The Gazette

o ur 4 0 th ye ar

A lz h ei mer ’ s r es ea r c h

p h o to f inis h

Covering Homewood, East Baltimore, Peabody,

Existing drug found to improve

Indie filmmaker Matthew

SAIS, APL and other campuses throughout the

brain function in condition that

Porterfield takes top prize with

Baltimore-Washington area and abroad, since 1971.

leads to Alzheimer’s, page 8

his cell-phone photos, page 7

August 1, 2011

The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University

A D M I N I S T R A T I O N

B I G

Focusing on women in medicine

Volume 40 No. 41

I D E A

Finding a fishy solution

By Greg Rienzi

The Gazette

Continued on page 4

2

WILL KIRK / homewoodphoto.jhu.edu

O

n July 1, not much changed in the daily routine of Barbara Fivush. The professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine still had the same office in the David M. Rubenstein Child Health Building, and held the same role as division chief of Pediatric Nephrology. She spent her early morning as always, poring over emails.

Fivush did, however, have something extra in spades—clout.

Earlier last month, Fivush began her role as the school’s associate dean for women in science and medicine, a newly created position Barbara in the Office of the Vice Dean for Faculty.

Fivush takes Previously, Fivush had been director of on newly the Office of Women in Science and Medicine, created role which she helped create in 2008. The office at SoM evolved from the recommendations of the 2005 Committee on Faculty Development and Gender and the increasing need to provide School of Medicine women faculty with mentoring and educational and networking opportunities.

Janice Clements, vice dean for faculty at the School of Medicine, said that the associate dean position would give Fivush a more formal role and greater ability to take action.

“We wanted to make this a permanent, dean-level position, as the needs and issues will not go away,” Clements said. “We’ve made great strides here in terms of gender equity over the past two decades, but there are still issues associated with hiring and promotion, and salary equity. In this new role, Barbara will continue her important efforts to promote and retain our talented women faculty.”

Under Fivush’s leadership, the Office of Women in Science and Medicine has worked to increase the representation of women in leadership roles and on highlevel School of Medicine committees. She has developed several innovative programs, including a leadership program for women faculty, now in its second year. She also initi-

Shelly White plumbs the smaller tanks that will be used for clarifying the fish wastewater and for converting the suspended waste into a slurry to be used for plant food. About 320 tilapia will be housed in the larger tanks behind them.

Microbiologist devises a model for sustainable urban farming

By Greg Rienzi

The Gazette

T

here’s something fishy going on at Baltimore’s Cylburn Arboretum, and the results could be delicious— and sustainable.

Earlier this summer, David Love, a microbiologist and project director with the Center for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, began work on a demonstration

aquaponics farm housed in a greenhouse at Cylburn, a nature preserve located in north-central Baltimore.

Aquaponics, a relatively new and unknown sustainable food production system, is the merger of aquaculture, or fish farming, and hydroponics, soil-less plant Continued on page 7

R E S E A R C H

JHU treatment provides ‘dramatic’ results for hard-to-match kidney transplant patients B y C h r i s t e n B r o wn

lee

Johns Hopkins Medicine

H

ard-to-match kidney transplant candidates who receive a treatment designed to make their bodies more accepting of incompatible organs are twice as likely to survive eight years after transplant surgery as those who stay on dialysis

In B r i e f

Safety programs honored; JHH tops rankings for 21st year; swimmers raising research dollars

12

for years awaiting compatible organs, new Johns Hopkins research finds.

“The results of this study should be a game changer for health care decision-makers, including insurance companies, Medicare and transplant centers,” said Robert A. Montgomery, a professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of the study appearing in the July 28 New England Journal of Medicine.

“There’s a dramatic survival benefit, so people should take note.”

Apart from the scarcity of donor kidneys, the biggest barrier to kidney transplant right now is the percentage (nearly 33 percent) of patients on the waiting list whose immune systems make them likely to reject most kidneys available to them, he says.

CALE N D AR

Endeavour’s astronauts; Blackboard workshops; SOURCE information sessions

Continued on page 9

10 Job Opportunities 10 Notices 11 Classifieds

2 THE GAZETTE • August 1, 2011 I N B R I E F

JHH ranked No. 1 for 21st year in a row by ‘U.S. News’

Center for Computational Genomics

Practical

GENOMICS

From Biology to Biostatistics Workshop: August 8–10, 2011 Attend lectures and hands-on sessions Enhance interdisciplinary knowledge and skills Maintain innovation and relevance in an evolving field Participate in a poster session with prizes Gain exposure to top software and hardware companies

Register at: w w w.genomicsworkshop.jhu.edu Email: genomics@jhu.edu · Call: (410)-614-2166

Printing Services Finds Beauty in the Details We know you care about the details of your work and so should your printer. Printing Services is uniquely prepared to deliver on the

F

or the 21st year in a row, The Johns Hopkins Hospital has taken the top spot in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of American hospitals, placing first in five medical specialties and in the top five in 10 others.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital ranked in the top 10 in 15 of the 16 specialty categories listed. In addition to landing in the No. 1 spot on the Honor Roll, the hospital ranked No. 1 in Neurology and Neurosurgery, Urology, Psychiatry, Rheumatology, and Ear, Nose and Throat; No. 2 in Gynecology and Ophthalmology; No. 3 in Nephrology, Diabetes and Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Geriatrics, Cardiology and Heart Surgery, and Cancer; No. 4 in Pulmonology; No. 5 in Orthopedics; and No. 15 in Rehabilitation.

A detailed list of the rankings and information about how they are put together are available at www.hopkinsmedicine.org/usnews and at www.usnews.com/besthospitals.

Safety programs honored by international police chiefs

P

rograms operated by Homewood Campus Safety and Security Services and by Johns Hopkins Medicine Corporate Security in partnership with the Baltimore City Police Department have been selected by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to receive the Michael Shanahan Award for Excellence in Public/ Private Cooperation.

Johns Hopkins is the first university to win the award, which was created in 2006 to recognize agencies that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in cooperative efforts in public safety.

Homewood was recognized for the Johns Hopkins University Community Safety Program, which comprises the Hopkins Crime Watch Program, a collaboration with the city’s Block Watchers Program that provides extra “eyes and ears” for reporting suspicious activity or crime; and Hopkins Neighborhood Walkers on Patrol, which organizes foot patrols in neighborhoods surrounding the Homewood campus.

On the East Baltimore campus, the award recognizes the Baltimore Police Department/Johns Hopkins Medicine Corporate Security Public Safety, Shared Information and Technology Partnership. Among its many collaborations are Johns Hopkins’ Off-Duty Police Officer Program, which provides enhanced safety and security to the neighborhood; Operation PULSE, a crime prevention program; monthly meetings for exchanging information; participation in

local community development ventures, such as HEBCAC and EBDI; and the sharing of video surveillance systems.

The Michael Shanahan Award for Excellence will be presented at the annual IACP convention being held Oct. 23–26 in Chicago.

Two Homewood seniors named Goldwater Scholars for 2011

T

wo Homewood seniors have been named 2011 Goldwater Scholars, an honor that will provide $7,500 each toward their tuition for the 2011–2012 academic year.

Lichy Han is majoring in biomedical engineering and applied mathematics in the Whiting School of Engineering, and she works in the lab of Larisa Tereshchenko at the School of Medicine. She hopes to one day earn an MD/PhD in biomedical engineering and then conduct research and teach at a major medical research university.

Hannah Joo is majoring in neuroscience in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

Joo works in the lab of Krieger School biologist Samer Hattar and, when she is home on breaks, in the lab of Dennis Dacey at the University of Washington. She hopes to earn a PhD in neuroscience and then conduct research and teach at the university level.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was authorized by Congress in 1986 to honor Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, who served 30 years in the Senate. The purpose of the scholarship is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers to academic study and research.

Swimmers take the plunge for Kimmel Cancer Center

L

ast year’s inaugural Swim Across America Baltimore event was a huge success: More than $450,000 was raised for research at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins—a record in the 23-year history of the organization for a first-time event.

Sunday, Sept. 18, is the date that has been set for the second fundraiser. Participants can choose between the 1- and 3-mile Chesapeake Bay open-water options, which begin at the Waltjen Shedlick Farm near the Gibson Island Yacht Club; or a 1-mile pool swim at the Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center in Baltimore. Events are open to both individual and team participation.

To register to swim, make a donation or volunteer, go to www.swimacrossamerica .org/baltimore.

promise of quality service because we are the in-house resource—an intregal part of the Johns Hopkins community.

Conveniently located in the Wyman Park Building, we produce and deliver thousands of jobs each year for departments and offices across the university.

Printing Services knows printing and duplicating, but even better, we

Editor Lois Perschetz Writer Greg Rienzi

know Johns Hopkins University and just how important your work is.

Production Lynna Bright

Visit http://web.jhu.edu/printingservices to find out how Printing

Copy Editor Ann Stiller

Services can help you, or contact Ann Grattan at aeg@jhu.edu.

Printing Services

Working for the Johns Hopkins community

Photography Homewood Photography A d v e rt i s i n g The Gazelle Group Business Dianne MacLeod C i r c u l at i o n Lynette Floyd Webmaster Lauren Custer

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.

August 1, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

3

A P P O I N T M E N T

SAIS Dean Jessica Einhorn Landon King named JHM to retire in June 2012 vice dean for research

By Dennis O’Shea

University Administration

J

essica P. Einhorn, dean of The Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, will retire at the end of the coming academic year, she announced today.

Einhorn, the first SAIS graduate to serve as its dean, will step down on June 30, 2012, after a decade as leader of one of the nation’s most prominent graduate professional schools of international relations.

“Dean Einhorn has had an impact on the school that will last long beyond her departure,” said Ronald J. Daniels, president of the university. “I have no doubt that Jessica’s purposeful, open and respectful leadership is in large measure why SAIS is so strong today and so wellprepared for tomorrow. “ Daniels praised Einhorn for her focus on the student experience and for her support for the faculty and its research activities. He also noted that Einhorn reached out to SAIS alumni worldwide, modernized the school’s administration and expanded student opportunities for learning outside the classroom through internships, study trips and other activities.

She oversaw the introduction, in col-

laboration with Nanjing University, of the first master’s degree program in international studies in China, offered at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies. She also worked to position the school’s Bologna Center in Italy in the changing European market for higher education.

Einhorn joined Johns Hopkins after nearly 20 years with the World Bank, including service as managing director in charge of the bank’s financial management and, earlier, as vice president and treasurer. She also spent a year as a visiting fellow at the International Monetary Fund and has held positions at the Treasury and State departments and the International Development Cooperation Agency of the United States.

“Coming to SAIS from the World Bank was a big culture change for me— but it was also a homecoming, more than 30 years after being a student here,” Einhorn said. “The concentric circles of faculty, other Hopkins deans and the Homewood administration welcomed and supported me throughout my tenure at SAIS. This last year will be dedicated to working with my colleagues on our three campuses to assure as seamless a transition as possible.”

Einhorn earned a master of arts from SAIS in 1970. She is a 1967 graduate of Barnard College and earned a doctorate in politics from Princeton University in 1974.

By Audrey Huang

Johns Hopkins Medicine

L

andon King, the David Marine Professor of Medicine and Biological Chemistry, and director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, in the School of Medicine, has been appointed vice dean for research at Johns Hopkins Medicine, effective Sept. 1.

“We have an enormous and important research enterprise here at Johns Hopkins, and I know Landon is the right person for the job,” said 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, in announcing King’s appointment to the Johns Hopkins community. “Landon’s exceptional qualities as a scientist herald a bright future for Hopkins Medicine’s research under his leadership.”

