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Covering Homewood, East Baltimore, Peabody,

Real-world trash management

120 city students ready for

SAIS, APL and other campuses throughout the

tactics can lead the way to

school, thanks to Adopt-a-

Baltimore-Washington area and abroad, since 1971.

computer cleansing, page 7

Student Uniform Drive, page 9

September 6, 2011

The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University

C O M M U N I T Y

S T U D Y

Volume 41 No. 2

A B R O A D

On the ground in South Africa

JHU, Morgan State to run city school

By Greg Rienzi

The Gazette

Continued on page 3

2

COURTESY OF PUBLIC HEALTH STUDIES PROGRAM

E

ast Baltimore Community School students returned to classes last week, albeit a few days later than expected due to power outages, courtesy of Hurricane Irene. After the back-toschool shock wore off, the students surely noticed the school’s $30 mill new crop of teachers, the spruced-up classfacility to rooms and hallways, and perhaps the new open in leadership.

The real changes, August however, are only just getting started—and 2013 Johns Hopkins will be there every step of the way.

If all goes according to plan, the small contract school will become a showcase for best teaching practices and stand as a model for urban-based K-8 education.

Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education, in partnership with Morgan State University’s School of Education and Urban Studies, assumed operating responsibilities for the school on Aug. 8.

Specifically, Johns Hopkins has taken over the day-to-day operation of the school through a contract with the school’s board. Morgan State will assume the primary governance representation of the partnership.

David Andrews, dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Education, is leading a committee in a national search to select a new principal. Carol Deloatch, who previously served as the school’s assistant principal, will lead the school in the interim.

Andrews said that the new partnership cements Johns Hopkins’ long-term commitment to the East Baltimore Community School and the desire to transform it into the highest-performing school in the district.

“We have the capacity to do that.

We have some of the most progressive education reform thinkers here who can implement programs with a track record

The inaugural cohort of Johns Hopkins undergraduates in the Public Health Studies Program Abroad in Cape Town poses for a group photo at the Cape of Good Hope.

14 undergrads head to Cape Town to pursue public health interests

By Greg Rienzi

The Gazette

S

aznin Mehta encountered many people in South Africa who left an impression, but perhaps nobody affected her more than the nurse with a photographic memory.

Mehta, a senior majoring in public health studies, met the woman during her internship at Ubuntu Africa, a small nongovernmental organization that facilitates access

to clinical and social services for HIVinfected children in Khayelitsha, the largest township in Cape Town.

The undergraduate marveled at the nurse’s recall of the names and backgrounds of the nearly 170 children enrolled at the center.

Continued on page 5

R E S E A R C H

No link between menopause, risk of heart attack Data show that aging, not hormonal changes, up death rate in women

By Stephanie Desmon

Johns Hopkins Medicine

C

ontradicting the long-held medical belief that the risk of cardiovascular death for women spikes sharply after menopause, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests instead that heart disease mor-

In Brief

Grand Prix medical tents; book drive; sickle cell blood drive; Homewood ArtWalks

12

tality rates in women progress at a constant rate as they age.

The findings, published today in BMJ, the British medical journal, could have implications for how heart health is assessed in premenopausal women, who were previously believed to be at negligible risk of death from heart attack.

“Our data show there is no big shift toward higher fatal heart attack rates after menopause,” said study leader Dhananjay Vaidya, an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “What we believe is going on is that the cells of the heart and arteries are

C A L E N D AR

‘Global Conference on Women in the Boardroom’; Sept. 11 and public health

aging like every other tissue in the body, and that is why we see more and more heart attacks every year as women age. Aging itself is an adequate explanation, and the arrival of menopause with its altered hormonal impact does not seem to play a role.”

Menopause clearly plays a role in other diseases for women, the researchers found.

For example, Vaidya said, the rate of breast cancer mortality decelerates at menopause, probably because of hormonal changes.

To reach its conclusions, Vaidya’s team analyzed mortality statistics for people born Continued on page 6

10 Job Opportunities 10 Notices 11 Classifieds

2 2011 2 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• September August 15, 6, 2011 I N B R I E F

Independent School Fair www.IndependentSchoolFair.org

Sunday, September 25, 2011, 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Crowne Plaza Baltimore Admission is Free

Learn first-hand from school representatives about – Close-knit diverse communities where students are given individualized attention – Classes that are intimate learning environments where teachers are closely connected to their students – Schools that challenge students to stretch their minds with high standards and rigorous programs – Teachers with the freedom to be creative and flexible to make sure students reach their full potential – Opportunities that extend beyond the classroom - to athletics, the arts, community service, and leadership experiences Hear presentations that explain 3:15 p.m. – How to Choose the Right School 3:45 p.m. – How Admission Decisions are Made 4:15 p.m. – How to Afford an Independent School Participating Schools Baltimore Actors’ Theatre Conservatory Baltimore Lab School Baltimore Lutheran School Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School The Boys’ Latin School of Maryland The Bryn Mawr School Calvert School The Day School at Baltimore Hebrew Friends School of Baltimore Garrison Forest School Gilman School Glenelg Country School The Highlands School Jemicy School Krieger Schechter Day School

Loyola Blakefield Maryvale Preparatory School McDonogh School The Montessori School Notre Dame Preparatory School The Odyssey School The Park School of Baltimore Roland Park Country School Sandy Spring Friends School Shoshana S. Cardin School St. James Academy St. Paul’s School St. Paul’s School for Girls St. Timothy’s School Waldorf School of Baltimore

AIMS-member schools admit students of any race, color, national, or ethnic origin. They do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, or ethnic origin in the administration of their educational policies, their admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic and other school-administered programs.

Directions: Please visit the following link for directions to Crowne Plaza Baltimore: http://www.crowneplaza.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/ballt/transportation?start=1 or you may enter the hotel’s address: 2004 Greenspring Drive, Timonium, MD, 21093 at Google Maps.

Johns Hopkins Gazette 4.75 x 7.25

Johns Hopkins ED staffs medical tents at Grand Prix

A

t the request of city officials and organizers of the Baltimore Grand Prix, the Johns Hopkins Department of Emergency Medicine provided doctors, nurses and paramedics to staff medical tents at the Labor Day weekend event as a public service. More than 100,000 spectators were expected to attend the three-day event.

“Johns Hopkins has a long-standing tradition of assisting the city with our highlevel expertise in emergency planning and response,” said James Scheulen, chief administrative officer of the Department of Emergency Medicine. “This is a great way for us to again show how much we appreciate being part of Baltimore and that we are here to serve the community with the best medical care in the country.”

Johns Hopkins staffed three tents, set up inside the viewing area of the racetrack, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. to offer emergency medical services to visitors and spectators.

The Department of Emergency Medicine provided doctors and nurses, and the Johns Hopkins Lifeline critical transport service provided nurses and paramedics. Michael Millin, an emergency physician at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, led and oversaw the staff and operations.

Books being collected for city schools, senior centers

D

uring the month of September, the Office of Community Services, part of Government and Community Affairs, is conducting its second annual Books for Baltimore! drive for new and gently used books of all reading levels.

All donated books will benefit Baltimore schools and senior centers.

Drop-off locations are the 550 Building and the Johns Hopkins Hospital Patient Library in East Baltimore; the Friedheim Library at Peabody; the O’Connor Recreation Center at Homewood; the Davis Building on the Mount Washington campus; and the Asthma Center and Mason F. Lord Building at Bayview Medical Center.

For more information, contact Pamela Bechtel at pbechte1@jhmi.edu.

Nominations sought for MLK Jr. Community Service Award

O

rganizers of the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Celebration are calling for nominations of faculty, staff, graduate students and retirees for the 2011 Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Community Service. Recipients who demonstrate the spirit of volunteerism, citizenship and activism that characterized King’s life will be recognized at the annual commemoration event, to be held in January.

Editor Lois Perschetz Writer Greg Rienzi Production Lynna Bright Copy Editor Ann Stiller Photography Homewood Photography A d v e rt i s i n g The Gazelle Group B u s i n e ss Dianne MacLeod C i r c u l at i o n Lynette Floyd Webmaster Lauren Custer

To submit a nomination, go to hrnt.jhu .edu/mlk. The deadline is Friday, Sept. 23.

For more information, contact Amanda Sciukas at asciuka1@jhu.edu or 443-9970345.

Blood donations target sickle cell disease patients

F

aculty, staff and students are urged to make time to donate blood at the Sickle Cell Disease Awareness Blood Drive being held next week on the Homewood campus.

According to the American Red Cross, sickle cell disease affects 80,000 AfricanAmericans in the United States. Individuals with this disease are at risk for great pain, organ and tissue damage, and strokes. Many require regular transfusions, some as often as every four to six weeks.

Although sickle cell patients can receive transfusions from any donor, increasing blood donations from African-Americans is crucial as the best match is often found in a donor with the same ethnic background.

All eligible donors are invited to participate in the Blue Tag Program, which designates donations from African-American donors for patients with sickle cell disease. More information about the program can be found at www.redcrossblood.org/gcp-bluetag.

The drive will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 13, and from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept.

14, in Levering’s Glass Pavilion.

To schedule a donation online, go to www .membersforlife.org/rccm/mobilesch/login .php?sponsorcode=1008 or call 443-9970338. To learn more about donating, check eligibility criteria and find tips on preparing for your blood donation, call 866-236-3276.

Historic Homewood ArtWalks planned for Fridays this fall

H

istoric Homewood ArtWalks—free guided 45-minute walking tours between Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art that illuminate the art, architecture and history within the quarter-mile urban oasis—begin again this month.

Weather permitting, they will take place on Fridays in September and October, with tour departures at noon and 1 p.m.

The noon tour meets at Homewood Museum and the 1 p.m. tour at the BMA. Advance registration is requested by going online at homewoodmuseum@jhu.edu or by calling 410-516-5589. Participants on the 1 p.m. tour are asked to check in at the BMA visitor reception desk by 12:45 p.m.

