National Security,” a Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Jewish Studies Program lecture by Efraim Inbar, Bar-Ilan University. Smokler Center for Jewish Life (Hillel). HW

Wed., Nov. 2, 8 p.m.

The Annual Sidney W. Mintz Lecture— “Mixed Blessings and Sorrowful Mysteries” by Stephan Palmie, University of Chicago. Sponsored by Anthropology. Mason Hall Auditorium. HW Wed., Nov. 2, 8 p.m.

Fri., Nov. 4, 4 p.m. The 2011 Kenneth O. Johnson Memorial Lecture—“How Does the Brain Solve Visual Object Recognition?” by James DiCarlo, MIT. Sponsored by the Krieger Mind/ Brain Institute and Biomedical Engineering. Mason Hall Auditorium. HW

Mon., Nov. 7, 5 p.m.

Mon., Nov. 7, 5:30 p.m. The 2011 Samuel Iwry Lecture— “Books in Ancient Israel” by Alan

S E M I N AR S

“Protein NMR via Fuzzy Pictures,” a Biophysics seminar with Miguel Llinas, Carnegie Mellon University. 111 Mergenthaler. HW

Mon., Oct. 31, noon.

“Race, Self-Selection and the Job Search Process,” a Sociology seminar with Devah Pager, Princeton University. 526 Mergenthaler.

Mon., Oct. 31, noon.

HW Mon., Oct. 31, 1 p.m. “Mosquito Immunity to Diverse Pathogens,” an Immunology Training Program seminar with George Dimopoulos, SPH. Tilghman Auditorium, Turner Concourse. EB Mon., Oct. 31, 1:30 p.m. “Optimizing the Quantity/Quality Trade-off in Connectome Inference,” a Biomedical Engineering seminar with Carey Priebe, WSE. 110 Clark. HW (Videoconferenced to 709 Traylor. EB ) Mon., Oct. 31, 4 p.m. “The Honor of American Male Slaves,” a History seminar with Bertram Wyatt-Brown, professor emeritus, University of Florida. 308 Gilman. HW

Continued on page 8

(Events are free and Calendar open to the public Key except where indicated.) APL BRB CRB CSEB

Applied Physics Laboratory Broadway Research Building Cancer Research Building Computational Science and Engineering Building EB East Baltimore HW Homewood JHOC 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