In his new position, King will lead all aspects of basic and translational research at the School of Medicine and will work closely with Miller and other leaders across the university to support and further develop core resources and research infrastructure, and facilitate collaborative research synergies across all of Johns Hopkins Medicine. He also will oversee research administration and policy coordination, and help identify and coordinate technology transfer opportunities for the enterprise. The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has been the largest recipient

of NIH biomedical funding for the past 17 years, receiving $438.8 million in 2010.

King earned his undergraduate degree in history in 1982 from Wake Forest University and his medical degree in 1989 from Vanderbilt University. He came to Johns Hopkins in 1989 as an intern in the Osler Medical Service, then transitioned into resident and assistant chief of service. King then became a postdoctoral fellow, studying water channels in the lung with Peter Agre, a 2003 Nobel laureate. In 1997, King joined the faculty of the School of Medicine as an assistant professor and became a full professor in 2010. He has been director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Medicine since 2005.

In 2006, King was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation for his work on regulation and function of aquaporin water channel proteins. His current research focuses on the role of water channels in lung function, as well as immunologic mechanisms of recovery from lung injury. He has published numerous research articles and book chapters, mentored many graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and serves on two editorial boards and a number of boards and committees both within Johns Hopkins and nationwide.

He succeeds Chi Van Dang, the Johns Hopkins Family Professor and a professor of medicine, cell biology, oncology and pathology, who is leaving Johns Hopkins in late August to become director of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center.

Discovery: How some breast cancers alter their sensitivity to estrogen Findings help explain tamoxifen resistance in some breast cancers

By Maryalice Yakutchik

Johns Hopkins Medicine

U

sing human breast cancer cells and the protein that causes fireflies to glow, a Johns Hopkins team has shed light on why some breast cancer cells become resistant to the anticancer effects of the drug tamoxifen. The key is a discovery of two genetic “dimmer switches” that apparently control how a breast cancer gene responds to the female hormone estrogen.

In a report published online July 7 by Human Molecular Genetics, the scientists show how a gene known as RET in breast cancer cells responds to estrogen by dialing up the manufacture of a signaling protein that instructs cells to divide and causes tumors to become aggressive through the escape from estrogen dependence.

Scientists have long known that breast cancers are either estrogen-receptor positive or estrogen-receptor negative. The positive subset, generally associated with better outcomes for patients, is sensitive to the drug tamoxifen, which blunts aggressive tumor growth through estrogen receptor inhibition, according to Zachary E. Stine, the research team’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow working in the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Used for decades to prevent and treat breast tumors that kill about 40,000 women a year, tamoxifen works on some types of breast cancers by interfering with the activity of estrogen. However, resistance to the drug frequently develops over time, and previous experiments by other laboratories have shown that RET plays some role in either altering resistance or maintaining it.

Thus, the Johns Hopkins scientists focused

on RET, searching for pieces of DNA in the vicinity of that gene that had the potential, when combined with estrogen, to act as switches controlling the amount of protein product that RET manufactures.

After identifying 10 sites in the RET locus that bind with estrogen receptor alpha, the investigators cloned the DNA sequences in those areas, then attached to each a piece of genetic material responsible for producing luciferase, an enzyme that causes the luminescent glow of a firefly. This lab product was then put inside human breast cancer cells in a dish and exposed to estrogen.

Two of the 10 sequences lit up much more brightly than the others, revealing increased activity by the RET gene in response to estrogen.

“Those two sequences clearly are genetic hubs for the dialing up and dialing down of RET activity in response to estrogen,” said Andrew McCallion, an associate professor in the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, and corresponding author on the study.

In a second experiment, the team used the cloned sequence and luciferase concoction, inserted it into a breast cancer gene, and this time added retinoic acid instead of estrogen.

Retinoic acid is well-known to slow cancer cell growth. The scientists showed that one of the two sequences previously shown to be estrogen-responsive also responded to retinoic acid and increased RET activity.

The investigators also found that when they put estrogen and retinoic acid together

Related website McCallion lab:

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

in breast cancer cells in culture, the increased activity of RET was much greater compared to either estrogen or retinoic acid alone.

Because it appears that increased RET activity is linked to more-aggressive and tamoxifen-resistant types of breast cancers, the discovery is potentially important for making decisions about tamoxifen use, McCallion said. Understanding the genetics of these proteins also has the potential to guide the search for new therapeutic targets

in breast cancer. With the new information, he said, steps might be taken to “resensitize” tumors that become tamoxifen-insensitive by manipulating the regulators of RET and, therefore, its protein products.

Support for this research came from the National Institutes of Health.

Authors of the paper, in addition to Stine and McCallion, are David M. McGaughey, Seneca L. Bessling and Shengchao Li, all of Johns Hopkins.

O B I T U A R Y

Dea Anderson Kline, 89, university’s first director of community affairs

D

ea Anderson Kline, the university’s first director of community affairs, an influential community organizer and a founder of Greater Homewood Community Corp., has died at 89.

Kline, who retired in 1991, died July 24 at a nursing home in Tennessee.

Kline joined Johns Hopkins in 1967 as director of the Homewood Community Project, funded by the university to enhance quality of life in neighborhoods near Homewood through social services, improved local public schools, business development and other strategies. In 1969, the project became formalized with the creation of Greater Homewood Community Corp., and Kline became the university’s director of community affairs.

“In the mid-1960s, Johns Hopkins was very much the academic ivory tower, ‘in the city but not of it,’ as many said at the time. Dea Kline helped Hopkins step out of the tower and into the community,” said Ross Jones, vice president and secretary emeritus of the university.

“She was, in so many respects, ahead of her time in helping the university understand

how it was connected to the larger community in matters of public education, social justice, race, housing, health and all the other issues that impact Baltimore’s residents and institutions as they work to improve their communities,” he said. “Through her leadership at the Office of Community Affairs and the Greater Homewood Community Corp., she showed how these issues might be addressed.”

Kline for many years was host and organizer of Community Conversations, a breakfast series started in 1966 to bring together university and community leaders to discuss issues of common concern. The breakfasts continue today.

While at Johns Hopkins, she worked with the Baltimore Citizens Planning and Housing Association, the Baltimore City Fair, the Barclay School and summer camps for inner city youth, among other projects.

A memorial service was held July 30 in Phoenix, Md. Memorial donations may be made to Greater Homewood Community Corp. at 3503 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 or online at www.greaterhome wood.org.

4 THE GAZETTE • August 1, 2011

Retinal cells thought to be the same are not, biologist says

By Lisa De Nike

Homewood

T

he old adage “looks can be deceiving” certainly rings true when it comes to people. And it is also accurate when describing special light-sensing cells in the eye, according to a Johns Hopkins University biologist.

In a study recently published in Nature, a team led by Samer Hattar of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences’ Biology Department and Tudor Badea of the National Eye Institute found that these cells that were thought to be identical and responsible for setting both the body’s circadian rhythm and the pupil’s reaction to light and darkness are actually two different cells, each responsible for one of those tasks.

“In biology, as in life, you can’t always trust what you see. You have to delve deep to find out what’s really going on,” Hattar said. “This study has shown that two structurally similar neurons are actually quite different and distinct, communicate with different regions of the brain and influence different visual functions.”

The findings are significant, Hattar said, because doctors sometimes use pupillary light reflex (the pupil’s response to light and darkness) as a way of diagnosing patients who may have sleep problems, and those clinicians now must recognize that the cells controlling pupillary response and the sleep-wake cycle are different.

Shih-Kuo “Alen” Chen, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology and coauthor of the Nature article, said, “Although the diagnosis may still be valid most of the time, it is important to remember that disrupted pupillary light response with normal sleep-wake cycles or the opposite is possible, and caution should be exercised if clinicians

Read The Gazette online gazette.jhu.edu

use only pupillary light reflex for diagnosis purposes for deficits in non-image-forming visual functions.”

Hattar’s research focuses on these special light-sensitive cells and how they regulate the physiology and behavior of mammals.

“In human beings, light has an impact on many of our physiological functions, including sleep and mood,” he said. “We are inter-

ested in the cellular, molecular and behavioral pathways by which light has an impact on us, independent of how and what we literally ‘see’ with our eyes. This includes setting our internal biological clock to day and night, and constricting our pupils to control the amount of light coming through to our retinas.”

In a previous study, Hattar’s team revealed

that these cells, called “intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells,” also play a role in image formation. Formerly, it was thought that their role was limited to sleepwake cycles and pupillary responses.

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health, David and Lucile Packard Foundation and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Women

represented, she said, in surgical departments.

“We want to look closely at faculty and leadership composition and ensure that we have better gender equity moving forward,” she said.

To address this issue, Fivush implemented the Leadership Program for School of Medicine Women Faculty, designed for female

For the second year, which is wrapping up, 45 were chosen from 80 applications.

Fivush plans to have the two cohorts come together later this year for peer-to-peer mentoring groups. She also plans to introduce an emerging leadership course, targeted to instructors and more-junior assistant professors, that will teach mentoring skills and how to write letters of recommendation and NIH grant applications.

Fivush will also continue to look into the composition of search committees, particularly for high-level positions, to ensure that they possess gender equity.

“In the past, you could only chair a search committee if you were a full professor, and since there were so few women full professors, most of the searches were chaired by men,” she said. “But that has changed. Janice [Clements] looks into the composition of these committees and makes sure they are culturally correct in terms of gender and ethnicity and race. Ultimately, we want a good, fair search that finds the best candidate.”

In the coming months, Fivush will meet with department chairs, search committee chairs and university leadership to introduce herself and get a better feel for any genderrelated issues. As an associate dean, Fivush will attend the monthly meetings of the medical faculty’s advisory board. She will also work closely with Brian Gibbs, associate dean for diversity and cultural competence at the School of Medicine.

“Hopefully, this position will open some doors and allow me to create better opportunities for women here,” she said. “It may not directly change the work I’m doing on a daily basis, but it might change the impact of our work.” G

Continued from page 1 ated an annual event where the recipient of the Vice Dean’s Award for the Advancement of Women is recognized, and worked closely with the Vice Dean’s Office to study and report on faculty salary equity.

Fivush joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1984 in the Department of Pediatrics after completing her residency and a fellowship in pediatric nephrology at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. In 1993, she became the division chief of Pediatric Nephrology, and since that time has dramatically increased the number of faculty in the division, expanded clinical and research initiatives, and developed an innovative fellowship training program. She was promoted to professor of pediatrics in 2001.

Fivush said that the continuing goals of the Office of Women in Science and Medicine are to provide networking and educational activities for women, create leadership opportunities and, overall, promote gender equity at all levels.

“We will examine issues related to leadership, salary, physical space, anything and everything,” she said. “It’s our goal to find out why these issues might exist and help fix them.”

Currently, 36 percent of the School of Medicine faculty are women. However, Fivush points out that only three of the 32 department chairs are women, and that males make up 80 percent of the total number of full professors. Women are also under-

Barbara Fivush

professors at all levels. The program’s faculty offer inspiration and valuable career advice along with insight into the leadership development needs that are unique to women. The cohort program consists of networking events, a Myers-Briggs profile test and eight half-day seminars, including ones titled “Crucial Conversations,” “Negotiation Skills,” “Speak Like a Pro” and “Influencing for Impact.”

The women are nominated for the program based on potential for leadership. For the first cohort, 40 women were selected.