The Historic Homewood ArtWalk is offered in October as part of Free Fall Baltimore, a month of free arts events in the city. For more information, go to www.freefallbaltimore .com.

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.

September 6, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

School T

of success,” Andrews said. “Johns Hopkins is involved with this school because we can make a difference. We are committed to reducing the achievement gap and making this a demonstration site of best practices.

We like to say this is a small school that will leave a big footprint.”

East Baltimore Development Inc., the nonprofit entity created to oversee the redevelopment of 88 acres north of Johns Hopkins’ East Baltimore campus, opened the East Baltimore Community School in 2009 with 120 students. This fall, the school begins its third year, with approximately 260 students in kindergarten and first, second, third, sixth and seventh grades. Grades four, five and eight will be added incrementally.

The school, temporarily located at 1101 N. Wolfe St. and officially a charter school of the Baltimore City Public School System, was previously known as the Elmer Henderson Elementary School.

Wanting to create one of the best schools in the city, the EBCS board called upon the expertise and urban school experience of the education schools at Johns Hopkins and Morgan State. Both universities have been integrally involved with the start-up of the school, and representatives have served on governance committees, advised the principal and staff, and participated in the design and implementation of best practices.

David G. Nichols, the Mary Wallace Stanton Professor and vice dean for education at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, chairs the school’s board, which includes Andrew Frank, special adviser to the president of Johns Hopkins on economic development.

In August 2013, the school will relocate to a new $30 million 90,000-square-foot facility on a seven-acre campus within the redevelopment area. The East Baltimore Community School, with a capacity of 540, will share the campus with a $10 million 28,000-square-foot early childhood center with a capacity of 180.

Andrews said that Johns Hopkins wants to ensure that all children are ready to learn when they enter kindergarten and are fully prepared to enter both the high school and college of their choice.

The EBCS will be the first new school built in East Baltimore in 25 years and will be made possible through Johns Hopkins University contributions, private philanthropy, agency

will kirk / homewoodphoto.jhu.edu

Continued from page 1

The Johns Hopkins School of Education, headed by Dean David Andrews, above, has taken over the day-to-day operations of the East Baltimore Community School. A national search is being conducted to select a new principal.

grants and tax increment financing. No Baltimore City Public School capital funds will be used. Among the partners involved in the project are the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Weinberg Foundation.

Johns Hopkins will contribute $3 million for capital expenses and plans to provide an annual $750,000 operating subsidy for eight years.

In addition, Johns Hopkins will continue to seek additional private funding support.

The School of Education recently received a $1.5 million gift from the Windsong Trust to help fund equipment, curriculum design and implementation, initial teacher recruitment and professional development.

Rogers Marvel Architects was unanimously selected by the school’s partners to design the new facility, which will include a gym, auditorium and library, all available for community use. The library will provide access to the East Baltimore Historical Library, and community lending services are being explored through the Enoch Pratt Free Library and Johns Hopkins. The overall campus will serve as a community hub for family engagement, citizenship and wellness, Andrews said.

Andrews said that the project provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate the transformational power of creating a highperforming school that serves a diverse, mixed-income community of students and families.

“We want to maximize the growth and potential of the children who pass through

this school’s doors, and pick up any children lagging behind,” he said.

Johns Hopkins has already hired new teachers and this summer put them through extensive training and professional development. The university also has helped purchase new classroom technology and dressed up the current space with some paint and polish.

Annette Anderson, the School of Education’s new assistant dean for community schools, will oversee Johns Hopkins’ role with the school. Anderson previously served as the first principal of the Widener Partnership Charter School in Chester, Pa., which out-performed all other schools in the district in its opening year.

JHU operational support will ensure small class sizes, a wide range of enrichment activities and strong leadership, Andrews said.

The School of Education plans to implement the most progressive, effective, evidence-based models of instruction available.

In addition to a continued commitment to a project-based approach to learning, the school will implement Success for All, developed by School of Education professors Robert Slavin and Nancy Madden. Success for All is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the most effective evidence-based programs available to improve student performance. The wholeschool reform program is currently being utilized in 1,000 schools and has received additional funding to nearly double that number over the next three to five years.

3

Architecture Open House

o learn more about the East Baltimore Community School and early childhood center to open in August 2013 just north of the Johns Hopkins East Baltimore campus, attend the Architecture Open House, where preliminary designs will be presented.

Date: Wednesday, Sept. 21 Time: Noon to 1:30 p.m.

Location: Armstrong Building, East Baltimore campus Various JHU affiliates will be tapped to enrich the school’s curriculum, including the university’s Center for Research and Reform in Education, Center for Talented Youth, Peabody Institute, Center for Social Organization of Schools, Urban Health Institute, Center for Social Concern and schools of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health.

“We will bring the best of Johns Hopkins to bear,” Andrews said. “Johns Hopkins faculty and staff will have ample opportunity to contribute to the development of this school.”

To achieve its lofty aims, the school takes a holistic approach that focuses on the behavioral, cognitive and physical health of the student, in addition to academic achievement. It will emphasize individualized learning, and family and community involvement supported by wrap-around services such as family counseling.

In terms of enrollment and eligibility, children of catchment area residents and families relocated from the EBDI redevelopment area will be given priority. The remaining student capacity will be filled by children of those who work within the catchment area and at-large children citywide.

“We certainly want to attract the Johns Hopkins employees who work in the area,” said Andrews, who will be moving into a home just blocks from the school. “We hope the success of this school will become a magnet for others to move into the area.”

On Wednesday, Sept. 21, preliminary designs for the school will be presented at an Architecture Open House to be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Armstrong Building on Johns Hopkins’ East Baltimore campus. All employees are invited to attend. G For more information and updates on the JHU/Morgan State partnership with the EBCS, go to education.jhu.edu/ebcs.

Temporary ER staff poses increased safety risk to patients Unfamiliar surroundings may contribute to more frequent errors

By Stephanie Desmon

Johns Hopkins Medicine

T

emporary staff members working in a hospital’s fast-paced emergency department are twice as likely as permanent employees to be involved in medication errors that harm patients, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

Results of the research raise serious issues related in particular to temporary nursing staff because they already are a substantial and growing part of the health care workforce, owing to the national nursing shortage. These fill-ins plug holes in both shortand long-term work schedules, and are seen as a cheaper alternative to permanent hires.

They tend to earn more per hour but don’t receive benefits.

The Johns Hopkins team cautions that while it may be easy to blame the temps themselves for the errors, the problem is probably more diffuse and complex. “A place that uses a lot of temporary staff may

have more quality of care issues in general,” said study leader Julius Cuong Pham, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine and emergency medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “It may not be the temporary staff that causes those errors but a function of the whole system.”

The Johns Hopkins team says that its findings do suggest, however, that the temp strategy in hospital staffing may be exacting a price in patient harm, and that temp staff’s unfamiliarity with the practices and systems of a new hospital could be more costly in the long run in terms of patient safety. “Our work suggests that if you can, you probably want to avoid hiring temporary staff because they are associated with more severe medical errors,” Pham said.

Pham and his colleagues did their study by examining a national Internet-based voluntary medication error reporting system and data from 2000 and 2005, encompassing 592 hospitals and nearly 24,000 emergency department medication errors. Medication errors made by temporary workers, they found, were more likely to reach the patient, result in at least temporary harm and be lifethreatening. The findings appear in the July/ August issue of the Journal for Healthcare Quality.

Pham says that temporary personnel are often not familiar with local staff, care management systems, protocols or procedures.

This may hamper communication and teamwork, a situation that causes them difficulty in retrieving important medical information and leaves them unsure of which procedures to follow. In addition, temporary help may be less likely to speak up if they see problems, and may also lag behind the latest knowledge because they, unlike permanent employees, typically manage their own continuing education.

“You may know the medicine,” Pham said, “but you still may get tripped up by the policies and procedures of an unfamiliar system. This can lead to more serious errors.”

The emergency department is a unique environment with a high risk for medication errors, likely due to the increased severity of injury or disease, the rapidity with which lifesaving decisions must be made, the medical complexities encountered and overcrowding. Many medications are ordered, dispensed and administered in the emergency department without the standard pharmacy check that occurs in nonemergency situations elsewhere in a hospital. There is a higher prevalence of verbal orders, and they are often given urgently.

Hospital administrators may not want to

use temporary staff but may have no choice but to hire temporary help or be understaffed depending on the situation.

Some temporary nurses and doctors spend a month or two in a city and then move on, not because they can’t hold down a permanent job but because they like to travel to new places, Pham says. While some temporary employees are used in a single department over their stay to give them a chance to become more familiar with procedures, others are moved from unit to unit as needed, giving them fewer opportunities to become properly prepared.

Pham says it isn’t known whether a correlation between temporary workers and more serious medication errors exists in other hospital service areas; further research is needed to determine that, he says.

Other Johns Hopkins researchers involved in this study are Andrew D. Shore, Maureen Fahey, Laura Morlock and Peter J. Pronovost.

Related website Julius Cuong Pham:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/ emergencymedicine/Faculty/JHH/ Pham.html

4 2011 4 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• September August 15, 6, 2011

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combination of several well-known safety procedures could greatly reduce patient-harming errors in the use of radiation to treat cancer, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers.

Radiation oncologists use more than a dozen quality assurance checks to prevent radiotherapy errors, but until now, the Johns Hopkins researchers say, no one has systematically evaluated their effectiveness. Working with researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, the Johns Hopkins team gathered data on about 4,000 “near miss” events that occurred during 2008 and 2010 at the two institutions. They then narrowed the data set to 290 events in which errors occurred that—if they had not been caught in time— could have allowed serious harm to patients.

For each commonly used quality assurance, or QA, check, they determined the percentage of the potential patient-harming incidents that could have been prevented.

The group’s key finding was that a combination of approximately six common QA measures would have prevented more than 90 percent of the potential incidents.