Short-term leases available! Furnished or unfurnished studios, 1 & 2 BD Apartments

Washer and Dryer in each home!

Controlled access, elevator building with fantastic views of downtown Baltimore!

Located in historic Charles Village.

Walk to JHU - Homewood, shops, and restaurants!

Directly across from Barnes & Noble Johns Hopkins, JHU Shuttles & public transportation. Close to Inner Harbor.

Laundry & Fitness Center on site!

1-2-3 Bedrooms from $955 - $1494

Short-term leases available!

Furnished or unfurnished studios & 1 - 2 BD Units!

866-830-4938 3501 St. Paul Street Baltimore, MD 21218

Newly upgraded interiors and FREE garage parking. Brand NEW fitness center, resident lounge, and pool!

Central to shops in Roland Park, Cross Keys & Mt. Washington.

Easy access to JHU - JHMI Short term leases available furnished or unfurnished!

Newly upgraded interiors! Brand NEW fitness center with cardio theatre & lounge! Across from JHU campus in Roland Park! Café & Restaurant on premises. Balconies with panoramic views of the city. Reserved garage parking. Surveillance and key lock entry system.

Roof top pool!

866-498-6143 500 W. University Parkway Baltimore, MD 21210

866-547-7925 1190 W. Northern Parkway Baltimore, MD 21210

Enjoy the best in apartment living at a Morgan Community!

Call today for Move-In Specials!*

www.morgan-properties.com *Certain Restrictions Apply - Limited Time Offer-On Select apartment homes!

August 1, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

5

Medical educators miss teachable moments with young docs

By Michael Pena

Berman Institute of Bioethics

A

frail but perfectly coherent patient refuses medical attention for problems with mobility. With slight hesitation, a doctor in training performs a biopsy, noticing excessive bleeding afterward. Another resident elects not to order expensive treatment for a seriously ill patient because it will leave him in deep debt.

Physicians in training face ethically fraught scenarios like these every day. But a new study by medical educators at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics finds that the doctors who oversee residents in the clinic often don’t explicitly mention and discuss these issues with trainees.

“Teaching about ethics and professionalism in real time is a very important part of the training experience,” said Joseph Carrese, the study’s lead author and a core faculty member at the Berman Institute. “It appears from our findings that opportunities to identify those issues and teach about them were missed.”

The two-week observational study of 53 internal medicine residents and the 19 faculty preceptors (mentoring physicians) overseeing them is described in the July issue of Medical Education. The study found that a variety of “everyday ethics” were raised in about 80 percent of the conversations that trainees had with preceptors.

But these mentoring physicians explicitly pointed out the ethical issue and taught about it just 12 percent of the time, the study found.

When residents see a patient, they must first discuss the case with a preceptor. These interactions are an essential part of medical

training, a way to dissect real problems in the moment, supplementing seminars and similar sessions, says Carrese, director of the Berman Institute’s Program on Ethics in Clinical Practice.

Members of his research team took detailed notes on 135 mentor-trainee interactions and later identified the specific ethical issues that came up. The issues fell under one or more of the following categories: “doctor-patient interactions,” “interactions with the health care system” or situations unique to “residents as learners.”

Although the preceptors pointed out the precise issue and discussed it with trainees just 12 percent of the time, Carrese says that they implicitly acknowledged the topic much more often—about 40 percent of the time. For instance, faculty often made a passing reference to an issue.

Carrese says that previous research looking at whether this approach is an effective educational strategy suggests it isn’t.

A preceptor typically oversees three to four residents at a time, according to Carrese, and each resident must review every patient appointment with the preceptor.

So time constraints may be one of the most likely obstacles to explicitly discussing the embedded ethical issues. But Carrese says that more studies are needed to identify the barriers and find ways to address them.

If the main hurdle is lack of time, Carrese says that tools and strategies can be developed to assist faculty preceptors and streamline difficult discussions. For instance, Carrese and colleagues developed a checklist with an easy-to-remember acronym that can help doctors assess a patient’s decisionmaking capacity during an emergency and in other clinical situations.

The acronym, described in the February 2010 issue of the journal CHEST, is

CURVES: Choose and Communicate, Understand, Reason, Value, Emergency and Surrogate.

Physicians, seasoned or not, will inevitably struggle with some cases: the elderly patient who refuses help to prevent the hip-cracking fall that will inevitably happen, or the poor man who needs a costly treatment he can’t afford. But even preparing residents for that moment—getting them to start thinking of a “game plan,” as Carrese puts it—may help them when the difficult questions arise.

“If we better understand what the barriers and needs are,” Carrese said, “then we as ethics faculty are going to be in a better position to help preceptors and enhance how they teach trainees about ethics in real time.”

Carrese’s co-authors include fellow Berman Institute core faculty members Margaret Moon, Holly Taylor, Mary Catherine Beach and Mark Hughes. Erin McDonald and Kiran Khaira, both former research staff at the Berman Institute, also co-authored the paper.

O B I T U A R Y

Martha Roseman, 90, former associate dean of academic advising

M

artha O. Roseman, former associate dean of academic advising at The Johns Hopkins University, died on July 22, just three weeks after the death of her husband, Saul Roseman, an emeritus professor in the Department of Biology. She was 90.

Martha Roseman was a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and with her husband raised their family in Madison, Wis.; Chicago; and Ann Arbor, Mich. Early in her career, she held various positions in education and had a particular interest in special education. She was a lecturer in the University of Michigan’s School of Education and also served as a consultant to various public school systems throughout the country.

After moving to Baltimore, Roseman worked for four years with Edward McDill at the Johns Hopkins Education Research Cen-

ter, where she was a liaison to the Baltimore City Public Schools system. She then moved to the university’s School of Continuing Studies, where she taught a course in special education and was hired as a counselor to advise the first female undergraduates admitted to Johns Hopkins. She was promoted to assistant director of academic advising and then to director, assistant dean and associate dean.

Roseman is survived by three children, seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

An education fund has been established in her name. Contributions in her memory can be made payable to The Martha Roseman Fund, c/o Dean Katherine Newman, The Johns Hopkins University, 237 Mergenthaler Hall, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218-2685.

JHU scientists expose cancer cells’ universal ‘dark matter’ Findings reveal chaos in biochemical alterations of cancer cells

By Maryalice Yakutchik

Johns Hopkins Medicine

U

sing the latest gene sequencing tools to examine so-called epigenetic influences on the DNA makeup of colon cancer, a Johns Hopkins team says that its results suggest cancer treatment might eventually be more tolerable and successful if therapies could focus on helping cancer cells get back to normal as well as on strategies for killing them.

In a report published June 26 in Nature Genetics, the investigators focused on a particular epigenetic biochemical signature known as methylation, which silences genes.

Although not part of a gene’s central DNA sequence, it is copied when a cell divides, perpetuating its activity.

By comparing the epigenomes of eight human tissue samples—three from noncancerous colon tissue, three from colon tumors and two from polyps (early-stage colon cancer)—the team found that in all the colon tumors, the defining characteristic was a universally “chaotic” pattern of methylation. In noncancerous tissue, they found methylation occurring in well-defined places, either as small “islands” of methylation or as huge methylated “blocks” that collectively encompassed at least a third of the genome.

“In the cancer tissue, we saw that the once-precise boundaries of the islands had shifted or disappeared altogether, and the start and end points of the sites appeared unregulated,” said Andrew Feinberg, professor of molecular medicine and director of the Center for Epigenetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences. “We

also saw a loss of methylation, presumably increasing the randomness of gene function within them.

“What seems to define cancer at the epigenetic level may be simple and common: namely, chaos that seems to be universal,” he said.

The researchers noted that cells in their normal colon tissue samples stayed methylated at around the 80 percent level for large (and previously unexamined) blocks of the epigenome. By comparison, cells from colon

Related websites Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ institute_basic_biomedical_ sciences/research/research_ centers/epigenetics/index.html

Center for Epigenetics:

epigenetics.jhu.edu

Andrew Feinberg:

epigenetics.jhu.edu/?section= personnelPages&personID=2

Rafael Irizarry’s lab:

rafalab.jhsph.edu/

tumors comprising those same huge blocks had no such stability and were much more variable in terms of methylation levels.

Feinberg says that the findings could mean that current efforts to simply identify methylation markers as signals of cancer or as targets of cancer therapy may be misleading or, worse, won’t do the job at all. An alternative would be a new method that detects epigenetic chaos universally in any cancer epigenome.

The team designed a custom test to compare about 20 noncancerous tissue samples

to 20 samples from each of a variety of tumors as they investigated thousands of methylation sites for colon, breast, lung, kidney and thyroid cancers. The researchers found that, here again, methylation was well-regulated in the normal tissues, almost always occurring within a limited range of variability. However, in the very same specific places of the epigenome characterized by chaos in colon cancer cells, all the other cancerous tissues examined by the team showed distinctly variable and “chaotic” levels of methylation variation.

“Maybe the big lesson learned from our observation of this universal chaos is that we may need to think not so much about just killing cancer cells but also about ways of helping cancer cells figure out how to be what they’re supposed to be, and re-educate them so they can stay truer to their normal identities,” Feinberg said.

From the “perspective” of the cancer cells, Feinberg says, the chaos is helpful, endowing tumors with the ability to turn genes on and off in an uncontrolled way and making cancer cells adaptable enough to live in all different kinds of environments, spread and thrive in foreign tissue.

“The regions of epigenetic chaos where methylation appears wildly variable in at least five different common cancers are— not so coincidentally—the very same as those that during normal development are important in controlling cell differentiation, or what particular cells are supposed to be, like normal colon cells,” Feinberg said.

Rafael Irizarry, a professor of biostatistics in the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, who, with Feinberg, led this study, added, “The same epigenetic malleability that permits human cells with the same DNA to become different tissue types during development also confers vulnerability. The epigenome has these regions where change is easy in order for some cells to become kidney and others, brain and

spleen, for example, but that very vulnerability to change may ultimately lead to cancer.

Targeting those regions might help the cells become more normal,” he said.

Because the new study also identifies regions of the genome that appear to control this epigenetic chaos, Feinberg and his team say it potentially may prove fruitful in revealing new targets for cancer therapy or prevention.

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

In addition to Feinberg and Irizarry, authors from Johns Hopkins are Kasper Daniel Hansen, Winston Timp, Hector Corrada Bravo, Sarven Sabunciyan, Benjamin Langmead, Oliver G. McDonald, Bo Wen, Yun Liu and Eirikur Briem. Additional authors are Hao Wu, of Emory University; and Dinh Diep and Kun Zhang, both of the University of California, San Diego.

Charles Freeland, Attorney Lutherville, MD 21093

ABSOLUTE ESTATE AUCTION

To the Highest Bidder Above $195,000

TUSCANY - CANTERBURY 2 Bedroom ♦ 2 Bath

CONDOMINIUM UNIT With 2 Deeded Garage Parking Spaces

Opposite Johns Hopkins University Campus Sale On Premises

THE COLONNADE - UNIT 506 3801 Canterbury Road ● Corner University Parkway Baltimore, MD 21218

THURS., AUG. 18, 2011 ♦ AT 2:00 P.M. Located in a prestigious, full service building, unit 506 has been well maintained and features large living/dining combination with balcony, eat-in kitchen, Jenn-Air appliances, laundry, marble bathrooms and more. A $10,000 cashier’s check down payment is required at the auction. Please see our web site for complete details, photos and terms.

No buyer’s premium.

Estate of Joseph Greenberg

A. J. BILLIG & CO. AUCTIONEERS

6500 FALLS ROAD • BALTIMORE, MD 21209

410-296-8440 • www.ajbillig.com

6 THE GAZETTE • August 1, 2011

Social acumen equals spatial skill, JHU psychologist finds Homewood

P

eople who are socially skilled—who are adept at metaphorically putting themselves in someone else’s shoes— are also more proficient when it comes to spatial skills, according to a new study led by a Johns Hopkins University psychologist.

The study, published online July 27 in Journal of Experimental Psychology, found that the more socially accomplished people are, the easier it is for them to assume another person’s perspective (literally) on the world.

“The results were striking: There was a profound difference in this ability among people with better social skills and those with weaker ones,” said study leader Amy Shelton, a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

Shelton said that the study results could eventually lead to improved strategies to help people on the autism spectrum—notable for their lack of social awareness and skills— compensate for this weakness.

In the study, 48 men and women ages 18 to 22 viewed building models constructed from Legos. A series of seven figures (one time it was 13-inch faceless “dolls,” a second time it

To purchase ad space in ‘The Gazette’ contact

The Gazelle Group 410-343-3362

was toy cameras, and a third time it was colored plastic triangles) was arrayed around the buildings. Participants then viewed images on laptop computers, each of which corresponded to the would-be visual perspective of one of the figures (dolls, cameras, triangles) and were asked which figure could “see” that view of the buildings displayed on the computer screen.

The study subjects also completed a penciland-paper test designed to assess the degree to

Related websites The study in ‘Journal of Experimental Psychology’:

WILL KIRK / homewoodphoto.jhu.edu

By Lisa De Nike

psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/ 2011-15485-001 Any Shelton’s Web page:

pbs.jhu.edu/research/ shelton/facultyinfo which adults of normal intelligence showed five different traits associated with autism spectrum disorders: social skills, perseveration, attention to detail, communication and imagination. Of particular interest in this inquiry were the social and communication scores, as those are aligned with typical social behaviors, Shelton said.

The critical finding was that there was a strong correlation between overall social acumen and the study subjects’ accuracy in taking the perspective of the figures only when the figures were dolls, and not when the figures were the toy cameras or triangles.

According to Shelton, this suggests that when people are faced with a task involving taking a different perspective, they “bring something extra to the table when it involves a person, or a potential person, rather than just an object.

On the table behind Amy Shelton are the figures and Lego buildings she used to test study participants’ ability to assume others’ spatial perspective.

“Perhaps the human figures allowed the study subjects to more readily embody the other person and take that ‘person’s’ perspective in this task,” she speculated. “The current thinking on this is that this ‘embodiment’— this ability to take another’s position—should be universally helpful, because it’s what we do as social beings: We put ourselves in another person’s place. Yet our results indicate that this embodiment is only helpful if one is actually socially savvy to begin with.”

According to Shelton, these results suggest that a person’s ability to take another person’s spatial perspective may be related to such things as empathy, or even tolerance for

another’s belief system.

“Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this research is that it emphasizes a ‘whole person’ approach,” she said. “We tend to think of ourselves as being either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ at certain skills, but these results suggest that different skills really do interact and have an impact on each other. For instance, I might be good at giving directions to another person because I have good spatial skills, but I might be even better at it if I can also empathize or embody the other person’s perspective.”

This study was funded by a Woodrow Wilson Center Fellowship.

August 1, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

7

Indie filmmaker’s cell-phone photos land him in the BMA

By Phil Sneiderman

Homewood

Farming Continued from page 1 farming. The system utilizes fish wastewater as a resource by circulating it through hydroponic grow beds, where plants uptake the waste as their primary nutrient source.

In the system, a symbiotic relationship is formed between fish and plants, with fish providing most of the required nutrients for the plants, and the plants in turn cleaning the water for the fish.

Love, an assistant scientist with the Bloomberg School’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, set out to determine whether aquaponics is a sustainable form of urban agriculture that can be replicated on a larger scale. He thought, Why not have Baltimore be a testing ground?

“I wanted to get folks in Baltimore excited about alternative urban farming ideas,” Love said. “Urban farming is really taking off in Baltimore; you just have to look at the corner lots and odd spaces that people are using to grow food.”

Love said that he also wanted to highlight a sustainable way to raise fish. “I don’t want aquaculture to be left behind,” he said. “You hear a lot in the news about us eating all the fish in the sea, and we’re gradually reaching that point. Inevitably, we have to turn to aquaculture to meet the growing human need and desire to eat fish.”

Currently, the bones of the farm are in place. The system consists of four 250-gallon royal blue tanks for the fish, a filtration system made up of six smaller blue tanks and two 18-by-8-foot grow beds. It’s all housed in a greenhouse that up until this spring Baltimore City used as a storage space. Love and a CLF summer intern, Shelly White, a graduate student from Michigan State University, spent part of the spring cleaning out the space and leveling the ground and are

WILL KIRK / homewoodphoto.jhu.edu

I

n a large box-shaped gallery inside the Baltimore Museum of Art, independent filmmaker Matthew Porterfield paces before an audience of admirers, fielding questions about his latest creative work, winner of Baltimore’s $25,000 Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize.

In recent years, Porterfield, who teaches in the Krieger School’s Film and Media Studies program, has collected critical acclaim for his films Hamilton and Putty Hill, both set in Baltimore. But the prize-winning exhibit on view this day is a different type of artistic work, one assembled from dozens of photos that Porterfield had snapped on his cell phone over the past year or two.

On the museum wall behind him, enlarged prints of 72 cell phone photos are arranged in a massive rectangular grid. The images, some enhanced with photo-editing software, include quirky shots of friends, pets, loved ones, landscapes and everyday objects such as a soup bowl. Some prints depict exotic locations in other countries where Porterfield, 33, had been invited to screen his movies.

With so many varied images adorning the museum wall, each visitor can select a favorite. Porterfield says that his grandmother is most fond of a playful shot of the artist’s two cats. Porterfield himself is partial to a shadowy shot of his father walking through a narrow alley.

“I think of myself as a filmmaker, and I found my way to film through my love of photography and theater,” he tells the audience. “This time I wanted to challenge myself to push the boundaries of what I do.

There was something personally powerful about these images.”

He describes his exhibit, on view at the museum through Aug. 7, as “a way to celebrate the everyday.”

The second, smaller part of his artistic

Matthew Porterfield, an instructor in the Johns Hopkins Film and Media Studies program, and his Sondheim Prize–winning piece called ‘Days are Golden Afterparty.’

creation hangs on the wall opposite the picture grid. It is a video screen, flashing a minute-long loop of his cell phone photos. The images speed by at 24 frames per second, a pace so furious that an onlooker’s eyes are fooled into thinking that some of the images are blended together like double exposures.

“Something in the video is psychedelic,” Porterfield says, “not in a chemical way but in an exalted way.”

The photo prints and “flicker film,” together dubbed “Days are Golden Afterparty,” impressed the judges and led them to award this year’s Sondheim Prize to Porterfield. The prize, now in its sixth year, is a $25,000 fellowship presented to a visual artist living and working in the Greater Baltimore region. It is given in conjunction with Artscape, the city’s free festival of the arts.

“I was shocked. I was preparing to hear someone else’s name,” he says during an interview after the museum lecture. “The

first thing I thought about was a sense of validation. I took a risk and was competing with other artists whose work I respect. This win made me feel that I took some pictures that these people recognized as remarkable.

That was very cool and affirming.”

The prize money was welcome as well.

Porterfield’s bank account is not exactly bursting at the seams. For years, he supported himself as a waiter and a kindergarten teacher, and his teaching job in the Krieger School has been a part-time post.

The only camera he owns, Porterfield says, is the one in his cell phone.

Like most independent filmmakers, he must scramble to raise funds for his projects. Even though his films cost a fraction of the typical Hollywood fare, the expenses for a crew, equipment rentals, food, location fees and post-production processing mount up.

Porterfield says that if the $25,000 Sond-

now setting up the system.

Later this month, when the plumbing connections are complete, Love and White will introduce the fish, tilapia. Roughly 80 fish will be housed in each tank. The fish wastewater will be pumped into the four clarifier tanks, where solid waste can be flushed out of the system to be later used for compost. The remaining suspended waste then goes into a mineralization tank, where beneficial bacteria will be added to convert the water into a slurry that the plants can use as food.

This slurry then passes through a degassing tank before being pumped into the grow beds. Styrofoam rafts seeded with vegetable plants will float, and grow, on 1-foot-deep, nutrient-rich water.

Love plans to attempt first to cultivate leafy vegetables such as lettuce, kale, bok choy and spinach. Later, when the water “ripens,” Love said he will try to grow other vegetables, including tomatoes and squash.

The tilapia used will be an all-male cohort staggered in size, and rotated into different tanks as they grow. The largest adult fish will be harvested every six months, with a new batch of juvenile fish added.

This aquaponics system will recycle the water, and Love hopes to achieve 99 percent water recovery. “That would be great,” he said. “There will be some evaporation, but otherwise the water will just recycle through with little to be added.”

Sounds good, so what’s the hitch?

Love said that the big question mark for a system like this is heating cost, and whether the cost can be kept down to make it economically feasible and sustainable.

“How are we going to keep the water warm in the winter and the environment cool in the summer? Greenhouses are typically a two-season environment in a climate like this, so we’ll have to keep careful track of how much energy we use. There’s a specific food-to-energy ratio we have to deter-

mine,” he said. “Will the cost of keeping these temperatures make it all worthwhile?

We have to find out.”

The farm equipment and supplies were purchased using CLF program funds. The greenhouse will be used on loan from the Baltimore City Department of Parks and Recreation.

Once operational, likely later this summer or in early fall, the farm will be open to the public for educational purposes. The farm will also be used as a research site for faculty and student volunteers.

“I always envisioned a strong educational component to this project,” he said. “Here we have this polyculture system of fish, plants and bacteria: three different systems working together and supporting each other.

I see lots of opportunities for teaching in the areas of biology, ecology and farming.”

The food harvested, both the fish and vegetables, will likely be donated to local food distribution centers for possible use at homeless shelters.

Love said that the work this summer has been a labor of love.

“Shelly and I are out here most every morning building and troubleshooting,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun and rewarding as we watch this project mature.”

To keep up with the project’s progress, go to the Center for a Livable Future’s website or to Cylburn Aquaponics Farm’s page on Facebook. G

heim Prize had been awarded in a lump sum instead of in yearlong installments, “it would all go into this movie.”

“This movie” is Porterfield’s next film, which begins shooting this month in Baltimore and Ocean City. Its title, “I Used to Be Darker,” refers to the characters’ emotional state, he says, and Porterfield himself recently had the phrase tattooed on his left arm. The movie’s 94-page script focuses on a husband and wife, both musicians, whose marriage is unraveling. The couple’s 18-yearold daughter and a troubled niece are the other key characters.

Porterfield expects the movie to cost about $250,000. To offset some of that expense, he’s set up a website at www .kickstarter.com/projects/puttyhill/i-used-tobe-darker to raise money from fans and supporters. While moving ahead with the new film, Porterfield is also eager to see his first two movies released on DVD in November.

He also is looking forward to resuming his teaching duties at Johns Hopkins. This fall, Porterfield will begin his fifth year in the Film and Media Studies program, his first as a full-time instructor. He teaches production, screenwriting and theory.

“We have an amazing group of majors in this program,” he says. “I find that the Hopkins students who want to major in film or do a minor in it are phenomenal. They’re very self-motivated and hard-working.”