“While clinicians in this field may be familiar with these quality assurance procedures, they may not have appreciated how effective they are in combination,” said Eric Ford, assistant professor of radiation oncology and molecular radiation sciences at

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Johns Hopkins, who presented the group’s findings Aug. 3 at the joint American Association of Physicists in Medicine and Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists annual meeting, held July 31 to Aug. 4 in Vancouver, Canada.

At a separate symposium at the meeting, also on Aug. 3, Ford and his colleagues made related recommendations for the standardization of radiotherapy accident investigation procedures.

Ionizing radiation, such as gamma radiation or proton beam radiation, has long been a staple in cancer treatment because it can efficiently create cell-killing DNA

Related website Study abstract:

www.aapm.org/meetings/amos2/ pdf/59-16302-92754-297.pdf breaks within tumors. The goal is to use it in ways that maximize the dose delivered to a tumor while keeping healthy tissue around the tumor as protected as possible by sharply focusing the radiation treatment area.

Unfortunately, the multistep complexity of radiation therapy and the numerous precision measurements its use entails can sometimes lead to mistakes, with patients getting too little radiation where it’s needed, or too much where it isn’t.

One QA check, a piece of hardware called an Electronic Portal Imaging Device, or EPID, is built into many radiotherapy-delivery machines and can provide a real-time X-ray-like image of the radiation coming through a patient. But Ford says that less than 1 percent of radiotherapy clinics use EPID because the software and training needed to operate it are mostly absent.

However, Ford says, the team’s research showed that another key to safety turned out to be a humble checklist of relatively low-tech measures, “assuming it’s used con-

sistently correctly, which it often isn’t.” The checklist includes before-treatment reviews of patient charts by both physicians and radiation physicists, who calculate the right dose of radiation.

Use of film-based radiation-dose measurements as an alternative to EPID and a mandatory “timeout” by the radiation therapist before radiation is turned on to doublecheck that the written treatment plan and doses match what’s on the radiation delivery machines were also on the list of the most effective QA procedures.

A common QA measure known as pretreatment IMRT (for intensity modulated radiation therapy), in which clinical staff do a “test run” of the radiotherapy device at its programmed strength with no patient present, ranked very low on the list because it would have prevented almost none of the potential incidents studied. “This is important to know, because pre-treatment IMRT often consumes a lot of staff time,” Ford said.

Ford and his Johns Hopkins colleague Stephanie Terezakis, a pediatric radiation oncologist and a contributor to the QA evaluation study, are members of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Working Group on the Prevention of Errors.

In an Aug. 3 symposium at the Vancouver meeting, the group made recommendations for a national radiotherapy incident reporting system. The group is developing a way to have treatment errors and near misses reported and sent to a central group for evaluation and dissemination to clinics, Ford says. “It could work in ways similar to how air and train accidents are reported to the National Transportation Safety Board,” he noted.

Other experts who contributed to the QA-check effectiveness study are Kendra Harris and Annette Souranis, both of Johns Hopkins; and Sasa Mutic, of Washington University in St. Louis.

The study was funded with a pilot research grant from Elekta Inc.

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September 6, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

South Africa Continued from page 1 “She knew everything about all of them— their specific behavioral problems, the last time they went to a clinic,” Mehta said.

“The organization didn’t have a database.

The information was all in her head, filed to memory.”

Mehta also admired the woman’s dedication.

“She was the center’s only nurse and spent just about all her time there,” Mehta said.

“She was a huge inspiration to me.”

Mehta and 13 other Johns Hopkins undergraduates traveled to South Africa this summer for the inaugural Public Health Studies Program Abroad in Cape Town, a partnership between Johns Hopkins, the University of Cape Town and five local nongovernmental organizations.

The program came as a result of the Johns Hopkins global health awards initiative, unveiled by President Ronald J. Daniels in March 2010. In total, 85 grants were created for students in all divisions to pursue international public health experiences and projects around the globe, including those building upon existing Johns Hopkins partnerships with universities and organizations.

As part of the initiative, Johns Hopkins developed undergraduate public health rotations in Uganda and South Africa, building upon the School of Medicine’s and School of Public Health’s 20-year relationships with the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, and the University of Cape Town.

The Cape Town program this summer was open to 14 undergraduates who had completed one to three years of university study with a focus on public health. The Uganda program will be launched during Intersession 2012 [see box]. Both are subsidized by the President’s Office.

The students departed on June 7 for

the six-week Cape Town program, which consisted primarily of one academic course at the University of Cape Town and one community-based learning course centered around the NGO placements where the students interned three days a week. The sites were chosen for their focus on health, including sites dedicated to tuberculosis, HIV and drug rehabilitation.

The three-credit course at the University of Cape Town, which met twice a week, provided the students with an overview of public health in South Africa. Using HIV/AIDS as a case study, the students reviewed cultural, political and health systems contributors to the current context. They also spent considerable time on the legacy of apartheid.

The program also included structured excursions, including a tour of the city, a walking tour of the Bo-Kaap district, a fullday trip to Cape Point and a trip to Robben Island. One weekend was spent in a homestay in Zwelethemba, outside Worcester.

They also spent two days as a group in Johannesburg, where they visited the Apartheid Museum, the Hector Pieterson Museum, and the former homes of Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu, and went on a bike tour of the Soweto township.

They next moved to Kruger National Park for a two-night stay, before arriving at the University of Cape Town on June 12, where they lived in the dormitory.

The goal was to have the students learn from the experience and contribute directly to the agencies.

Mehta certainly did. She, along with the three other student interns, created a monitoring and evaluation kit for the center, built a database and wrote, edited and designed fundraising materials.

“My supervisors were great,” she said. “We got to do substantive work, especially given that it was a six-week experience. They valued our input and perspective and made us feel like a valued part of the organization.”

Sarah Islam, a senior majoring in public health studies, interned at Kheth’Impilo, a

USAID-funded project that supports clinics in the area. Islam’s primary role was working with HIV/AIDS patient advocates on home visits to be sure that patients were adhering to their treatment regimen, and developing new materials, mostly brochures for an adolescent audience, about HIV prevention and testing.

Islam said that she leapt at the chance to study in South Africa.

“It seemed ideal, this opportunity to attend a university class and work in the field. Plus, I’ve always admired people like Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa,” she said. “I was just fascinated by their prophetlike lives, and how they gave up so much. I was particularly drawn to Mandela’s notion of forgiveness after apartheid.”

Her first time in the country, Islam said, she was struck by the stark economic disparities in and around Cape Town. The city was very metropolitan and developed, she said, but you didn’t have to travel far to witness hardships.

“Just outside the city in the townships is where I saw tin shacks, large garbage piles and lots of children, not in school,” she said.

“And all this was no less than half a mile from a golf course.”

5

At Kheth’Impilo, Islam shadowed the center’s staff and patient advocates on rounds and interviews where she saw firsthand the obstacles they face. In particular, the stigma attached to HIV deterred many males from being tested.

“Many of the challenges were cultural,” she said. “I was able to see how important the fields of sociology and anthropology are to public health practice. You can’t really tackle prevention until you understand how to approach it and ask the right questions to target groups.”

Lisa Folda, the program’s director and an academic adviser and lecturer in the Public Health Studies Program, accompanied the students on the trip. She called the program a resounding success in every aspect.

“The students’ curiosity enabled them to learn so much, and the experience clearly had a deep impact on all of them,” Folda said. “They were also able to make substantive contributions to these agencies in a relatively short span of time. Many students expressed a desire to return.”

A new batch of students will return to Cape Town next summer, and Folda said she anticipates the group to be even larger. G

Students wanted for public health program in Uganda

A

s part of its effort to provide more overseas learning opportunities, the Public Health Studies Program will host an upcoming study abroad program titled Uganda: Childhood Health and Society.

During winter intersession 2012, 10 students will study at Makerere University in Uganda in a unique peer-to-peer learning experience. Students will explore the strengths and challenges of health and education programs serving children in the country’s urban and rural settings.

Tentative dates are Jan. 3 to Jan. 27.

The three-credit program will include clinic- and school-based site visits, a rural home stay and a visit to the Rakai Health Sciences Program.

Students are invited to attend the 2012 Intersession Study Abroad in Uganda information session at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, in the Public Health Studies conference room at 3505 N. Charles St. For more information, go to web.jhu .edu/study_abroad/programs/intersession .html or contact Mieka Smart at msmart@ jhu.edu.

Researchers decode workings of mysterious critical TB drug

By Tim Parsons

Bloomberg School of Public Health

F

or nearly 60 years, Pyrazinamide has been used in conjunction with other medications to treat tuberculosis, but scientists did not fully understand how the drug killed TB bacteria. Pyrazinamide, or PZA, plays a unique role in shortening the duration of current TB therapy to six months and is used frequently to treat multidrug-resistant TB. A new study, led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, suggests that PZA binds to a specific protein named ribosomal protein S1, or RpsA, and inhibits trans-translation, a process that enables the TB bacteria to survive under stressful conditions. Their

findings, published in the Aug. 11 edition of Science Express, could lead to new targets for developing more-effective anti-TB drugs.

“PZA is a peculiar and unconventional drug that works very differently from common antibiotics that mainly kill growing bacteria. PZA primarily kills nongrowing bacteria called persisters, which are not susceptible to common antibiotics,” said Ying Zhang, senior author of the study and a professor in the Bloomberg School’s W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. “While PZA works very well in the body against TB, it has no effect on the growing bacteria in a test tube, which has made it difficult to understand just how it works.”

PZA is converted to the active form of pyrazinoic acid by an amidase enzyme

also identified by Zhang’s group, in 1996.

Through a series of experiments, Zhang and his colleagues determined that pyrazinoic acid binds to RpsA, a vital protein in the trans-translation process. Trans-translation is essential for cell survival under stress conditions. Partially synthesized proteins that are produced under stress conditions are toxic to the bacterial cell. It has developed a mechanism called trans-translation to add a short peptide tag to the partially produced toxic proteins so that they can be recognized for degradation by proteases to relieve the toxicity. Inhibition of trans-translation by PZA explains why the drug can eradicate persisting organisms, and thereby shorten the therapy.