Porterfield has also been impressed by the number of science and engineering majors who take his film classes because they see possible new media applications in their own fields. “That’s really exciting,” he says.

Although he enjoys teaching, Porterfield’s primary goal is to continue exercising his own creative muscles, particularly in his hometown. “There’s a really healthy cultural and arts scene in Baltimore,” he says. “I want to continue to live and make movies here.

I’m just inspired by the city. There are so many stories to tell that I plan to stay here.”

O c e a n C i t y, M a r y l a n d

DUNES MANOR HOTEL Oceanfront at 28th Street 1 Block from the Boardwalk!

Guestrooms are Oceanfront with a Private Balcony!

� ALL

� Oceanfront

Restaurant & Lounge, with Outdoor Dining, in season

� Heated

Pool, Jacuzzi & Sundeck

� Refrigerator, Microwave & Coffeemaker in all Guestrooms � Complimentary

Wireless Internet Access throughout Hotel

� Upscale

Meeting & Banquet Rooms & Full-Service Catering for all Types of Events � Afternoon

Tea Served Daily

Be Our Guest... � � �

Relax. Refresh. Renew! � � �

View all of our Great Rates & Book Online @ dunesmanor.com

Submit classified ads online at gazette.jhu.edu

Spacious Apt. Ͳ Mt. Vernon, Cathedral near Madison, use as 1 or 2 BD, ideal for roommate, CAC, onͲsite laundry, $1250 per mo., includes heat/water, secure bldg., 800-523-2888 close to public transportation/JHU shuttle.

28th Street & Oceanfront • Ocean City, MD 410Ͳ837Ͳ1337, lhall.tutties@hotmail.com

8 THE GAZETTE • August 1, 2011

By Lisa De Nike

Homewood

A

n existing anti-seizure drug improves memory and brain function in adults with a form of cognitive impairment that often leads to full-blown Alzheimer’s disease, a Johns Hopkins University study has found.

The findings raise the possibility that doctors will someday be able to use the drug, levetiracetam, already approved for use in epilepsy patients, to slow the abnormal loss of brain function in some aging patients before their condition becomes Alzheimer’s.

The researchers emphasize, however, that more studies are necessary before any such recommendation can be made to doctors and patients.

The effects seen in the study “could be like taking your foot off the accelerator or tapping the brakes, and possibly could slow the progression on that path [to Alzheimer’s],” said principal investigator and neuroscientist Michela Gallagher. “We need further clinical studies with longer exposure to the drug to, first of all, make sure with rigorous evaluation that the drug is effective in the longer term and, equally important, that it does no harm.”

The new study, presented July 20 at the International Congress on Alzheimer’s Disease in Paris, also shows that excess brain activity in patients with a condition known as amnestic mild cognitive impairment, or aMCI, contributes to brain dysfunction that underlies memory loss. Previously, it had been thought that this hyperactivity was the brain’s attempt to “make up” for weakness in its ability to form new memories.

The clinical study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, tested 34 participants, some of whom were healthy older adults and others who had aMCI, meaning that they had memory difficulties greater than would be expected at their age. Each person partic-

ipated in a sequence of two treatment phases lasting two weeks each. Patients received a low dose of levetiracetam during one phase and a placebo during the other.

After each treatment phase, the researchers evaluated subjects’ memory and conducted functional magnetic resonance imaging of their brains. These scans were used to map brain activity during performance of a memory task, allowing the researchers to compare each individual’s status both on and off the drug. Compared to the normal participants, subjects with amnestic MCI who took the placebo had excess activity in the hippocampus, a part of the brain essential for memory. But when they had been taking levetiracetam for two weeks, the excess activity was reduced to the same level as that of the control subjects; memory performance in the task they performed also was improved to the level of the controls’.

The findings have possible implications for the progression to Alzheimer’s disease.

Studies showing excess activity in the hippocampus in patients with aMCI have found that if these patients are followed for a number of years, those with the greatest excess activation have the greatest further drop in memory and are more likely to receive a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s over the next four to six years.

Other recent research provides a clue as to why this might be the case, says Gallagher, the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences in Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

“Because some of the physiology that creates Alzheimer’s disease in the brain is driven by greater brain activity, this excess activity might be like having your foot on the accelerator if you are on the path to Alzheimer’s,” Gallagher said. “So the next step in this line of research will be to test that idea to see whether reducing excess activity might actually slow progression to Alzheimer’s for patients with aMCI.” Between 8 and 15 percent of patients

WILL KIRK / homewoodphoto.jhu.edu

Drug improves brain function in condition that leads to Alzheimer’s

Michela Gallagher

with aMCI progress to an Alzheimer’s diagnosis every year, making aMCI a stage of transition between normal aging and neurodegenerative disease. At present there is no effective treatment to modify this progression before irreversible damage has occurred in the brain. It would be a significant breakthrough to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, a disease that is expected to affect as many as 16 million Americans by 2050.

Levetiracetam, the drug used in the study, is an anticonvulsant that decreases abnormally high activity in the brain. It is combined with other drugs to treat certain types of epileptic seizures.

The team that conducted the Johns Hopkins study included Marilyn Albert and Gregory Krauss, both professors of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Arnold Bakker, a graduate student in Gallagher’s laboratory, who

presented the findings at the Alzheimer’s conference.

Gallagher is the founder of, and a member of the scientific board of, AgeneBio, a biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for diseases that have an impact on memory, such as amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis.

Gallagher owns AgeneBio stock, which is subject to certain restrictions under Johns Hopkins policy. She is entitled to shares of any royalties received by the university on sales of products related to her inventorship of intellectual property. The terms of these arrangements are managed by the university in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policies.

Listen to Michela Gallagher talk about her Alzheimer’s research at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=MVuX5c8gnZ4.

Half-matched transplants widen donor pool for leukemia, lymphoma B y V a n e s s a W a s ta

Johns Hopkins Medicine

I

dentifying a suitable donor for leukemia and lymphoma patients who need bone marrow transplants may be far easier now that results of two clinical trials show transplant results with half-matched bone marrow or umbilical cord blood are comparable to fully matched tissue, thanks in large part to the availability of effective anti-rejection drugs and special post-transplant chemotherapy. The finding means that nearly all patients in need of a transplant can find donors, according to Johns Hopkins scientists who participated in the trials.

Plans are under way for a four-year ran-

domized trial for so-called haploidentical marrow or cord blood transplants in 380 patients to begin late this year or early next year. Many large medical centers, including Johns Hopkins, are expected to participate.

The results of the two studies are good news, Johns Hopkins researchers say, because they address the problem faced by patients when no family members are a complete match for the patient’s tissue type.

Although patients and physicians may then seek donors through national registries, as many as half or more of patients looking for matches in these registries don’t find one, and the search can take weeks to months.

During this time, a patient’s disease can progress, notes bone marrow transplant expert Ephraim Fuchs, who adds that finding a match is especially difficult for minorities because of their underrepresentation in national registries.

“People are dying waiting for matched donors from a registry,” said Fuchs, an associate professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Kimmel Cancer Center.

In the clinical trials, investigators from the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network at 27 medical centers tested two types of transplants: those from half-matched, or haploidentical, bone marrow or cord blood, and published their results in the July 14 issue of Blood. Some 50 adult leukemia or lymphoma patients with advanced disease or at high risk for relapse were included in each of the Phase II trials. Six of the participating centers conducted both types of transplants.

Johns Hopkins conducted the haploidentical transplant trial only.

Transplants with cord blood, collected from the umbilical cord and placenta after a baby is born, are generally done in children because of the small number of cells in a

single unit of cord blood. Adults, on the other hand, need two units.

Bone marrow tissue is extracted by needle from the hip bone of donors. Marrow that is half-identical to a patient’s tissue type can be obtained from parents, children and most siblings.

Results of the two trials show one-year survival rates of 54 percent for cord blood transplant and 62 percent for haploidentical marrow. Survival without disease progression at one year was 46 percent for cord blood and 48 percent for haploidentical marrow. The investigators say that this is comparable to survival achieved by similar patients undergoing transplants from fully matched siblings or unrelated adult donors.

Relapse rate after one year was 45 percent for haploidentical marrow transplants and 31 percent for cord blood. No patients had severe graft versus host disease, or GVHD—an attack on the patient’s normal tissues by immune cells of the donor—after bone marrow transplant.

At one year, deaths not caused by relapse occurred in 7 percent of haploidentical patients and 24 percent of cord blood transplants.

Fuchs says that in the past, haploidentical transplants failed more often because the transplanted cells caused severe GVHD, especially in older patients. Half of the patients enrolled in the current trials were 50 and older.

“Ten years ago, it was unthinkable to do a haploidentical transplant,” said Fuchs, who led the haploidentical transplant clinical trial.

To overcome the GVHD problems, Fuchs and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Bone Marrow Transplant Program pioneered the use of a chemotherapy drug called cyclophosphamide after the transplant to mini-

mize the effects of GVHD. The drug wipes out the patient’s immune system, leaving the transplanted blood stem cells intact. The stem cells create new disease-free blood cells in the patient.

The investigators say they also believe that a lower-intensity “conditioning” regimen of chemotherapy and radiation before the haploidentical marrow transplant may help prevent severe GVHD. The outpatient conditioning treatment lasts six days. Then, the donor’s bone marrow is harvested and, that same day, infused intravenously into the patient. This is followed by two days of high-dose cyclophosphamide, and then other immune-suppressing drugs.

Within 16 to 24 days, patients begin forming new blood cells including white blood cells and platelets, important for fighting infection and clotting blood. Thirty to 40 percent of patients are able to receive their transplants on an outpatient basis, but some patients are admitted for fevers or infections.

Patients are monitored carefully and remain in proximity to the hospital for 60 days after the transplant.

Patients receiving cord blood transplants follow a similar regimen but have seven days of pre-transplant chemo and radiation therapy and receive cord blood from two separate donors.

Fuchs anticipates that haploidentical bone marrow transplants may be tested more widely in nonmalignant diseases, such as aplastic anemia, lupus and sickle cell anemia. Haploidentical transplants using post-transplant cyclophosphamide are being performed in medical centers outside of the United States, including Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Israel, Australia, Belgium and England.

Funding for the clinical trials was provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Cancer Institute.

August 1, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

Kidney Continued from page 1 Widespread use of a pre-surgery protocol developed at Johns Hopkins, one which removes problematic antibodies from a patient’s blood prior to transplant, could lead to potentially 3,000 more kidney transplants from living donors each year, he says. The process cannot be used at this point with patients receiving cadaver organs because several days of treatment are needed before surgery can take place.

“We have this pre-surgery therapy that doubles a person’s survival rate,” said Montgomery, who is also director of Johns Hopkins’ Comprehensive Transplant Center. “If this were a cancer drug that doubled chances of survival, people would be lined up out the door to get it. It’s really extraordinary to go from 30 percent survival to 80 percent survival after eight years.”

Montgomery estimates that there are more than 20,000 hard-to-match transplant candidates in the United States whose immune systems will reject most kidneys because of antibodies circulating in their blood that react to proteins known as human leukocyte antigens, or HLA. These proteins are found on most cells and are used by the immune system to recognize what is foreign to the body.

In what are known as HLA-sensitized patients, the body has been exposed to foreign HLA in the past, either through pregnancy, blood transfusion or previous kidney transplant, and it immediately recognizes most donor organs as unfamiliar, causing rejection. Women make up a majority of these patients because of sensitization from pregnancy.