“There is renewed interest in PZA because it is the only drug that cannot be replaced among the current TB drugs without com-

promising the efficacy of therapy. The identification of the drug target RpsA not only offers a new resistance mechanism to PZA but also opens up a way for designing a new generation of antibiotics that target persister bacteria for improved treatment of chronic and persistent infections, including TB,” Zhang said.

The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from Fudan University and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In addition to Ying Zhang, the authors are Wanliang Shi, Xuelian Zhang, Xin Jiang, Haiming Yuan, Jong Seok Lee, Clifton E. Barry III, Honghai Wang and Wenhong Zhang.

Funding for the research was provided by NIAID and the National Key Technologies Research and Development Program of China.

Shambhala Training

Level One: The Art of Being Human

JHU Affiliates and Neighbors, join us at our 7th Annual CONVERGENCE!

Fri Sept 9th 7:30pm-9pm Sat Sept 10th 8:30am-5pm Level One provides a thorough introduction to mindfulness-awareness meditation and Shambhala principles. Discover the path to developing fearlessness, confidence and gentleness toward ourselves and our world.

John Hopkins University-Community Block Party FREE fun, food, & prizes!

Date: Sunday, September 18, 2011 Time: 2pm – 5pm Location: 3200 Block of St. Paul Street Convergence is for JHU affiliates and residents of the neighborhoods surrounding the Homewood campus.

For more information: Email: commrelations@jhu.edu Phone: 443-287-9900 Follow us on Twitter: @JHUConvergence

Baltimore Shambhala Meditation Center 3501 Saint Paul Street (Marylander Building) Baltimore, MD 21218 410-243-7200 info@baltimoreshambhala.org

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6 2011 6 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• September August 15, 6, 2011

Researchers develop new way to predict heart transplant survival

By Stephanie Desmon

Johns Hopkins Medicine

J

ohns Hopkins researchers say that they have developed a formula to predict which heart transplant patients are at greatest risk of death in the year following their surgeries, information that could help medical teams figure out who would benefit most from the small number of available organs.

“Donor hearts are a limited resource,” said John V. Conte, a professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the senior author of the study.

“Now we have a simple-to-use tool that is highly predictive of survival after a heart transplant, and can help guide organ allocation decisions.”

Conte and his colleagues, writing in the September issue of Annals of Thoracic Surgery, pulled together a series of risk factors already associated with poor outcomes, such as age, race, gender, the cause of a patient’s heart failure and whether he was on dialysis, and then assigned a number of points to each factor. The sum of those points created a score. The higher the score, the higher the risk of death one year after transplant.

Some factors were weighted more heavily than others, such as female gender (three points), African-American race (three points) and the need for dialysis in the time between being put on the transplant waiting list and getting a transplant (five points).

Patients with the lowest scores—between zero and two—had a 92.5 percent chance of being alive 12 months after surgery. Patients with so-called IMPACT scores—an acronym for Index for Mortality Prediction After Cardiac Transplantation—above 20 points had a less than 50 percent chance of survival one year after surgery. Every point on the scale increased the chance of death within one year by 14 percent.

To develop and test the validity of

IMPACT, Conte and his team analyzed data provided by the United Network of Organ Sharing comprising information from all heart transplants—21,378 of them—conducted in the United States between 1987 and 2010.

More research is needed to learn what role is played by factors other than the recipient’s risks, Conte says. Results of the study suggest, for example, that an organ coming from a donor over the age of 50, or one that has been outside the body for more than four hours, also increases the risk of death in the recipient, he says.

More than 3,000 people are on the waiting list for a heart transplant in the United States, and many will die before they can get one. Only about 2,000 heart transplants are performed in the United States annually. Currently, determining who gets an available heart takes into account how long a patient has been on the list and how sick he is. There is no standardized consideration of other factors that may predict patients’ outcomes, as is the case in determining which patients receive available lungs for transplant. Incorporating the IMPACT score would add another

dimension to the conversation about who gets a heart transplant, says Conte, surgical director of the Heart Transplant Program at Johns Hopkins.

“As clinicians, we make an educated assessment of what the risk is going to be,” he said. “This tool provides a quantitative way to assess the risk.”

Other researchers involved in the study, all from Johns Hopkins, are Jeremiah G. Allen, George Arnaoutakis, Timothy J. George, Stuart D. Russell and Ashish S. Shah. Eric S. Weiss, a former general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins, was also involved.

Heart attack

to slow after that age to roughly 5 percent a year, similar to the rate throughout the lifetime in women.

The data suggest that something biological may be happening to younger men that is harming their hearts. “Instead of looking at menopause, what we should be looking at is what is happening biologically to men over time,” Vaidya said. “We don’t have an answer. Good research always creates more questions.”

Rapid progress in understanding the effects of aging on cells—most notably, the concept of shrinking telomere length—could account for some of the gender differences, Vaidya suggested. Telomeres are found at the end of each chromosome in the body and act as shields that protect important genes from assault.

Telomeres shrink every time they are copied, which occurs every time cells divide. As telomeres get shorter, there is the chance that the genes at the end of the chromosome will get damaged; if they do, they will not recover, leading to the damaging effects of aging.

Such may be the case in heart disease mortality. Previous studies have shown that telomere lengths are similar in male and female babies but become significantly shorter in young adult men as compared to young adult women; this difference could account for

the finding that men have increased risk of cardiovascular mortality at younger ages. At later ages, telomeres shorten at similar rates in men and women, a change that could account for their similar heart disease mortality rate increases during older ages.

The researchers also found good news: Each successive birth cohort had lower total and heart disease mortality over their lifetime, owing to better nutrition, lifestyle, preventive care, drugs and other heart disease treatments.

Meanwhile, Vaidya said, physicians need to assess cardiovascular health in women from an early age and institute healthy heart habits and preventive care. “Special attention should be paid to heart health in women due to their overall lifetime risk,” he said, “not just after the time of menopause.”

Other Johns Hopkins researchers involved in the study are Diane M. Becker, Rasika A. Mathias and Pamela Ouyang. G

Continued from page 1 in England, Wales and the United States between 1916 and 1945. They followed similar groups of people as they aged and found that at the time of menopause in each cohort, there were no increases in female mortality rates above and beyond the steady curve that is expected from aging. Vaidya said that his team also found that the number of women who die each year from heart disease increases exponentially at roughly 8 percent per year. The statistical death rate curve stays steady throughout life, he said, increasing risk annually in the same way compound interest increases a bank account balance over time. Absolute mortality—the actual number of deaths—increases at all ages with no abrupt change at menopause.

Also surprising, Vaidya said, is what he and his team learned about men. It has long been known that men are at risk of heart disease mortality from a much earlier age than women. Vaidya said he found that the mortality curve for men under the age of 45 actually increases by 30 percent a year, only

Related website Dhananjay Vaidya:

www.hopkinsmedicine.org/gim/ faculty/vaidya.html

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September 6, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

7

To clear digital waste, ‘think green’ JHU researchers say

By Phil Sneiderman

Homewood

ROYCE FADDIS / JHU CREATIVE SERVICES

A

digital dumping ground lies inside most computers, a wasteland where old, rarely used and unneeded files pile up. Such data can deplete precious storage space, bog down the system’s efficiency and sap its energy. Conventional rubbish trucks can’t clear this invisible byte blight.

But two researchers say that real-world trash management tactics point the way to a new era of computer cleansing.

In a recent paper published on the scholarly website arXiv (pronounced “archive”), Johns Hopkins University computer scientists Ragib Hasan and Randal Burns have suggested familiar “green” solutions to the digital waste data problems: reduce, reuse, recycle, recover and dispose.

“In everyday life, ‘waste’ is something we don’t need or don’t want or can’t use anymore, so we look for ways to reuse it, recycle it or get rid of it,” said Hasan, an adjunct assistant professor of computer science. “We decided to apply the same concepts to the waste data that builds up inside of our computers and storage devices.”

With this goal in mind, Hasan and Burns, an associate professor of computer science, first needed to figure out what kind of computer data might qualify as “waste.” They settled on four categories: • Unintentional waste data, created as a side effect or byproduct of a process, with no purpose.

• Used data, which has served its purpose and is no longer useful to the owner.

• Degraded data, which has deteriorated to a point where it is no longer useful.

• Unwanted data, which was never useful to the computer user in the first place.

The researchers found no shortage of files and computer code that fit into these categories. “Our everyday data processing activi-

Real-world trash management tactics can be put to work to solve today’s digital waste data problems.

ties create massive amounts of data,” their paper states. “Like physical waste and trash, unwanted and unused data also pollutes the digital environment … . We propose using the lessons from real-life waste management in handling waste data.”

The researchers say that a user may not even be aware that much of this waste is piling up and impairing the computer’s efficiency. “If you have a lot of debris in the street, traffic slows down,” Hasan said. “And if you have too much waste data in your computer, your applications may slow down because they don’t have the space they require.”

Even though data storage devices have become less expensive, Hasan said, hard drives can still run out of room. In addition, Flash-based systems, such as memory cards, possess a limited number of write-erase cycles, and frequent deleting of waste data can shorten their life span.

How then, can the clutter inside computers be curbed? To address the problem, Hasan and Burns devised a five-tier pyramid

of options, inspired by real-world waste reduction tactics: • Reduce: At the top of the pyramid, the most preferred option is to cut back on the amount of waste data that flows into a computer to begin with. This can be done, the Johns Hopkins researchers say, by encouraging software makers to design their programs to leave fewer unneeded files behind after a program is installed. To coax the software makers to comply, computers could be set up to “punish” programs that do excessive data dumping; such programs would be forced to run more slowly.