Montgomery’s new protocol removes the problem antibodies from the blood before the transplant takes place, through plasmapheresis, a process that removes, filters and replaces a person’s plasma supply. Then, the patient receives low-dose intravenous immune globulin, or IVIg, which aims to replace the problematic antibodies and prevent their return. This process, which conditions the body to accept the new organ, is performed every other day for several days before transplant and then for up to 10 days following surgery. Thereafter, Montgomery says, the patient needs just the same antirejection medication as any other transplant patient. In the study, there were very few significant side effects from plasmapheresis.

Historically, highly HLA-sensitized patients have been very difficult to match, with fewer than 7 percent receiving transplants each year compared to a dramatic 98 percent transplant rate among patients offered the Johns Hopkins plasmapheresis protocol.

Montgomery says that the protocol, which he and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins pioneered in 1998, essentially allows an incompatible kidney to function long term, and in the majority of patients, the harmful antibodies do not return. Some other hospitals have begun using it as well, but Montgomery says that many others have been

awaiting data indicating long-term benefit to patients.

“Now we have it, the first study to show long-term survival benefit from desensitization,” he said.

In the new research, Montgomery and colleagues transplanted 211 HLA-sensitized patients between February 1998 and December 2009 using plasmapheresis and IVIg before and after surgery. In order to develop a control group, the researchers, on the day each patient received his or her incompatible transplant, identified five patients on the kidney waiting list who most closely matched the characteristics of the person who got the new organ. The researchers then followed the progress of those transplant candidates as well, whether they remained on dialysis or eventually got a compatible organ.

After the first year, each group of patients had about the same chance for survival (in the low 90 percentile range). After eight years, however, the treatment group had an 80.6 percent survival rate, while the Pre-surgery dialysis group had a 30.5 percent chance. protocol The patients who waited on the list removes with the possibility of receiving a comproblematic patible kidney had a 49.1 percent chance antibodies of eight-year survival.

Montgomery points out that the number of these patients who actually received a compatible transplant was very small because finding compatible organs for HLA-sensitized patients is so challenging.

In 2008, of the 82,000 patients on the waiting list in the United States, 16,520 received a kidney transplant, and 4,800 died waiting for one.

Acknowledging that desensitization makes kidney transplants more expensive, Montgomery says that the cost savings when compared to remaining on dialysis are enormous. In addition, the patient no longer has to endure the difficulties of dialysis, a blood-cleansing process that takes about five hours a day, three days a week, and which often makes the tasks of daily life nearly impossible.

“This treatment increases survival, ensures a better lifestyle and saves the health care system money,” he said. “There aren’t many things like that.”

Montgomery says that he expects his findings to significantly ease doubts about the ability of HLA-sensitized candidates to have successful transplants. In many parts of the country, he says, insurers who historically have not covered desensitization should now reconsider.

This research was funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the Charles T. Bauer Foundation.

Other researchers involved in the study, all from Johns Hopkins, are Bonnie E. Lonze, Karen E. King, Edward S. Kraus, Lauren M. Kucirka, Jayme E. Locke, Daniel S. Warren, Christopher E. Simpkins, Nabil N. Dagher, Andrew L. Singer, Andrea A. Zachary and Dorry L. Segev. G

Courtesy shuttle service to JHU-JHMI locations!

NOTICE OF FILING

APPLICATION FOR PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION

TITLE:

Deputy Director, Asia

DUTIES: Provide strategic oversight to Jhpiego’s reproductive/maternal health programs located in the region of South Asia; contribute to improving organizational processes by using performance and quality improvement approaches and Standards Based Management Recognition (SBMR) in order to strengthen health care systems; provide leadership to private sector health services and social marketing projects, while actively participating in the programs and ensuring successful implementation; supervise Program Officers, Program Coordinators and Country Representatives, ensuring cohesive program management and application; collaborate with an array of developmental staff to support strategy formulation within the region of South Asia, outlining roles, responsibilities, and objectives of the respective programs’ staff; work in conjunction with the regional program staff to improve current processes, provide funding guidance, and encourage the implementation of problem-solving strategies into Jhpiego’s regional programs; embody leadership principles in establishing regional and country priorities while achieving unique business development within South Asian countries; assist with the overall management of organizational task forces and working groups for the Global Programs Division; contribute to the growth and effectiveness of Jhpiego’s proposal management by designing, writing, and editing proposals in conjunction with the Global Programs Director and Business Development personnel; assist in assessing and identifying new business opportunities and potential sources of funding; represent the Jhpiego organization on a national and international front by engaging in forums, meetings, conferences, presentations, and working groups; and in performing duties, will travel internationally 25% of the time to provide strategic oversight for Jhpiego’s reproductive/maternal health programs in South Asia.

REQUIREMENTS: A Master’s degree in Public Health or Health Policy and Management (or foreign equivalent) plus eight (8) years of experience in public health which must include some experience working and traveling throughout South Asia focusing on reproductive/maternal health, using performance and quality improvement approaches for strengthening health care systems, and participating in private sector health services and social marketing projects and experience with USAID or US government funding streams for reproductive and maternal health problems.

SALARY:

$125,091 per year

HOURS:

40 hours per week.

8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

WORKSITE: Jhpiego, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, 1615 Thames Street, Baltimore, MD 21231.

CONTACT: Ms. Patrice Ervin, Human Resources Generalist, Jhpiego, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, 1615 Thames Street, Suite 306, Baltimore, MD 21231; Email: pervin@jhpiego.net This notice is posted in connection with the filing of an Application for Alien Labor Certification with the U.S. Department of Labor for the job opportunity listed above. Any person may submit documentary evidence that has a bearing on this Labor Certification Application, including information on available U.S. workers, wages and working conditions and/or the employer’s failure to meet terms and conditions set forth in the employment of any similarly employed workers. Such evidence should be submitted to the Certifying Officer at the office listed below: U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Harris Tower 233 Peachtree Street, Suite 410 Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Experts are who we are!

7 time winner of the President’s Achievement Award

UNIVERSITY

Mention this ad and receive 15% off on any service work order!

Exp. September 30, 2011

Monday - Friday: 7:30am - 6pm Saturday: 8am - 3pm Sunday: Closed Call us at 410-869-1500

UNIVERSITY

9

10 THE GAZETTE • August 1, 2011 P O S T I N G S

Job Opportunities The Johns Hopkins University does not discriminate on the basis of gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or other legally protected characteristic in any student program or activity administered by the university or with regard to admission or employment.

Homewood

Office of Human Resources: Suite W600, Wyman Bldg., 410-516-8048 JOB# POSITION

46386 47755 47861 47867 47881 48167 47887 47896 47898 47917 47963 47993

Sponsored Project Accountant Graduate Recruiter Assistant Program Manager, CTY Tutorial Assistant Distance Education Online and Mobile Marketing, Communications Strategist/Developer Distance Education Instructor (Computer), CTY Sr. Research Program Coordinator Research Program Assistant II Sr. HR Specialist Administrative Coordinator Executive Housekeeper Administrative Coordinator

Schools of Public H e a l t h a n d N u r s i n g Office of Human Resources: 2021 East Monument St., 410-955-3006 JOB# POSITION

44976 44290 44672 41388 44067 44737 44939 44555 44848

Food Service Worker LAN Administrator III Administrative Secretary Program Officer Research Program Assistant II Sr. Administrative Coordinator Student Affairs Officer Instructional Technologist Sr. Financial Analyst

School of Medicine

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

47679 47740 48165 48194 48238 48250 48312 48639 48699

Laboratory Assistant Nurse Practitioner Research Assistant Research Data Analyst MRI Technologist Research Data Analyst Sr. Medical Office Coordinator Research Program Assistant II Patient Access Manager

48059 48211 47845 47874 47922 47925 48118 47893 47911 48006 48016 48096 48104 48150 48209 48307 48311

44648 44488 43425 43361 44554 44684 42973 43847 45106 45024 42939 42669 44802 44242 44661 45002

Field Manager Sr. HR Specialist Sr. Systems Administrator Sustainability Analyst Web and Electronic Media Specialist Sr. Programmer Analyst Online Production Coordinator Sr. Accountant Billing and Accounts Receivable Student Assistant Director Regional and International Programs Procurement Assistant Administrative Coordinator Sr. Systems Engineer Accounting Specialist Office of Finance Student Assistant Sr. Development Director for Asia Associate Dean, Development and Alumni Relations Assay Technician Research Technologist Research Nurse Research Scientist Administrative Specialist Biostatistician Clinical Outcomes Coordinator Sr. Programmer Analyst Employment Assistant/Receptionist Payroll and HR Services Coordinator Research Data Coordinator Data Assistant Budget Specialist Academic Program Administrator Sr. Research Program Coordinator Research Observer

48702

Immunogenetics Technologist Trainee 48705 Clinic Manager 48824 Occupational Therapist 49059 Research Navigator Nurse 49090 Physician Assistant 49094 IT Specialist 49119 Technical Facility Manager 49125 Research Program Assistant II 49150 Research Program Assistant 49167 Sr. Financial Manager 49186 Research Technologist 49242 Data Assistant 49249 Disclosure Specialist 49325 Revenue Cycle Coordinator

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

Woodcliffe Manor Apartments

S PA C I O U S

G A R D E N A PA RT M E N T L I V I N G I N

R O L A N D PA R K

• Large airy rooms • Hardwood Floors • Private balcony or terrace • Beautiful garden setting • Private parking available • University Parkway at West 39th St. 2 & 3 bedroom apartments located in a private park setting. Adjacent to Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus and minutes from downtown Baltimore.

410-243-1216

105 West 39th St. • Baltimore, MD 21210 Managed by The Broadview at Roland Park BroadviewApartments.com

B U L L E T I N

Notices

B O A R D

No notices were submitted for publication this week.

Low-carb, high-fat diets add no arterial health risks to obese B y D av i d M a r c h

Johns Hopkins Medicine

O

verweight and obese people looking to drop some pounds and considering one of the popular lowcarbohydrate diets, along with moderate exercise, need not worry that the higher proportion of fat in such a program compared to a low-fat, high-carb diet may harm their arteries, suggests a pair of new studies by heart and vascular researchers at Johns Hopkins.

“Overweight and obese people appear to really have options when choosing a weightloss program, including a low-carb diet, and even if it means eating more fat,” said the studies’ lead investigator, exercise physiologist Kerry Stewart.

Stewart, a professor of medicine and director of Clinical and Research Exercise Physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Heart and Vascular Institute, says that his team’s latest analysis is believed to be the first direct comparison of either kind of diet on the effects to vascular health, using the real-life context of 46 people trying to lose weight through diet and moderate exercise. The research was prompted by concerns from people who wanted to include one of the low-carb, high-fat diets such as Atkins, South Beach and Zone as part of their weight-loss program but were wary of the diets’ higher fat content.

In the first study, presented June 3 at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Denver, the Johns Hopkins team studied 23 men and women weighing on average 218 pounds and participating in a six-month weightloss program that consisted of moderate aerobic exercise and lifting weights, plus a diet made up of no more than 30 percent of calories from carbs, such as pastas, breads and sugary fruits. As much as 40 percent of their diet was made up of fats coming from meat, dairy products and nuts.

After shedding 10 pounds, this low-carb group showed no change in two key measures of vascular health: finger tip tests of how fast the inner vessel lining in the arteries in the lower arm relaxes after blood flow has been constrained and restored in the upper arm (the so-called reactive hyperemia index of endothelial function) and the augmentation index (a pulse-wave analysis of arterial stiffness).