• Reuse: Software makers also could break their complex strings of code into smaller modules that could serve double duty. If two programs are found to utilize identical modules, one might be eliminated in a process called “data deduplication.”

This is the second-best option in the wastemanagement pyramid, the researchers said.

• Recycle: Just as discarded plastic can be refashioned into new soda bottles, some files could be repurposed. For example, when old software is about to be removed, the computer could look for useful pieces of the program that could be put to work in other applications.

• Recover: Even when waste data can’t be reused or recycled, these digital leftovers might yield information worth studying after private identification details are removed.

In their paper, the researchers suggest that “obsolete data can also be mined to gather patterns about historical trends.”

• Dispose: Sitting at the bottom of the pyramid, this is the least desirable option, the researchers say, and the messiest, when you consider the energy used to completely eliminate old files or the real-world pollution created when one destroys an old hard drive or other form of storage media. However, the scientists say, one solution could be a “digital landfill.” This could be accomplished with a “semivolatile storage device” that would

provide a temporary home to data that is designed to automatically fade away over time, freeing up space for the next tenants.

Although the research paper has shined a spotlight on the digital waste issue, Hasan acknowledges that most computer users haven’t given much thought to the clutter piling up in their laptops, particularly when extra storage media and devices are relatively cheap. But, he pointed out, more users are moving toward “cloud” computing, in which files are sent over the Internet to a site where an enormous number of files can be stored.

As this trend continues, such central storage sites could find themselves drowning in waste data. “Someday, this could become a problem as we begin using up these storage resources,” Hasan said. “Maybe we should start talking about it now.”

While working on this paper at Johns Hopkins, Hasan was supported by a National Science Foundation grant to the Computing Research Association for its Computing Innovation Fellows Project. Although he retains an affiliation with Johns Hopkins, Hasan recently assumed the post of assistant professor at the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The research paper by Hasan and Burns can be read online at arxiv.org/PS_cache/ arxiv/pdf/1106/1106.6062v2.pdf.

Related websites JHU Department of Computer Science:

www.cs.jhu.edu Ragib Hasan:

www.ragibhasan.com Randal Burns:

hssl.cs.jhu.edu/~randal

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8 2011 8 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• September August 15, 6, 2011

September 6, 2011 • THE GAZETTE

9

Hopkins Symphony Orchestra announces 30th anniversary lineup

By Nicoleen Willson

Hopkins Symphony Orchestra

T

he Hopkins Symphony Orchestra has announced its 30th anniversary season, which begins in October. Jed Gaylin, now in his 19th season as music director of the HSO, will lead the orchestra through its four symphonic concerts in Shriver Hall Auditorium on the Homewood campus.

At 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22, pianist Katie Mahan joins the orchestra for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1, part of a Slavicthemed program that also features Dvorak’s sunny Symphony No. 8 and an early folkloristic work by Witold Lutoslawski.

On Saturday, Dec. 3, the Johns Hopkins Choral Society and the Goucher College

Chorus will join the HSO for Debussy’s Nocturnes and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music. The 8 p.m. concert will conclude with Tchaikovsky’s rousing Symphony No. 4.

At 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 4, pianist Clipper Erickson will return to the HSO to perform Barber’s Piano Concerto. Also on the program is Stravinsky’s Petrouchka.

In the season finale, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 22, the HSO will present Brahms’ Symphony No. 1, along with the winner or winners of the HSO biannual Concerto Competition. This will be the first time concerto winners will be invited to perform with the HSO on the Shriver Hall Auditorium stage.

The Hopkins Symphony Chamber Orchestra will offer the following performances during the 2011–2012 season: Guest conductor Jason Love will conduct

Copland’s Quiet City, along with works by Daugherty, Elgar and Bartok, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20, in the Bunting-Meyerhoff Interfaith Center. Admission to this concert is free.

At 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19, Vladimir Lande returns to the Chamber Orchestra to conduct Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, in the Mattin Center’s Second Decade Society Room.

Lande also will conduct the Chamber Orchestra in its final concert, which will feature Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 1, in the Mattin Center’s Second Decade Society Room.

The orchestra’s 20th Annual Concert for Children and Families will feature excerpts from Stravinsky’s Petrouchka and an instrumental “petting zoo,” inviting the audience onstage to meet the musicians and see their

instruments up close. The event will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 3. The 2011–2012 HSO Biannual Concerto Competition will take place in closed auditions on Saturday, Feb. 4.

The only community orchestra in the city of Baltimore, the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra is a program of The Johns Hopkins University. Each year, the HSO offers four symphonic concerts, three chamber concerts and a special children’s program.

Orchestra members are Johns Hopkins students, alumni, faculty and staff, as well as Baltimore-Washington area musicians.

HSO programs are supported by grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For tickets and more information on concerts, call 410-516-6542, email hso@jhu.edu or go to www.jhu.edu/jhso.

CT angiography in asymptomatic patients shows no clear benefit Johns Hopkins Medicine

C

oronary computed tomographic angiography, which can detect plaque buildup in heart vessels, is sometimes used as a screening tool to assess the risk for a heart attack. However, the usefulness of the test on low-risk patients who do not have coronary symptoms, such as chest pain, has been unclear.

In the first large-population study to assess the impact of the test on physicians and patients, Johns Hopkins cardiologists found that having CT angiography leads to more prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering medications and aspirin, as well as more stress tests, nuclear medicine scans and invasive catheterizations. However, the incidence of heart attacks or cardiac death among people in the study was the same, whether or not patients had a CT angiography test.

“There was no difference in cardiac events at 90 days or at 18 months between the group that had positive findings on the CT angiogram screening compared to the group that did not have the test,” said lead author John W. McEvoy, a Johns Hopkins heart specialist. “Our findings suggest that low-risk patients without symptoms don’t benefit in the short term from knowing whether or not plaque has been detected using CT angiography. However, their physicians may be inclined to be more aggressive with prescriptions or follow-up tests,” McEvoy said.

For the study, published online May 23 in Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers compared two similar groups of 1,000 asymptomatic patients who were taking part in a health-screening program in South Korea. Patients in one group had coronary CT angiography, while a matched control group did not. The baseline heart disease risk factors were the same in both groups, and none of the patients had chest pain or other symptoms. The mean age of the participants was 50, and 63 percent were men. All were given the standard of care and were advised on ways to lower their risk.

Of the 1,000 patients who had CT angiography, 215 had a positive result, meaning that waxy plaque deposits were seen in their vessels. As a result, they were much more likely to have more aggressive care, according to the study findings.

After 18 months, the patients with plaque detected on the test were 10 times more likely to have been sent for an exercise stress test, a nuclear medicine scan or a cardiac catheterization, compared with those patients who didn’t have the test. Also, they were three times more likely to be taking a statin medication and four times more likely to be on aspirin therapy.

After 18 months, one person in the CT

angiography group developed unstable angina, while one person in the control group had a fatal heart attack.

“Our data are consistent with current guidelines by the American Heart Association that screening CT angiography should not play a role for low-risk patients who do not have symptoms,” said Roger Blumenthal, a co-author of the study, who is a professor of medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease.

“Before we advocate for a particular screening test, we need to demonstrate its potential benefit and define the patient populations for whom the test would be useful,” said Blumenthal, who added that a CT angiography test can cost between $600 and $1,000.

CT angiography uses radiation, and patients can have allergic reactions to the contrast material. Taking medications, such as aspirin and statins, and invasive procedures, such as catheterizations, also pose some risks. That is why the benefits and the risks need to be carefully evaluated.

Johns Hopkins heart specialist Michael Blaha, also a co-author, stresses that the findings apply only to people considered at low risk of cardiovascular events, such as a heart attack, in the next 10 years.

“There does seem to be a role for CT angiography in patients who have chest pain, particularly in the emergency room setting. There, CT angiography offers the opportunity to exclude atherosclerosis as the cause of the symptoms, which can be very helpful in the triage of patients,” Blaha said.

The senior author of the study, HyukJae Chang, is a cardiologist at the Yonsei University Health System in Seoul, South Korea, whose large data set was used in the study. He asked Blumenthal to collaborate on the research.

“This was a unique opportunity to analyze the data and look at the downstream impact of the test on physicians and patients,” Blumenthal said.

CT angiography is different from a test called calcium scoring, which has been established as a useful way to assess risk among people with an intermediate risk of a heart attack within 10 years. CT angiography is more sensitive than calcium scoring, showing not just calcified areas of plaque in heart arteries but also the fatty deposits that form earlier and have not hardened yet. However, CT angiography requires an injection of contrast material, delivers more radiation than calcium scoring and is more expensive.

In a commentary accompanying the study, Michael S. Lauer, of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, said that the study serves as a powerful reminder that testing without evidence of a benefit “can lead to exposure to further medical tests and treatments, each of which carries its own risk.

“We cannot simply assume that just because a screening test predicts clinical outcomes, interventions necessarily will prevent them,” Lauer added in his commentary.

The Johns Hopkins authors say that more study is needed, including continued assessment of the population in this study.

“We need longer follow-up because statin and aspirin therapies have been shown

to be beneficial in primary prevention of heart attacks in older patients with multiple cardiac risk factors. In five to 10 years, these interventions among the patients who had positive findings on CT angiography may ultimately show some benefit. Right now, we just don’t know,” McEvoy said. “A randomized, controlled trial should be considered to provide more information.”

will kirk / homewoodphoto.jhu.edu

By Ellen Beth Levitt

At Harford Heights Elementary School, President Ron Daniels talks with kindergartner Forest Spriggs.

School uniform drive receives strong support from JHU community

By Karen Clark Salinas

Office of Work, Life and Engagement

T

he Johns Hopkins Adopt-a-Student Uniform Drive, an initiative designed to help low-income families meet the financial challenge of mandatory school uniforms, provided 120 students in 23 Baltimore City Public Schools with uniforms in its inaugural year.

The initial goal of the drive was to sponsor 30 students with two uniforms each, at the cost of $40 per student. Employees of the university and health system donated quickly after seeing a request for help, and a second set of 30 students was posted on the Office of Work, Life and Engagement’s website and rapidly “adopted.” Given the overwhelming response, Work, Life and Engagement, with the support of the Black Faculty and Staff Association, asked the school system to share the names of an

additional 60 students. In all, $4,800 was raised.

At Harford Heights Elementary School, located at 1919 N. Broadway, Johns Hopkins President Ron Daniels was on hand to help distribute the uniforms and wish the students good luck in the upcoming school year. He acknowledged the efforts of Johns Hopkins students, faculty and staff who support the education of Baltimore’s young people and said, “I am thankful that our partnership with the Baltimore City Public Schools grows stronger year after year.”

The uniform drive is an outgrowth of the Johns Hopkins Takes Time for Schools Program, a service partnership that allows university staff to share their talents with on-site community service opportunities for up to two paid-leave days each fiscal year.

For more information about the Adopt-aStudent Uniform Drive and the Johns Hopkins Takes Time for Schools Program, go to www .hopkinsworklife.org.

10 2011 10 THE THE GAZETTE GAZETTE •• September August 15, 6, 2011 P O S T I N G S

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48788 49246 49237 49238 49287 49426 49431 49439 49440 49447 49450 49467 49487

Program Manager, CTY Student Payroll Specialist Multimedia Systems Specialist Research Technologist Systems Network Administrator LAN Administrator IRC Technical Assistant Associate Director, Research Administration Research Technologist School Based Transformation Facilitator Youth Development Facilitator Foundation Relations Officer Instructional Technologist

Schools of Public Health and Nursing 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

49496 49267 49276 49279 49316 49317 49436 48853 48873 48989 49104 49151 49217 49218 49223 49348 49471 49474

Research Service Analyst Executive Specialist Employee Assistance Clinician Employee Assistance Clinician Sr. Financial Analyst Sr. Programmer Analyst Software Engineer Software Engineer Network Security Engineer Software Engineer Sr. Internal Auditor HR Specialist ERP Business Analyst, HR/Payroll Sr. ERP Business Analyst, HR/Payroll Sr. ERP Business Analyst, Supply Chain/SRM Sr. Financial Analyst Gift Processing Supervisor Programmer Analyst

44648 Assay Technician 44488 Research Technologist 43425 Research Nurse 43361 Research Scientist 44554 Administrative Specialist 44684 Biostatistician 42973 Clinical Outcomes Coordinator 43847 Sr. Programmer Analyst 45106 Employment Assistant/Receptionist 45024 Payroll and HR Services Coordinator 42939 Research Data Coordinator 42669 Data Assistant 44802 Budget Specialist 44242 Academic Program Administrator 44661 Sr. Research Program Coordinator 45002 Research Observer

48702 48705 48824 49059 49090 49094 49119 49125 49150 49167 49186 49242 49249 49325

Immunogenetics Technologist Trainee Clinic Manager Occupational Therapist Research Navigator Nurse Physician Assistant IT Specialist Technical Facility Manager Research Program Assistant II Research Program Assistant Sr. Financial Manager Research Technologist Data Assistant Disclosure Specialist 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 HSO Auditions — Auditions for the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra will be held from Thursday, Sept. 8, through Saturday, Sept. 10.

B O A R D

The audition is open to all Johns Hopkins students, faculty, staff and alumni and to community members. Learn more about HSO at www.jhu.edu/jhso.

For more audition information, and to sign up for a time, go to www.jhu.edu/jhso/ about/audition_info.html.

Greater focus needed on mental health triage in disaster response

By Michael Pena

Berman Institute of Bioethics

J

ohns Hopkins bioethicists say that disaster-response planning has generally overlooked the special needs of people who suffer from pre-existing and serious mental conditions. Survivors already diagnosed with schizophrenia, dementia, addictions and bipolar disorder, they point out, are vulnerable long before a disaster strikes.

In a commentary appearing in the June issue of the journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, faculty from the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics say that more attention should be devoted to triaging and managing those already identified as having mental disorders. This group must be given just as much consideration during the planning stage as those who will have physical injuries and more obvious anxiety-related reactions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. “Disasters limit the availability of resources, and these groups are especially vulnerable because they cannot advocate for themselves,” said Peter Rabins, a core faculty member at the Berman Institute.

“But little attention has been given to the ethical challenges that arise when resources are limited, to the importance of identifying these ethical issues ahead of time and for establishing mechanisms to address these moral dilemmas.”

In the article, Rabins and Nancy Kass, deputy director for public health at the Berman Institute, say that many of the mentally ill are dependent on caretakers and aren’t fully capable of making sound decisions on their own. Emergency planners are ethically obligated to ensure that immediate and adequate mental health services are provided alongside more traditional triage, the bioethicists state.

“Disaster-response managers and those on the front line are well aware that survivors may succumb to PTSD and other mental disorders,” said Rabins, the Richman Family Professor for Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “But sudden devastation also puts people with both lifelong and acquired intellectual disabilities in grave danger as well.”

Whether a disaster is natural, as in an earthquake, or is caused by man, as in war, the ethical obligation to treat those with mental disabilities in the aftermath is just as important as aiding those with flesh wounds, Rabins says.

One study the authors cite found that 22 percent of Hurricane Katrina survivors who had pre-existing mental disorders faced limited or terminated treatment after the disaster.

Beyond patients with dementia and others who are mentally impaired, the authors say that this vulnerable group includes those who suffer from chronic pain and may be dependent on opiates, as well as substance abusers who receive treatment in the form of powerful sedatives classified as benzodiazepines. Withdrawal can be life-threatening, the authors note.

The authors acknowledge that drug and alcohol addicts are often seen as unworthy of focused attention during a state of emergency—and scarce resources—because their condition is widely perceived as “selfinflicted.” But distinguishing between

conditions that individuals have or don’t have control over “is neither practical nor ethically justifiable, and in emergencies becomes wholly impractical,” the authors assert.

The authors recommend that as a first step disaster-response planners proactively identify and anticipate what needs might arise by meeting with clinicians and public health officials. Those discussions would then guide comprehensive advance planning.

Because licensed practitioners will likely be scarce immediately after a disaster, planners should consider training emergency medical technicians and other first-responders to identify those with pre-existing mental conditions and recognize those in need of prompt attention, they say.

Acknowledging that first-responders may be spread thin post-disaster, the authors suggest that planners also consider turning to volunteers from the community, such as religious leaders and trained civilians, to distribute basic materials and temporary services to at-risk individuals.

To further make the best use of limited resources, the authors say that broad-based primary interventions, such as psychological debriefings, might be a lower priority than implementing potentially more effective “secondary prevention” measures, which seek to reduce long-term ill outcomes.

In particular, EMTs could be asked to responsibly distribute sedatives to manage short-term anxiety-related symptoms. But the authors say that policies would need to be developed to expand the list of those authorized to prescribe such drugs, which is strictly regulated by federal law.

The authors note that sedatives were distributed in New York City immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The authors also recommend that planners focus on ethical challenges likely to arise when assisting the mentally disabled during and after a disaster. These challenges may be partially addressed by adopting a “crisis standard of care” consistent with guidelines from the Institute of Medicine, they say.

Special attention should be given to assisted-living and long-term-care facilities that house many residents with significant cognitive impairment, such as dementia. If these people are forced to evacuate, they may not fully comprehend the crisis and may be at risk for extreme emotional distress.

Hence, disaster-preparedness training for first-responders should also include information about how to interact with such individuals in a way that respects their dignity, the authors say.

More broadly, criteria for setting priorities and the allocation of scarce resources can be based on objective factors, such as the likelihood of response to intervention, the prevention of chronic health problems and the impact on public safety, the authors explain.

In addition to Kass, the co-authors of the commentary are Lainie Rutkow and Jon Vernick, both of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and James Hodge Jr., of Arizona State University.

The commentary was published online ahead of print at www.liebertonline.com/ doi/pdfplus/10.1089/bsp.2010.0068.

September 6, 2011 • THE GAZETTE M A R K E T P L A C E

Classifieds APARTMENTS/HOUSES FOR RENT

1BA EOG RH, updated, 1,600 sq ft, hdwd flrs, W/D, patio. $1,200/mo. 443-415-3160.

Bayview, rehabbed 3BR, 2BA house nr campus, hdwd and ceramic flrs, contemporary kitchen/BAs, dedicated prkng. $1,450/ mo. George, 410-529-9644.

Rodgers Forge/Towson, 3BR EOG TH w/ new kitchen, no pets/no smoking, avail October 1. $1,800/mo. totalnsolutions@ yahoo.com.

Bayview, 2BR, 2BA house, den, clean concrete backyd w/storage, walk to Hopkins Bayview campus, grocery stores or sm shopping center, nr 95/895. 301-661-5627.

Upper Waverly, charming 2BR, 1BA apt nr the 33rd Street Y. $750/mo. Andrea, 410905-4036.

Bayview, 4BR, 2BA house nr campus, spacious living rm, dining rm, W/D, AC, hdwd flrs, fin’d bsmt, lg deck. $1,400/mo + utils.

443-386-9146 or yifanfrances@yahoo.com.

Bayview, 1BR, 1BA apt, 2 mins to campus, dining rm, kitchen, AC, hdwd flrs, lg deck,. $420-$450/mo + utils. 443-386-8471 or fanauh2o@yahoo.com.

Bolton Hill, 4BR, 2BA house, hdwd flrs, spacious kitchen and BRs, walk to Hopkins shuttle. $2,100/mo + utils. 443-540-0713 or 1417johnstreet@gmail.com.

Butcher’s Hill, 2BR or 1BR + den apt, 1 full BA, recently renov’d, open kitchen, microwave/stove/oven, dw, W/D in unit, sec sys, storage, on-street prkng, 4 blks south of JHMI; call for pics or viewing. $1,100/mo + utils. 410-336-6118.