Low-carb dieters showed no harmful vascular changes but also on average dropped 10 pounds in 45 days, compared to an equal number of study participants randomly assigned to a low-fat diet. The low-fat group, whose diets consisted of no more than 30 percent from fat and 55 percent from carbs, took on average 70 days, nearly a month longer, to lose the same amount of weight.

“Our study should help allay the concerns that many people who need to lose weight have about choosing a low-carb diet instead of a low-fat one, and provide reassurance that both types of diet are effective at weight loss and that a low-carb approach does not seem to pose any immediate risk to vascular health,” Stewart said. “More people should be considering a low-carb diet as a good option,” he added.

Because the study findings were obtained within three months, Stewart says that the effects of eating low-carb, higher-fat diets versus low-fat, high-carb options over a longer period of time remain unknown.

However, Stewart does contend that an overemphasis on low-fat diets has likely contributed to the obesity epidemic in the United States by encouraging an overconsumption of foods high in carbohydrates.

He says that high-carb foods are, in general, less filling and that people tend to get carried away with how much low-fat food they can eat. More than half of American adults are estimated to be overweight, with a body mass index of 26 or higher; a third are considered to be obese, with a BMI of 30 or higher.

Stewart says that the key to maintaining healthy blood vessels and vascular function seems—in particular, when moderate exercise is included—less about the type of diet and more about maintaining a healthy body weight without an excessive amount of body fat.

Among the researchers’ other key findings, presented separately at the conference, was that consuming an extremely high-fat McDonald’s breakfast meal, consisting of two English muffin sandwiches, one with egg and another with sausage, along with hash browns and a decaffeinated beverage, had no immediate or short-term impact on vascular health. Study participants’ blood vessels were actually less stiff when tested four hours after the meal, while endothelial or blood vessel lining function remained normal.

Researchers added the McDonald’s meal challenge immediately before the start of the six-month investigation to separate any immediate vascular effects from those to be observed in the longer study. They also wanted to see what happened when people ate in a single meal a higher amount of fat than recommended in national guidelines.

Previous research had suggested that such a meal was harmful, but these negative findings could not be confirmed in the Johns Hopkins analysis. The same meal challenge will be repeated at the end of the study, when it is expected that its participants will have lost considerable weight despite having eaten more than the recommended amount of fat.

“Even consuming a high-fat meal now and then does not seem to cause any immediate harm to the blood vessels,” Stewart said. However, he strongly cautions against eating too many such meals because of their high salt and caloric content. He says that this single meal—with 50 grams of fat and more than 900 calories—is at least half the maximum daily fat intake recommended by the American Heart Association and nearly half the recommended average daily intake of about 2,000 calories for most adults.

All study participants were between the ages of 30 and 65 and were healthy, aside from being overweight or obese. Researchers say that in the first study, because people were monitored for the period during which they lost the same amount of weight, any observed vascular differences would be due to what they ate.

Funding for the study was provided by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, with additional assistance from the Johns Hopkins Bayview Institute for Clinical Translational Research, also funded by the NIH. In addition to Stewart, Johns Hopkins researchers who took part in the studies were Sameer Chaudri, Devon Dobrosielski, Harry Silber, Sammy Zakaria, Edward Shapiro and Pamela Ouyang.

August 1, 2011 • THE GAZETTE M A R K E T P L A C E

Classifieds APARTMENTS/HOUSES FOR RENT

Bolton Hill, 2BR Victorian brownstone on quiet, cobbled street w/gazebo, 1 full BA, 1 half-BA, renov’d BAs/kitchens, upgraded appls, W/D (incl’d in rent), 2nd flr deck off master BR, hdwd flrs, backyd, prkng in rear, email for pics/viewing. $1,236/mo. 571-9333341 or tymbuk2@gmail.com.

Canton, furn’d house avail mid-August for 4- to 5-month lease; must be clean with refs, no pets. $950/mo + utils. 410-925-1116.

Charles Village, spacious 3-4BR apt, 3rd flr, nr Homewood campus. $1,500/mo. 443-2532113 or pulimood@aol.com.

Charles Village (Abell and University), spacious 3BR, 1BA apt, eat-in kitchen, living rm, dining rm, sunrm, hdwd flrs, W/D on premises, prkng avail. $1,800/mo. 410-3832876 or atoll4u@gmail.com.

’05 Ford Taurus, automatic, alloy wheels, very good cond, 108K mi, avail after Aug 8. $4,900. 410-235-4363 or csabai@elte.hu. ’06 Toyota Scion xA, 4dr hatchback, auto, red, 27 city/34 hwy mpg, outstanding cond, 70K mi. $8,500. 513-262-1900.

mansion, A/C, W/D avail in building; close to JHH, JHU, JHBMC. $675/mo + utils + sec deposit (month’s rent). 443-353-1835 or ldziwuls@travelers.com.

HOUSES FOR SALE

Anneslie (Towson), 3BR, 2BA duplex, newly renov’d, hdwd flrs, fin’d bsmt, Stoneleigh schools. $150,000. chris.raborn@ gmail.com.

Eastwood, Balto County, 3BR, 2BA TH, fully renov’d, ready to move in, great neighborhood. Steve, 410-812-3490.

Gardenville, 3BR, 1.5BA RH in quiet neighborhood, new kitchen and BA, CAC, hdwd flrs, club bsmt w/cedar closet, fenced maintenance-free yd and carport, 15 mins to JHH. $139,500. tziporachai@juno.com or 443-610-0236.

Deep Creek Lake/Wisp, cozy 2BR cabin w/ full kitchen, call for wkly/wknd rentals, pics avail at jzpics@yahoo.com. 410-638-9417.

3402 Mt Pleasant Ave, completely rehabbed house nr all Johns Hopkins campuses, perfect for professional. $159,900. Pitina, 410900-7436.

Glen Burnie, studio apt w/ kitchenette, own laundry rm, own BA, car owners pref. $600/ mo, negotiable. 443-799-7530.

Fully rehabbed home, 2BR, 2BA, located 1 block south of JHU in quiet neighborhood. sherylsouthard@hotmail.com.

Homeland, 1BR, 1BA, recently renov’d, 860 sq ft, upgrades prior to move-in, patio, prkng avail, small pets OK. $1,150/mo + utils. 443534-0210 or biancafrogner@hotmail.com.

Ocean City (120th St), 2BR, 2BA condo, sleeps 6, immaculate, new appls and living rm furniture, enclos’d courtyd, 2 blks to beach, indoor/outdoor swimming pools, tennis, racketball. joel.alan.weiner@gmail.com or 410-992-7867.

Ocean City, 3BR, 2BA condo on ocean block, steps from beach, lg pool, off-street prkng for 2 cars, short walk to restaurants, entertainment. 410-544-2814.

Patterson Park (145 N Lakewood), 3BR, 1BA house, appls, hdwd floors, w/w crpt, courtyard, park, water/square, small/welltrained pets OK. $1,000/mo + utils. okomgmt @hotmail.com.

Roland Park, spacious 2BR, 2BA condo in secure area, W/D, walk-in closet, swimming pool, cardio equipment, .5 mi to Homewood. $1,695/mo. 410-218-3547 or khassani @gmail.com.

Towson/Parkville, 2BR, 1BA RH, W/D, CAC, covered back porch, fin’d bsmt, convenient to I-695; no pets, pics available. $1,000/mo + utils. 443-791-3536.

Upper Fells Point (Pratt St near Ann), 3BR, 2.5BA, 3-level RH, CAC, hdwd flrs, W/D, dw, 4 blks to JHH, 5 blks to water. $1,850. wilbmdphd@hotmail.com.

Upper Fells Point (Jefferson Court), 2BR, 2.5BA TH, hdwd flrs, W/D, CAC, rear yd, off-street prkng incl’d, steps to medical campus. $1,200/mo + utils. drniabanks@ gmail.com.

Rm in brand new TH, walking distance to JHMC, no smokers, no pets. 410-456-1708 or xiaoningzhao1@gmail.com.

New 3BR, 3.5BA TH w/security system, 2 blks from JHMI. $1,650/mo + utils. 410-9790721 or grant.tz@comcast.net.

Newly renov’d 1BR bsmt apt in Victorian

ROOMMATES WANTED

Furn’d rm in 3BR, 1.5BA house in Remington, F only, 3-min walk to Homewood campus. $600/mo incl utils. Lvf3116@yahoo .com.

F housemate wanted to share 4BR home in Parkville, 20 mins to JHU or JHMI; must be professional, nonsmoker and like animals (1 dog, 2 cats). 410-365-0231.

Share all-new refurbished TH (924 N Broadway) w/ med students, 4BR, 2 full BA, CAC, W/D, dw, w/w crpt, 1 min walk to JHMI. gretrieval@aol.com.

F nonsmoker wanted for furn’d BR (700 sq ft) in 3BR Cedonia house owned by young F prof’l, mod kitchen, vaulted ceilings, landscaped yd, deck, prkng, 5 mi to Homewood, Bayview, YMCA, nr public transportation. $550/mo + utils. 410-493-2435 or aprede1@ yahoo.com.

Fells Point, 1BR in 3BR apt, furn’d, free Internet, quiet street, best neighborhood, close to everything. $300-$350/mo + utils. xzhan45@gmail.com.

Beech Ave. adj. to JHU!

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

Hickory Avenue in Hampden!

2 BD units from $750 w/Balcony - $785!

Shown by appointment - 410-764-7776 www.BrooksManagementCompany.com

ITEMS FOR SALE

Green leather sofa, loveseat and chair, $500; dk brown king-size bedroom set w/mattress, boxspring, $1,700; from nonsmoking home, best offers accepted. 410-935-1168.

Complete queen bed from VCF, headboard, footboard, frame, mattress, boxspring. $500. lexisweetheart@yahoo.com or 443-6042797.

IBM ThinkCentre M52 with 19in LCD and Windows 7 Intel Pentium D 3.4 GHz CPU, 2.5GB memory, 160GB HD. $180. qszhu2000@gmail.com.

Antique walnut Victorian velvet sofa, 1875; very good cond, detailed wood carvings, 75in long, needs recovering, Craigslist pics. jskL3@verizon.net.

Kobo e-reader, 2 months old, used only 3 times. $50. wightp1959@hotmail.com.

Moving sale: music cassettes (lot of 276), fitness chair, 21in TV, 35mm cameras, projection screen w/tripod, silk flowers and vase, Asian decor pillows, office file units (lot of 10), mugs, old fax machine, men’s travel bag, corkboard, scale, alarm clock, dining room set, full-length silver fox coat, new exterior French doors, more. Photos available. 443-824-2198 or saleschick2011@ hotmail.com.

Used queen box spring and mattress, nothing fancy but serves its purpose. $100 for both, cost reduced if you pick them up. larry .pueyo@gmail.com.

Ravens tickets. Two great seats near field for first home preseason game: 7:30pm on Friday, Aug 19, vs Kansas City. $175 ($220 face value). arthur.perschetz@bakerd.com, 443-570-7299.

Piano tuning and repair, PTG craftsman serving Peabody, Notre Dame, homes, churches in central Maryland. 410-3828363 or steve@conradpiano.com.

Masterpiece Landscaping: knowledgeable, experienced individual, on-site consultation, transplanting, bed preparation, installation, sm tree and shrub shaping; licensed.

Terry, 410-652-3446.

Blanka offers cleaning houses, apts, laundry, more; great refs, reasonable prices. 443-6211890 or crabdean@gmail.com (English OK but better in Spanish).

Montessori grad student seeking summer work: child care, pet care, personal assistant—responsible, caring, competent. 917456-7973 or corey.thelen@gmail.com.