Butcher’s Hill/Patterson Park, fully furn’d, bright and sunny RH, 1BR + office, all appls, hdwd flrs, enclos’d patio. $975/mo + utils. richardson1886@gmail.com or http://jhmirental.vflyer.com/home/flyer/ home/3259137.

Cross Keys Village, 3BR, 2.5BA TH, access to swimming pools and tennis courts, avail November 1. maison.my@gmail.com.

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

Jefferson Court/JHMI, 2BR, 2.5BA TH, steps to medical campus, hdwd flrs, W/D, CAC, rear yd, off-street prkng. $1,200/mo + utils. drniabanks@gmail.com.

Locust Point (1325 Cooksie St), 2BR, 2BA house. $1,300/mo + utils. 410-409-5136, 410-409-5137 or tmsroka@verizon.net.

Owings Mills, 2BR, 2BA condo, W/D, walk-in closets, storage, prkng, swimming pool/tennis court privileges, backs to woods, conv to metro, walk to grocery sm pets negotiable ($250 nonrefundable deposit), 1-yr lease. $1,250/mo. 410-336-7952 or ljohnsto@mail.roanoke.edu.

Patterson Park, lovely 2BR (or optional 3BR), 1.5BA TH, W/D, CAC, fin’d bsmt, on JHH shuttle stop, pets OK case by case, back patio, jacuzzi tub, no smoking. $2,000/ mo + utils. michelle.l.barnett@gmail.com.

Perry Hall, spacious 3BR condo, 2 full BAs, dining rm, living rm, kitchen, new W/D, balcony, elevator, great bldg/location, no pets, refs req’d. $1,300/mo + sec dep (1 mo).

410-256-8563.

Remington, 3BR, 1BA house, lg kitchen, laundry, garden, 15-min walk to Homewood campus. $1,200/mo. 410-935-3642.

Remington/Hampden, immaculate 3BR,

Newly renov’d 1BR bsmt apt in Victorian mansion, AC, W/D in bldg, nr JHH/JHU/ Bayview. $675/mo + utils + sec dep. 410426-8045 or rent5214anthony@verizon.net.

New TH conveniently nr JHH/SPH/SoN, 2,400 sq ft, 3 lg BRs w/adjoining BAs, perfect for 3 roommates. $2,000/mo + utils.

410-592-4854 or 508nchester@comcast .net.

HOUSES FOR SALE

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. 443-610-0236 or tziporachai@juno.com.

Homewood, beautiful 4BR, 2.5BA Victorian house, 15-min bike ride to campus. Becki, 410-913-8345.

Mt Washington, lovely 3BR, 2.5BA condo TH, fp, dw, W/D, new gas range, hdwd flrs, patio, updated windows, nr reputable public school, community has lg pool and priv prkng. $154,900. Michelle, 443-248-0602.

Old Homeland, 3BR, 2BA house on quiet street nr JHU, big fenced yd, Roland Park schools.

443-286-1233 or downwardfacingdog8@ hotmail.com.

ROOMMATES WANTED

F wanted to share new 3BR, 3.5BA TH, 2 blks to JHMI, sec sys. $550/mo + utils. 410979-0721 or grant.tz@comcast.net.

F nonsmoker wanted to share spacious 2BR, 2BA apt in Pikesville area (the Estates), .2 mi to Old Court metro. $605/mo + utils.

443-801-5363 or odavis9@yahoo.com.

F wanted for furn’d rm in 3BR, 1.5BA Remington house, 3-min walk to Homewood campus. $550/mo incl all utils. Lvf3116@ yahoo.com.

Sublet: Rm avail in apt in the Charles, across street from the library, share w/2 easygoing F grad students. $510/mo incl hot water, heat, gas; share electricity and Internet. xumimi1987@hotmail.com.

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

Share gorgeous Hampden house, BR and BA, office, garage, gardens, on quiet street 8 blks to the Avenue/JHU shuttle. $1,000/mo.

304-282-3836.

Rm w/priv patio in Upper Fells Point (Pratt and Wolfe), completely rehabbed. $650/mo

HICKORY HEIGHTS WYMAN COURT Just Renovated! A lovely hilltop setting Beech Ave. adj. to JHU!

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

on Hickory Avenue in Hampden!

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

Shown by appointment 410.764.7776 www.BrooksManagementCompany.com

Slim Sandwich, Bag of Chips & Soda $4.99

Voted Baltimore’s Best Deli 410‐338‐4048 f‐410‐338‐4049 www.thesandwichhut.webs.com 18 W. 24th St., 21218

Fast Delivery!

11

incl all utils, cable, Internet. ryanwhiggins@ gmail.com.

F looking for studio or 1BR apt nr Montgomery County Campus, can also share apt w/fellow F student. 609-275-1591 or trehan_sanjeev@hotmail.com.

CARS FOR SALE

Occasional babysitter wanted for 11-yr-old boy, usually later afternoons/eves, Roland Park, 5 mins to Homewood campus, car and excel refs req’d. 410-458-3265.

’03 Toyota Echo, automatic, red, 4-dr, CD player, surround sound, 33mpg (city) or 39mpg (highway), 71K mi, in good cond. $5,900. echo.toyota.2003@gmail.com.

ITEMS FOR SALE

Weber gas grill, two burners, in good cond. $20. 410-561-5334 (eve).

Music cassette tapes (lot of 276), fitness chair, 21" TV, 35mm cameras, projection screen w/tripod, office desk file units, decorative items, dining rm set, full-length silver fox coat, new exterior French doors, more; pics avail. 443-824-2198 or saleschick2011@hotmail.com.

Reserved prkng space at Canterbury and University. $40/mo. 520-245-2853.

Italian tutor wanted, intermediate level, pref native spkr, start October 1. tarminl@ aol.com.

Golden cleaning service, reliable, economical, pet-friendly (I’ll walk your dog, too), one time or wkly contract. Lynn, 443-5283637.

Seeking exp’d seamstress who can make Indian-style dresses (saris, lehengas, etc).

Lagom335@hotmail.com.

Ikea Ektorp sofa, lt brown, in great cond. $200/best offer. christineepps0@msn.com.

Piano lessons by experienced teacher w/ Peabody doctorate, all levels/ages welcome.

410-662-7951.

Longaberger canisters, set of 3, baskets, lids, protectors, tie-ons, $150; dining rm set, $1,300. spendypants@gmail.com.

Piano/music appreciation lessons by graduate student in Mt Vernon. 425-890-1327.

Conn alto sax, in excel cond; tabletop record player, in excel cond, $30. 410-4881886.

Sand beach chairs (2), inkjet printer, oilfilled heaters (3) and baseboard heaters (2), portable canvas chair, keyboard case, 100W amplifier. 410-455-5858 or iricse .its@verizon.net.

Nail dryer, pink, new in box, perfect for all your nail drying needs, gel, acrylic, more, 4 bulbs incl’d. $50/best offer. sweetaspie725@ yahoo.com.

Otto Benjamin violin, 4/4, like new, complete w/certificate and serial number. $900/ best offer. 410-991-5046 or jessicaswitzman@ verizon.net.

Samick 6'1" grand piano, professionally maintained. 410-444-1273 or http://baltimore.craigslist.org/msg/ 2544736267.html (for photos and complete appraisal).

Pool table, $1,000; deep freezer, $200; best offers accepted. Krista, 410-458-7831.

Moving sale: 12' Smokercraft aluminum rowboat w/oars and oar locks, slight dent in keel nr the bow. $400. ddesignman@aol .com.

Gorgeous, warm, full-length black mink coat, mint cond, matching hat incl’d. $1,000/best offer. Carol, 443-386-8477 or cLparker2011@live.com.

Hardcover textbook, Deutsch Na Klar (5th ed), and accompanying workbook, used w/ minimal writing, workbook not written in. $200 (negotiable). 626-215-9297.

Patient Chinese language teacher available.

LiLacw22@gmail.com.

Chinese zither (GuZheng) lessons offered at a low price; instrument provided. 573-5294358 or qgb253@gmail.com.

Horses for lease or half-lease for trail riding, showing or eventing, must stay on farm in Glyndon (Baltimore County). $150-$275/ mo incl farrier. 410-812-6716.

Wanted: Wknd help w/yard work in Reisterstown, MD, transplanting shrubs, spreading mulch, weeding, etc; I can provide transportation. $50/day. jchris1@umbc.edu.

A1 movers, have 30-ft box truck, available for small or large move, all Hopkins 15% discount. 410-419-3902.

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

Affordable and professional landscaper and certified horticulturist available to maintain existing gardens, also designing, planting or masonry; free consultations. David, 410683-7373 or grogan.family@hotmail.com.

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

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

Terry, 410-652-3446.

SERVICES/ITEMS OFFERED OR WANTED

Friday Night Swing Dance Club, open to the public, great bands, no partners necessary. 410-663-0010 or www.fridaynightswing .com.

Dog- and housesitter wanted for dachshund in local home, Friday eve, October 21, to Sunday, October 23. Jack, 410-215-2808 or black.47@comcast.net.

Letters written by experienced writer, all types, first-come free in exchange for your references for start-up company. emceea@ gmail.com.

PLACING ADS Classified listings are a free service for current, full-time Hopkins faculty, staff and students only. Ads should adhere to these general guidelines: • One ad per person per week. A new request must be submitted for each issue.

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

• We cannot use Johns Hopkins business phone numbers or

e-mail addresses.

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

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

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

(Boxed ads in this section are paid advertisements.)

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

12 THE GAZETTE • September 6, 2011 S E P T .

6

–

1 2

Calendar

SAIS and Johns Hopkins. (This event is open to the SAIS community only.) Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg. SAIS REA D I N G S / B OO K T A L K S Thurs., Sept. 8, 5:30 p.m. John Harper of SAIS’ Bologna Center will discuss his new book, The Cold War. Sponsored by the SAIS European Studies Program. A reception follows. For information, call 202-663-5796 or email atobin1@ jhu.edu. Rome Auditorium. SAIS

S E M I N AR S Tues.,

Sept.