Mobile auto detailing and power wash service. Jason, 443-421-3659.

Licensed Landscaper avail for spring/summer lawn maintenance, yd cleanup; other services incl fall/winter leaf and snow removal, trash hauling. Taylor Landscaping LLC 410812-6090 or romilacapers@comcast.net.

SPECIAL OFFER

ONE BEDROOMS FROM $880 MONTHLY

S

pacious apartment living set in a prestigious hi-rise building. Adjacent to Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus and minutes from downtown Baltimore. Amenities include an on-site restaurant, salon and convenience store.

 University Parkway at West 39th Street  Studio, One & Two Bedroom Apartments

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.

 Daily & Monthly Furnished Suites  24-Hour Front Desk

 Family Owned & Managed

Licensed landscaper avail for spring/sum-

PLACING ADS

• One ad per person per week. A new request must be submitted for each issue.

• Ads are limited to 20 words, including phone, fax and e-mail.

Garages for cars, boats and storage, less than 1 mi from JHU/Homewood. $120/mo. Glen, 443-286-0399.

SERVICES/ITEMS OFFERED OR WANTED

CARS FOR SALE

Classified listings are a free service for current, full-time Hopkins faculty, staff and students only. Ads should adhere to these general guidelines:

Clarinet/piano lessons taught year-round by Peabody master’s student w/ multiple years of teaching experience. 240-994-6489 or hughsonjennifer@gmail.com.

Purple Ravens reclining lounge chair, great shape, located in Parkville, email for pics. $110. emceea@gmail.com.

Looking for dedicated climate activists to turn it up to 11. 484-788-8356.

’05 Ford Focus SE, manual transmission, runs great, new tires, no rust, 82K mi. $4,900. a.meade.eggleston@gmail.com or 614-638-5857.

Horse boarding and horses for lease, beautiful trails from farm. $500/mo (stall board) and $250/mo (field board). 410-812-6716 or argye.hillis@gmail.com.

Hooper gems by Tiffany and event planning services, fashion-statement jewelry, none more than $35. www.hoopergemsbytiffany .com.

Certified nursing assistant can provide elder care, assist with personal care, cooking, light housekeeping, refs avail. 410-790-9997 or sunflowermaid@gmail.com.

’05 Acura RL AWD Tech 4-door sedan in gray lakeshore metallic, excel cond. $17,000/best offer. 410-802-9814.

mer lawn maintenance, yd cleanup; other services incl trash hauling. Taylor Landscaping LLC. 410-812-6090 or romilacapers@ comcast.net.

Conn alto saxophone, excel cond. Best offer. 410-488-1886.

BR avail in 2BR, 2BA Park Charles Apt, avail Sept 1; pref M/F in their 20s. $687/mo.

626-215-9297.

HICKORY HEIGHTS WYMAN COURT Just Renovated! A lovely hilltop setting on

11

• We cannot use Johns Hopkins business phone numbers or

e-mail addresses.

• Submissions will be condensed at the editor’s discretion.

• Deadline is at noon Monday, one week prior to the edition in which the ad is to be run.

• Real estate listings may be offered only by a Hopkins-affiliated seller not by Realtors or Agents.

(Boxed ads in this section are paid advertisements.)

Classified ads may be faxed to 443-287-9920; e-mailed in the body of a message (no attachments) to gazads@jhu.edu; or mailed to Gazette Classifieds, Suite 540, 901 S. Bond St., Baltimore, MD 21231. To purchase a boxed display ad, contact the Gazelle Group at 410-343-3362.

LEASING CENTER OPEN MONDAY – SATURDAY

Call or stop by for more information

410-243-1216 W EST 39 TH S TREET B A LT I M O R E , MD 21210 105

410-243-1216

B ROADVIEW A PARTMENTS . COM

12 THE GAZETTE • August 1, 2011 A U G .

1

–

1 5

Calendar

summer interns in Basic Science, Public Health and Pulmonary Medicine, sponsored by the Office of Graduate Student Affairs. Turner Concourse. EB

“Changes in ICDDR,B to Face New Challenges,” with Alejandro Cravioto, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sponsored by International Health. W4030 SPH. EB

Monday, Aug. 8, 10 a.m. “Evaluation of Expanded Rapid Drug Susceptibility Testing for Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis in South Africa,” an Epidemiology thesis defense seminar with Colleen Hanrahan. W2033 SPH. EB

NASA

Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 1, 12:15 p.m.

Health Leads HIV information session for faculty, staff and students, sponsored by SOURCE. MPH students encouraged to attend. W2015 SPH. EB Thursday, Aug. 11, 12:15 p.m.

Connection Community Consultants information session for students, sponsored by SOURCE. Small teams of students from the schools of Medicine, Nursing and

Public Health work on short-term projects that have been identified as needs by SOURCE’s partnering community-based organizations.

W2015 SPH. EB Monday, Aug. 15, 12:15 p.m.

International Rescue Committee information session, sponsored by SOURCE. MPH students encouraged to attend. W2008 SPH.

Market Surveillance, QSR, Device Recalls, CAPA: PostMarket Issues,” part of the FDA Lecture Series on regulation of medical devices, with Brad Quinn, FDA. Sponsored by the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design. Johns Hopkins community only. West Lecture Hall, WBSB. EB POSTER SESSIO N S

LECTURES Thursday, Aug. 4, 6 p.m.

“Post-

Friday, Aug. 5, 3 p.m. Poster presentations by undergraduate

“Identification and Characterization of Multimeric Protein Structures from the Social Bacterium Myxococcus xanthus,” a Molecular Microbiology and Immunology thesis defense seminar with Colleen McHugh. W2030, SPH. EB SPECIAL E V E N TS Thursday, Aug. 4, 6:30 to 9 p.m. A NASA public briefing

with Commander Mark Kelly and the crew of STS-134 Space Shuttle Endeavour, hosted by the Maryland Space Grant Consortium.

(See photo, this page.) Schafler Auditorium, Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy. HW W OR K SHOPS

The Center for Educational Resources sponsors a series of workshops on the Blackboard 9.1 interface. The training is open to all faculty, staff and students in full-time KSAS or WSE programs who have administrative responsibilities in a Blackboard course.

To register, go to www.cer.jhu.edu.

Garrett Room, MSE Library. HW • Tuesday, Aug. 2, 10 a.m. to noon, and Tuesday, Aug. 9, 1 to 3 p.m. “Getting Started with Blackboard,” an introduction and overview of Blackboard 9.1’s capabilities cover-

Wednesday, Aug. 3, 10 a.m. to noon, and Wednesday, Aug. 10, 1 to 3 p.m.

“Communication and Collaboration in Blackboard,” instruction in how to manage course discussions; email students, TAs and instructors through Blackboard; create groups for team assignments; and set up a course blog, as well as a review of the other tools, including the system that automatically notifies participants of any changes to the course site.

Tuesday, Aug. 2, 12:15 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 5, 10 a.m. “Exploring Biologically Plausible Statistical Evidence for Epistasis in Bipolar Disorder,” a Mental Health thesis defense seminar with Jennifer Judy. 845 Hampton House, SPH. EB

I N FORMATIO N SESSIO N S

•

SEMI N ARS

Landing at Homewood

Members of the last crew to fly aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, the second-to-last flight in NASA’s space shuttle program, will discuss their 16-day June mission to the International Space Station from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 4, on the Homewood campus.

The event, presented by the Maryland Space Grant Consortium and NASA, will take place in Schafler Auditorium in the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy. The crew will give a video presentation about the mission and answer questions from the audience.

Participating astronauts include Mark Kelly, who commanded Endeavour’s STS-134 mission; pilot Greg H. Johnson; mission specialist Mike Fincke; and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori. Kelly, who is the husband of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, has announced that he is retiring from NASA on Oct. 1 after 25 years.

STS-134 was the second shuttle mission of 2011 and the last flight for Endeavour. Its mission was to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2—a particle physics detector that searches for various types of unusual matter by measuring cosmic rays—to the space station. Experiments with AMS are helping astrophysicists study the formation of the universe and search for evidence of dark matter, antimatter and strange matter. The mission also flew the Expedite the Processing of Experiment to Space Station (Express) Logistics Carrier 3, a platform that carried spare parts that will sustain space station operations now that the shuttles have been retired from service.

During the mission’s four spacewalks, astronauts conducted maintenance work and installed new components.

—Lisa De Nike

ing basic navigation in the Blackboard interface as well as how to add, organize, copy and modify course content.

•

Thursday, Aug. 4, 10 a.m. to noon, and Thursday, Aug. 11, 1 to 3 p.m. “Assessing

Student Knowledge and Managing Grades in Blackboard,” instruction in how to create and manage online tests and surveys in Blackboard; create assignments that students can submit online; and use the grade center, including how to add items, calculate and weight grades, release grades to students, and download/ upload grades.

Monday, Aug. 8, to Friday, Aug. 19, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Peabody Dance Summer Refresher Intensive, with Carol Bartlett, Peabody Preparatory. Designed for serious intermediate/advanced students to keep in shape, reinforce and expand. Sponsored by the Peabody Preparatory. $535.

For information, email dance@ peabody.jhu.edu or call 410-2344626/4630. Peabody

Calendar

Key

(Events are free and open to the public 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 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

Sheridan Libraries receive $1.054 mill Mellon grant for conservation

By Brian Shields

Sheridan Libraries The Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins have been awarded a $1.054 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to renew the Heritage Science for Conservation Project. The HSC Project, which serves as a bridge between the art and science of conservation, is based in the libraries’ Department of Conservation and Preservation and is run in close collaboration with the university’s Whiting School of Engineering.

“This is wonderful news, and we are extremely grateful to the Mellon Foundation for their belief in our work and their generous support,” said Sonja Jordan-

Mowery, the Joseph Ruzicka and Marie Ruzicka Feldman Director for Conservation and Preservation. “We have quickly established ourselves as a center of innovation, and I am excited about the opportunity to deepen our partnerships across Johns Hopkins and with conservation scientists and conservators around the world.”

Launched as a pilot program in 2009 with Mellon support, HSC provides opportunities for research fellows to collaborate with faculty and students in the Whiting School’s Department of Materials Science, the Johns Hopkins University Museums, area institutions and the Canadian Conservation Institute. The investigations emphasize research relevant to materials in libraries, archives and other cultural heritage organizations.

Collaboration with conservators ensures

that discoveries from the researcher’s lab can be quickly translated and applied by conservators.

“The Mellon Foundation’s grant affirms the very valuable contributions the Heritage Science for Conservation Project has already made, both in advancing the science of conservation and in fostering collaboration across disciplines,” said Winston Tabb, Sheridan Dean of University Libraries and Museums. “This kind of work and these partnerships are critical, even in our digital age, for ensuring that our collections are preserved for future generations.”

In addition to enhancing dialogue between conservators and heritage scientists in the United States, the HSC team has begun international outreach, including presentations on the project and research findings in

South Korea and Canada. This past spring, HSC hosted a conference with Glatfelter Paper, a leading paper manufacturer, on paper performance and permanence. For the next five years, members of HSC will explore issues related to book and paper with particular focus on copper corrosion, paper strengthening and the role of lignin in paper permanence.

Johns Hopkins’ Sheridan Libraries encompass the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and its collections at the Albert D. Hutzler Reading Room in Gilman Hall, the John Work Garrett Library at Evergreen Museum & Library, the George Peabody Library at Mt. Vernon Place and the D.C. Regional Libraries. Together these collections provide the major research library resources for the university.