6,

10:45

a.m.

“Twenty Questions With Noisy Answers for Object Detection and Tracking,” a Computer Science seminar with Raphael Sznitman, WSE. B17 Hackerman. HW Tues., Sept. 6, 12:10 p.m. “Trau-

Baltimore is stop number three—following London and New York—on a U.K. and U.S. tour by Indian Ocean, often described as the pioneers of fusion rock in India. In its concert this week in Shriver Hall Auditorium, the four-man band will play both its well-known hits and songs from its latest album, ‘16/330 Khajoor Road,’ named for the 100-year-old bungalow where the band rehearses in Delhi. See Music.

COLLOQUIA Thurs., Sept. 8, 3 p.m. “Make Your Self Well: The Moral and Medical Life of a 19th-Century Subscription Press,” a Program in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology colloquium with Alicia Puglionesi, SoM. Seminar Room, 3rd floor, Welch Medical Library. EB

C O N FERE N C E S Fri., Sept. 9, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Global Conference on

Women in the Boardroom,” with John Brock, chairman and CEO, Coca-Cola Enterprises; Mervin Davies, former UK minister of state for trade, promotion and investment; Nancy Kopp, Maryland state treasurer; Jillian Segal, Australian Stock Exchange and Australia Bank; and Linda TarrWhelan, former U.S. ambassador to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Sponsored by the SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations. To RSVP, go to http://transatlantic.sais-jhu.edu/ events/2011/gender_conf.htm.

Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg.

SAIS

DISCUSSIONS/ TALKS Tues., Sept. 6, 10:30 a.m. “Hungary’s New Law on Churches,” a SAIS Center for Transatlantic Relations discussion with Paula Shriefer, Freedom House, and Kurt Volker (moderator), SAIS. Bence Retvari, Hungarian Ministry of Public Administration and Justice and Laszlo Gonda, Debrecen Reformed Theological University and minister at the Hungarian Reformed Church, will join the discussion via videoconference.

To RSVP, go to www.eventbrite .com/event/2121676993/mcivte.

Rome Auditorium. SAIS

Wed., Sept. 7, 12:30 p.m. “State and Nation Building in the New Libya,” a SAIS African Studies Program discussion wth Dirk Vadewalle, Dartmouth University. For more information, call 202-6635676 or email itolber1@jhu.edu.

736 Bernstein-Offit Bldg. SAIS Wed., Sept. 7, 5:30 p.m. “Ferghana Valley: The Heart of Central Asia,” a Central Asia–Caucasus Institute at SAIS discussion wth Frederick Starr, chairman of CACI and editor-in-chief of Ferghana Valley: The Heart of Central Asia, and Baktybek Berhimov, former member of Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic and co-editor of Ferghana Valley. For information or to RSVP, call 202-663-7721 or email saiscaciforums@jhu.edu.

Rome Auditorium. SAIS

“EU Efforts to Combat Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported Fishing,” a SAIS Energy, Resources and Environment Program discussion with Maria Damanaki, maritime and fisheries commissioner, EU. A “Year of Agriculture” event. To RSVP, call 202-663-5786 or email saisere@jhu.edu. Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Bldg. SAIS

Thurs., Sept. 8, 10 a.m.

Thurs., Sept. 8, noon. “September 11: How Terrorism Changed Public Health,” a School of Public Health discussion. Open to the general public. Sponsored by the Office of External Affairs. W1214 SPH. EB

“The Obama Administration’s Evolving Approach to International Democracy Support,” a SAIS International Development Program discussion with Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. (The speaker’s comments will be off the record.) To RSVP, call 202-870-6677 or email developmentroundtable@jhu.edu.

200 Rome Bldg. SAIS Fri., Sept. 9, 12:30 p.m.

F I L M / V I D EO Fri., Sept. 9, 2:30 p.m. Screening of the film 9/11: The Filmmakers’ Commemorative Edition, in recognition of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. (Event is open to the SAIS community only.)

Sponsored by the SAIS International Development Program.

Rome Auditorium. SAIS

L E C T URE S

“The History of Light: How Stars Formed in Galaxies,” an STSci public lecture by Kai Noeske, STSci. Bahcall Auditorium, Muller Bldg. HW

Tu e s . , S e p t . 6 , 8 p . m .

“Mice, Men and Mental Illness: Animal Models of Cognitive and Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia,” a Psychiatry/Neuroscience lecture by Eric Kandel, 2000 Nobel laureate. West Lecture Hall, WBSB. EB

Thurs., Sept. 8, 3 p.m.

ma Survivors Network,” a Graduate Seminar in Injury Research and Policy with Renan Castillo, SPH. Sponsored by Health Policy and Management and the Center for Injury Research and Policy. 250 Hampton House. EB

Tues., Sept. 6, 3 p.m. M. Gordon Wolman Seminar—“Prioritizing Environmental Pollution Risks to Public Health: A Case Study in the United Arab Emirates” with Jacqueline MacDonald Gibson, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Sponsored by Geography and Environmental Engineering. 234 Ames. HW Wed., Sept. 7, 8:30 a.m. “What Constitutes Reliable Evidence,” a Center for Clinical Trials seminar with Simon Day, Roche Products Ltd. W2030 SPH. EB Wed., Sept. 7, 12:15 p.m. The Mental Health Noon Seminar— “The Genetics of Drug Addiction: Strategies and Approaches” with Brion Maher, SPH. Sponsored by Mental Health. B14B Hampton House. EB Wed.,

Sept.

7,

12:15

p.m.

“Stemming the Growing Burden of Chronic Diseases: Need for Global Action,” a Health Systems special seminar with Arun Chockalingam, NHLBI/NIH, and Louis Niessen and David Peters, both of SPH. Sponsored by International Health. W3008 SPH. EB “Two Criteria for Evaluating Risk Prediction Models,” a Biostatistics seminar with Ruth Pfeiffer, NCI. W2030 SPH. EB Wed., Sept. 7, 4 p.m.

MUSIC

The JHMI Choral Society’s Backto-School Concert, featuring classic, contemporary and folk music. Sponsored by the JHMI Office of Cultural Affairs. For more information, call 410-9553363 or go to www.jhoca.org.

Hurd Hall. EB Tues., Sept. 6, 6 p.m.

Sun., Sept. 11, 4 to 7 p.m.

Concert by Indian Ocean. (See photo, this page.) Tickets are $35. Shriver Hall. HW O P E N H OU S E S Tues., Sept. 6, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. DC Technology Open

House, an opportunity to learn about technology-related resources and services offered by

“Straight From the Mouse’s Mouth: IL-17 Receptor Signal Transduction in Fungal Infections,” a Molecular Microbiology and Immunology/ Infectious Diseases research seminar with Sarah Gaffen, University of Pittsburgh. W1020 SPH. EB

Thurs., Sept. 8, noon.

“(1) Clustering Gene Effectors and (2) Optimizing the Quantity/Quality Trade-off in Connectome Inference,” an Applied Mathematics and Statistics seminar with Carey Priebe, WSE. 304 Whitehead. HW

Thurs., Sept. 8, 1:30 p.m.

Thurs., Sept. 8, 3 p.m. “Romanc-

ing Your Reader: Ten Easy Steps for Making Your Writing More Successful,” a Mechanical Engi-

neering seminar with Julie Reiser, WSE. 210 Hodson. HW “Cellular Self-Defense: Functions of Microtubules in Neuronal Responses to Injury,” a Biology seminar with Melissa Rolls, Penn State. 100 Mudd. HW

Thurs., Sept. 8, 4 p.m.

Thurs., Sept. 8, 4 to 6 p.m., and Fri., Sept. 9, 9 a.m. to noon. The Futures Seminar—

Department of English, with panelists Bruce Robbins, Columbia University; Leela Gandhi, University of Chicago; and Michael Warner, Yale University. Mason Hall Auditorium (Thursday) and Charles Commons Conference Center (Friday). HW Fri., Sept. 9, 11 a.m. “Role of Mixing in the Large-Scale Circulation of the Ocean,” a CEAFM seminar with Anand Gnanadesikan, KSAS. 50 Gilman. HW

Fri., Sept. 9, 1 p.m. “Reducing Morbidity and Mortality From Acute Febrile Illness by Improved Diagnosis,” a Graduate Training Program in Clinical Investigation thesis defense seminar with Megan Reller. E2527 SPH. EB

“Small Ants Make Large Hills: A Microlevel Analysis of Conflict in Africa—The Ghanaian Case,” a SAIS African Studies Program thesis defense seminar with Elizabeth Mensah. (This event is open to the SAIS community only.)

500 Bernstein-Offit Bldg. SAIS

Mon., Sept. 12, 1 p.m.

Mon.,

Sept.

12,

4:30

p.m.

“Equivariant K-Theory of Actions of Compact Lie Groups With Maximal Rank Isotropy,” a Topology seminar with Jose Manuel Gomez, KSAS. Sponsored by Mathematics. 302 Krieger. HW W OR K S H O P S 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.bb.cer.jhu.edu.

Garrett Room, MSE Library. HW •

Tues., Sept. 6, 10 a.m. to noon. “Getting Started

With Blackboard.”

•

Wed., Sept. 7, 10 a.m. to noon. “Blackboard Commu-

nication and Collaboration.”

•

Thurs., Sept. 8, 10 a.m. to noon. “Assessing Student

Knowledge and Managing Grades in Blackboard.”

(Events are free and Calendar

open to the public Key

except where indicated.)

APL EB HW JHOC

Applied Physics Laboratory East Baltimore Homewood Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center KSAS Krieger School of Arts

and Sciences NEB New Engineering Building PCTB Preclinical Teaching Building SAIS School of Advanced

International Studies SoM School of Medicine SoN School of Nursing SPH School of Public Health WBSB Wood Basic Science Building WSE Whiting School of Engineering