http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/index.html News about Johns Hopkins Medicine activities in patient care, research, and education. en-us Johns Hopkins Copyright 2010 Johns Hopkins neurologists report success with a new means of getting rid of potentially lethal blood clots in the brain safely without cutting through easily damaged brain tissue or removing large pieces of skull. The minimally invasive treatment, they report, increased the number of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) who could function independently by 10 to 15 percent six months following the procedure. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_technique_successfully_dissolves_blood_clots_in_the_brain_and_lowers_risk_of_brain_damage_after_stroke http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_technique_successfully_dissolves_blood_clots_in_the_brain_and_lowers_risk_of_brain_damage_after_stroke Cell biologists at Johns Hopkins have identified key steps in how certain molecules alter a cell’s skeletal shape and drive the cell’s movement. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rearranging_the_cells_skeleton http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rearranging_the_cells_skeleton http://tinyurl.com/7cqme7s http://tinyurl.com/7cqme7s TV crime shows like Bones and CSI are quick to explain each death by showing highly detailed scans and video images of victims’ insides. Traditional autopsies, if shown at all, are at best in supporting roles to the high-tech equipment, and usually gloss over the sometimes physically grueling tasks of sawing through skin and bone. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/traditional_physical_autopsies___not_high_tech_virtopsies___still_gold_standard_for_determining_cause_of_death http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/traditional_physical_autopsies___not_high_tech_virtopsies___still_gold_standard_for_determining_cause_of_death As part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Joining Forces initiative, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is teaming up with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) to create a new generation of doctors, medical schools and research facilities that will make sure our military veterans and their families receive the care worthy of their service. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_joins_forces_with_first_lady_michelle_obama_to_support_veterans_and_their_families http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_joins_forces_with_first_lady_michelle_obama_to_support_veterans_and_their_families Thousands more American senior citizens with kidney disease are good candidates for transplants and could get them if physicians would get past outdated medical biases and put them on transplant waiting lists, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/thousands_of_seniors_lack_access_to_lifesaving_organs_despite_survival_benefit_johns_hopkins_study_finds http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/thousands_of_seniors_lack_access_to_lifesaving_organs_despite_survival_benefit_johns_hopkins_study_finds After a 20-year quest to find a genetic driver for prostate cancer that strikes men at younger ages and runs in families, researchers have identified a rare, inherited mutation linked to a significantly higher risk of the disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_find_first_major_gene_mutation_associated_with_hereditary_prostate_cancer_risk http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_find_first_major_gene_mutation_associated_with_hereditary_prostate_cancer_risk Neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered how the sense of touch is wired in the skin and nervous system. The new findings, published Dec. 22 in Cell, open new doors for understanding how the brain collects and processes information from hairy skin. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/touching_a_nerve http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/touching_a_nerve Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that DNA changes in a gene that drives the growth of a form of lung cancer can make the cancer’s cells resistant to cancer drugs. The findings show that some classes of drugs won’t work, and certain types of so-called kinase inhibitors like erlotinib—may be the most effective at treating non-small cell lung cancers with those DNA changes. Some kinase inhibitors block a protein known as EGFR from directing cells to multiply. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_study_helps_predict_which_lung_cancer_drugs_are_most_likely_to_work http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_study_helps_predict_which_lung_cancer_drugs_are_most_likely_to_work Cancer cells have been long known to have a “sweet tooth,” using vast amounts of glucose for energy and for building blocks for cell replication. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/cancer_cells_feed_on_sugar_free_diet http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/cancer_cells_feed_on_sugar_free_diet Monitoring Internet search traffic about influenza may prove to be a better way for hospital emergency rooms to prepare for a surge in sick patients compared to waiting for outdated government flu case reports. A report on the value of the Internet search tool for emergency departments, studied by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine over a 21-month period, is published in the January 9 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/_hopkins_researchers_find_google_flu_trends_a_powerful_early_warning_system_for_emergency_departments http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/_hopkins_researchers_find_google_flu_trends_a_powerful_early_warning_system_for_emergency_departments Building on the success of recent Hopkins research showing obese participants were able to lose significant weight and keep it off for two years using telephone coaching and a specially designed website, Johns Hopkins Medicine is collaborating with Healthways to help bring the innovative weight-loss program to many more who could benefit from it. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_announces_collaboration_with_healthways_to_make_proven_weight_loss_program_widely_available http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_announces_collaboration_with_healthways_to_make_proven_weight_loss_program_widely_available Five Johns Hopkins students have been selected as finalists in a competition to find new ways to cure metastatic cancer. The five, whose ideas were chosen from among 44 presentations, will compete on January 13, 2012, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., for the top prize of $20,000 and a chance to pursue their research proposals. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_finalists_to_compete_for_top_award_in_creative_thinking_competition_to_cure_metastatic_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_finalists_to_compete_for_top_award_in_creative_thinking_competition_to_cure_metastatic_cancer The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a private, nonprofit organization that accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations, has recognized all five of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians’ (JHCP) sites that applied for Patient-Centered Medical Home program recognition. JHCP facilities in Canton Crossing, Hagerstown, Montgomery, Water’s Edge and the Wyman Park Internal Medicine offices were acknowledged for excellent patient-centered care and for achieving high marks in the program. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/five_johns_hopkins_community_physicians_sites_receive_highest_level_of_recognition_from_national_nonprofit_organization http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/five_johns_hopkins_community_physicians_sites_receive_highest_level_of_recognition_from_national_nonprofit_organization Although more patients with abdominal gunshot and stab wounds can successfully forego emergency “exploratory” surgery and its potential complications, new Johns Hopkins research suggests that choosing the wrong patients for this “watchful waiting” approach substantially increases their risk of death from these injuries. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gunshot_stabbing_victims_are_recovering_without_exploratory_surgery_study_shows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gunshot_stabbing_victims_are_recovering_without_exploratory_surgery_study_shows Gregg L. Semenza, M.D., Ph.D., the C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins is one of two recipients of this year’s Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award, given by the American Society for Clinical Investigation for their “contributions to the molecular understanding of cellular oxygen sensing and cellular adaptation to hypoxia.” Semenza and his co-recipient, William G. Kaelin Jr., M.D., of Harvard Medical School, will share the $10,000 honorarium and present the Korsmeyer Lecture at the 2012 ASCI/AAP Meeting, April 27 to 29, in Chicago, Illinois. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gregg_semenza_receives_american_society_for_clinical_investigation_award http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gregg_semenza_receives_american_society_for_clinical_investigation_award New research by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests that vitamin D, long known to be important for bone health and in recent years also for heart protection, may stop conferring cardiovascular benefits and could actually cause harm as levels in the blood rise above the low end of what is considered normal. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/when_it_comes_to_heart_health_how_much_is_too_much_vitamin_d http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/when_it_comes_to_heart_health_how_much_is_too_much_vitamin_d Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer announced today that it has granted a license for the Artificial IMmune (AIM) nanotechnology to NexImmune, a start-up company formed in part by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine faculty members who are also involved in the development of the technology. AIM, which involves engineering artificial cells to stimulate specific immune responses, represents a potentially important advance in the development of immunotherapies for a variety of cancers and other diseases. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_technology_transfer_office_licenses_new_technology_to_neximmune_for_the_development_of_cancer_immune_therapies http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_technology_transfer_office_licenses_new_technology_to_neximmune_for_the_development_of_cancer_immune_therapies Working with mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully used a commonly prescribed blood pressure medicine, losartan (Cozaar), to prevent almost all of the lung damage caused from two months of exposure to cigarette smoke. The treatment specifically targeted lung tissue breakdown, airway wall thickening, inflammation and lung over-expansion. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/commonly_used_blood_pressure_drug_prevents_smoking_related_lung_damage_in_mice http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/commonly_used_blood_pressure_drug_prevents_smoking_related_lung_damage_in_mice A new era will begin at the nation’s top hospital in April 2012, when The Johns Hopkins Hospital opens its new $1.1 billion patient care building. The 1.6 million-square-foot facility erected on five acres is believed to be one of the nation’s largest hospital construction projects. It includes two 12-story patient towers, 560 private patient rooms, 33 state-of-the-art, spacious operating rooms, and expansive new adult and pediatric emergency departments. The facility will also feature the most sophisticated diagnostic imaging equipment, such as an intraoperative MRI scanner and high-speed, low-dose CT scanners. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_era_approaches_for_the_johns_hopkins_hospital http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_era_approaches_for_the_johns_hopkins_hospital Martin Luther King III, a noted civil rights and community leader who spoke at Hopkins’ first commemoration in 1982, will serve as keynote speaker at this year’s milestone event honoring his father, slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The theme is “Peace, Love and Dignity: King’s Ultimate Challenge.” In what has become a much-anticipated annual tradition, Johns Hopkins Medicine will remember and honor Dr. King with tributes, music and community service awards. The celebration, which will take place on Friday, Jan. 6, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Turner Auditorium, is only for employees and not the general public. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/civil_rights_leader_to_speak_at_30th_annual_hopkins_celebration_honoring_his_father_dr_martin_luther_king_jr http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/civil_rights_leader_to_speak_at_30th_annual_hopkins_celebration_honoring_his_father_dr_martin_luther_king_jr A Johns Hopkins-led team of experts in genetics, immunology, epidemiology and allergic disease has embarked on a four-year effort to map the genetic code, or whole genome, of 1,000 people of African descent, including men and women from Baltimore. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/95_million_federal_grant_to_support_asthma_genome_project_with_african_americans http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/95_million_federal_grant_to_support_asthma_genome_project_with_african_americans Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI), the international arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine of Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and the Ministry of Health of Kuwait (MOH) have signed a five-year agreement that calls for JHI to assist Kuwait in improving health care delivery at four of Kuwait’s five secondary care public hospitals and developing in?country talent in hospital administration and clinical care. The agreement was signed on December 25, 2011, by His Excellency Mustafa Gasim Al Shamali, Kuwait’s Minister of Finance and Minister of Health, and Steve Thompson CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine International. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_signs_collaboration_agreement_with_kuwait http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_signs_collaboration_agreement_with_kuwait A team of cancer imaging experts at Johns Hopkins has embarked on a five-year research initiative to speed development of early diagnostic tests and new treatments for breast, prostate and other common cancers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/cellular_imaging_center_gets_over_8_million_to_speed_search_for_earlier_diagnostic_tests_and_treatments_for_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/cellular_imaging_center_gets_over_8_million_to_speed_search_for_earlier_diagnostic_tests_and_treatments_for_cancer Paul B. Rothman, a distinguished physician, scientist, educator and academic health care leader, was appointed today as the 14th dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and second chief executive officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine, a $6.5 billion academic medical center and a health system with a global reach. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rothman_is_named_leader_of_johns_hopkins_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rothman_is_named_leader_of_johns_hopkins_medicine Working with guinea pigs, tuberculosis experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have closely mimicked how active but untreated cases of the underlying lung infection lead to permanent eye damage and blindness in people. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_develop_animal_model_for_tb_related_blindness http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_develop_animal_model_for_tb_related_blindness G. Daniel Shealer Jr. has been appointed vice president and general counsel of The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation and The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He succeeds Joanne Pollak, who assumed the duties of chief of staff to the Office of Johns Hopkins Medicine, this past July. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/shealer_appointed_vice_president_and_general_counsel_of_the_johns_hopkins_health_system_corporation_and_the_johns_hopkins_hospital http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/shealer_appointed_vice_president_and_general_counsel_of_the_johns_hopkins_health_system_corporation_and_the_johns_hopkins_hospital The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality of Johns Hopkins Medicine is collaborating with the Lockheed Martin Corporation, a global security and technology company, to create a safer and more efficient hospital intensive care unit (ICU) model. The two organizations will work to streamline complex and fragmented clinical systems and processes to reduce medical errors and improve the quality of care for critically ill patients. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_collaborates_with_lockheed_martin_to_build_next_generation_intensive_care_unit http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_collaborates_with_lockheed_martin_to_build_next_generation_intensive_care_unit Carrying single DNA letter changes from two different genes together may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia, Johns Hopkins researchers reported in the November 16 issue of Neuron. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/schizophrenia_small_genetic_changes_pose_risk_for_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/schizophrenia_small_genetic_changes_pose_risk_for_disease People within the Johns Hopkins community have long known that Lillie Shockney is an amazing nurse. Now she’s got the moniker to prove it. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/lillie_shockney_receives_amazing_nurses_award_from_johnson__johnson http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/lillie_shockney_receives_amazing_nurses_award_from_johnson__johnson Looking for ways to halt the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells, scientists at Johns Hopkins have found that a new class of drugs, called PARP inhibitors, may block the ability of pre-leukemic cells to repair broken bits of their own DNA, causing these cells to self-destruct. Results of their experiments, expected to be presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego, Dec. 12, have already prompted clinical trials of the drugs in patients with aggressive pre-leukemic conditions, who have few treatment options. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/parp_drug_sabotages_dna_repair_in_pre_leukemic_cells http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/parp_drug_sabotages_dna_repair_in_pre_leukemic_cells Johns Hopkins-led research suggests that routine MRI imaging does nothing to improve the treatment of patients who need injections of steroids into their spinal columns to relieve pain. Moreover, MRI plays only a small role in a doctor’s decision to give these epidural steroid injections (ESIs), the most common procedure performed at pain clinics in the United States. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/costly_diagnostic_mri_tests_unnecessary_for_many_back_pain_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/costly_diagnostic_mri_tests_unnecessary_for_many_back_pain_patients Kidney disease patients treated at for-profit dialysis centers are 20 percent less likely to be informed about transplant options and referred for the potentially lifesaving operation than those at nonprofit centers, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/kidney_patients_at_for_profit_dialysis_centers_less_likely_to_get_transplants http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/kidney_patients_at_for_profit_dialysis_centers_less_likely_to_get_transplants Johns Hopkins announced today that PepsiCo, the world’s second-largest food and beverage business, will offer its employees the option to travel to Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore for cardiac and complex joint replacement surgeries. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_to_offer_pepsico_employees_new_travel_surgery_benefit http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_to_offer_pepsico_employees_new_travel_surgery_benefit Having both ovaries removed before age 45 is strongly associated with low-bone mineral density and arthritis in later years, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins oncologists and epidemiologists. The analysis covered several thousand women who took part in a U.S. government-sponsored, multiyear national health study, and excluded women whose ovaries were removed due to cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/ovary_removal_in_younger_women_linked_to_bone_thinning_and_arthritis http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/ovary_removal_in_younger_women_linked_to_bone_thinning_and_arthritis Working with human breast cells, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have shown how the inactivation of a single copy of the breast cancer gene BRCA1 leaves breast cells vulnerable to cancer by reducing their ability to repair DNA damage, causing genetic instability. An inherited mutation in BRCA1 is the leading risk factor for hereditary breast cancer, prompting preventive mastectomies or close monitoring. The new findings may aid development of drugs to prevent hereditary breast cancer and tools to identify women who benefit most from prophylactic treatments. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_show_how_brca1_cancer_gene_mutations_harm_breast_cells http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_show_how_brca1_cancer_gene_mutations_harm_breast_cells Two newly published reports by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center highlight the need for greater recognition of the sexual and reproductive healthcare needs of teen boys and enumerate the essential services this traditionally overlooked group should receive at least once a year. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Reports-Cite-Essential-Sexual-Health-Services-for-Teen-Boys.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Reports-Cite-Essential-Sexual-Health-Services-for-Teen-Boys.aspx Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists report that sharp rises in levels of reactive oxygen molecules, and the inflammation that results, trigger biochemical changes that silence genes in a pattern often seen in cancer cells. The researchers confirmed this gene-silencing effect in mice that develop inflammation-induced colon cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/epigenetic_changes_linked_to_inflammation_induced_colon_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/epigenetic_changes_linked_to_inflammation_induced_colon_cancer Scientists at Johns Hopkins have surveyed the DNA in four common types of pancreatic cysts, and have determined that each type bears a distinct pattern of gene mutations. Pancreatic cysts are present in about two percent of U.S. adults, and can, in some cases, require surgical removal and microscopic analysis to determine their type and likelihood of turning cancerous. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/landmark_dna_study_finds_easier_way_to_diagnose_pancreatic_cysts http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/landmark_dna_study_finds_easier_way_to_diagnose_pancreatic_cysts The McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine has been named one of three Mendelian Disorders Genome Centers by the National Human Genome Research Institute and will receive $16 million over the next four years to identify causes of genetic disease. The new center will be called the Baylor-Hopkins Center for Mendelian Genomics; the other two centers will be at University of Washington and Yale University. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_awarded_16m_to_launch_new_genetics_research_identify_disease_cause http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_awarded_16m_to_launch_new_genetics_research_identify_disease_cause A small study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Duke University shows that eating higher doses of milk protein in the form of dry powder substantially outperforms lower-dose therapy — a few drops of liquid milk extract under the tongue — for treatment of food allergies. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Milk-Powder-Better-than-Liquid-Drops-to-Treat-Milk-Allergies.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Milk-Powder-Better-than-Liquid-Drops-to-Treat-Milk-Allergies.aspx Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who recently reported the design and creation of a man-made yeast chromosome have now signed on some international collaborators at BGI, a genomics company headquartered in Beijing, China. The newly formed relationship brings together the Johns Hopkins project with some of the world’s experts in so-called next generation genome sequencing in an effort to speed the understanding of how genomes are built and organized and how they function. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_man_made_yeast_go_global http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_man_made_yeast_go_global Changing the organ donation process in this country from opt-in — by, say, checking a box on a driver’s license application— to opt-out, which presumes someone’s willingness to donate after death unless they explicitly object while alive, would not be likely to increase the donation rate in the United States, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/presumed_consent_not_answer_to_solving_organ_shortage_in_us_researchers_say http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/presumed_consent_not_answer_to_solving_organ_shortage_in_us_researchers_say A team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Vanderbilt University and elsewhere have demonstrated that high blood pressure and anemia together put children with sickle cell disease (SCD) at serious danger for symptomless or so-called “silent” strokes, although either condition alone also signaled high risk. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/high_blood_pressure_anemia_put_children_with_sickle_cell_disease_at_risk_for_silent_strokes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/high_blood_pressure_anemia_put_children_with_sickle_cell_disease_at_risk_for_silent_strokes Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common condition associated with obesity and heart disease long thought to undermine health and longevity. But a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests the condition does not affect survival. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_surprised_to_find_fatty_liver_disease_poses_no_excess_risk_for_death http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_surprised_to_find_fatty_liver_disease_poses_no_excess_risk_for_death Collaborations between Johns Hopkins and National Taiwan University researchers have successfully manipulated the life span of common, single-celled yeast organisms by figuring out how to remove and restore protein functions related to yeast aging. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_scientists_turn_on_fountain_of_youth_in_yeast http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_scientists_turn_on_fountain_of_youth_in_yeast Nearly one-quarter of privately insured colon surgery patients are readmitted to the hospital within three months of discharge at a cost of roughly $9,000 per readmission, according to Johns Hopkins researchers, who’ve identified a major area for quality improvement and cost reduction in health care. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hospital_readmissions_after_colon_surgery_common_costly___and_preventable http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hospital_readmissions_after_colon_surgery_common_costly___and_preventable A team of Johns Hopkins researchers has uncovered further evidence of the benefits of a balanced diet that replaces white bread and pasta carbohydrates with unsaturated fat from avocados, olive oil and nuts — foods typical of the so-called “Mediterranean diet.” http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_study_affirms_mediterranean_diet_improves_heart_health http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_study_affirms_mediterranean_diet_improves_heart_health Coronary calcium in heart arteries provides important clues about risk, even among younger and elderly patients and those without traditional risk factors, according to new studies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/evidence_grows_for_value_of_calcium_scoring_test_to_gauge_heart_attack_risk_among_those_not_usually_offered_the_test http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/evidence_grows_for_value_of_calcium_scoring_test_to_gauge_heart_attack_risk_among_those_not_usually_offered_the_test Johns Hopkins researchers have identified the first ankle and toe bone fossils from the earliest North American true primate, which they say suggests that our earliest forerunners may have dwelled or moved primarily in trees, like modern day lemurs and similar mammals. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/found_new_fossils_of_oldest_american_primate http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/found_new_fossils_of_oldest_american_primate Infertility is common among obese women, but the reasons remain poorly understood and few treatments exist. Now a team of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center scientists, conducting experiments in mice, has uncovered what they consider surprising evidence that insulin resistance, long considered a prime suspect, has little to do with infertility in women with type-2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and metabolic syndrome, all obesity-related conditions in which the body becomes desensitized to insulin and loses the ability to regulate blood sugar. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Animal-Study-Finds-Surprising-Clues-to-Obesity-Induced-Infertility.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Animal-Study-Finds-Surprising-Clues-to-Obesity-Induced-Infertility.aspx Obese patients enrolled in a weight-loss program delivered over the phone by health coaches and with website and physician support lost weight and kept it off for two years, according to new Johns Hopkins research. The program was just as effective as another weight-loss program that involved in-person coaching sessions. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/losing_the_weight_and_keeping_it_off__two_programs_that_work http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/losing_the_weight_and_keeping_it_off__two_programs_that_work If your doctor says you have a negative stress test, or that your cholesterol or blood pressure are normal, how assured can you be that you’re not likely to have a heart attack in the next seven to 10 years? Assessing traditional risk factors, such as age, high blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and family history can estimate a person’s risk, but the picture is not always clear-cut. Some newer tests can be offered to provide reassurance or guidance about the need for medications or further testing. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_formula_developed_to_reassure_patients_about_low_heart_attack_risk http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_formula_developed_to_reassure_patients_about_low_heart_attack_risk Nearly a fifth of all Americans 12 years or older have hearing loss so severe that it may make communication difficult, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers and published in the Nov. 14 Archives of Internal Medicine. The findings, thought to be the first nationally representative estimate of hearing loss, suggest that many more people than previously thought are affected by this condition. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/one_in_five_americans_has_hearing_loss http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/one_in_five_americans_has_hearing_loss Hospitals that do not have cardiac surgery capability can perform nonemergency angioplasty and stent implantation as safely as hospitals that do offer cardiac surgery. That is the finding of the nation’s first large, randomized study to assess whether patients do just as well having nonemergency angioplasty performed at smaller, community hospitals that do not offer cardiac surgery. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/patients_fare_just_as_well_if_their_nonemergency_angioplasty_is_performed_at_hospitals_without_cardiac_surgery_capability http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/patients_fare_just_as_well_if_their_nonemergency_angioplasty_is_performed_at_hospitals_without_cardiac_surgery_capability White heart transplant patients under the age of 18 are more than twice as likely to be alive a decade after surgery as their African-American counterparts, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/white_pediatric_heart_transplant_patients_more_likely_than_non_whites_to_survive_long_term http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/white_pediatric_heart_transplant_patients_more_likely_than_non_whites_to_survive_long_term The Johns Hopkins Hospital becomes the official owner of the new 1.6 million-square- foot facility that will house the Sheikh Zayed Tower and The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center. At 12:30 p.m., construction company officials will hand over a ceremonial key to Edward D. Miller, dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, and Ronald R. Peterson, president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. The new buildings will open to patients on April 29, 2012. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_contractors_turn_over_the_keys_to_new_patient_care_facility http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_contractors_turn_over_the_keys_to_new_patient_care_facility A new type of therapy aimed at reversing the gene-silencing that promotes cancer-cell growth has shown promising results in a small clinical trial conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Forty-five late-stage lung cancer patients who received a two-drug combination designed to restore anti-cancer gene activity survived about two months longer than the expected four months, and two patients showed complete or near-complete responses despite having progressive disease after multiple standard therapies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/combination_epigenetic_therapy_clinical_trial_results_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/combination_epigenetic_therapy_clinical_trial_results_ Friends and family of people with mental illness, mental health advocates, philanthropists, and members of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries will join Johns Hopkins University officials and research scientists on Thursday, Nov. 10, to celebrate the opening of the Lieber Institute for Brain Development. The evening event will be held in the university’s historic George Peabody Library. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/media_advisory__gala_event_nov_10_at_johns_hopkins_to_mark_opening_of_lieber_institute_for_brain_development http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/media_advisory__gala_event_nov_10_at_johns_hopkins_to_mark_opening_of_lieber_institute_for_brain_development On Nov. 10, Johns Hopkins Medicine is bringing together community members to develop a communications campaign to engage patients, health care professionals and legislators in the fight against sickle cell disease (SCD). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_hosts_sickle_cell_community_forum_to_educate_and_empower_patients_and_health_care_providers http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_hosts_sickle_cell_community_forum_to_educate_and_empower_patients_and_health_care_providers The spread of breast cancer is responsible for more than 90 percent of breast cancer deaths. Now, the process by which it spreads -- or metastasizes -- has been unraveled by researchers at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_discover_how_breast_cancer_spreads_to_lung http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_discover_how_breast_cancer_spreads_to_lung In dozens of experiments in mice and in human cancer cells, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists has closely tied production of a cancer-causing protein called TWIST to the development of estrogen resistance in women with breast cancer. Because estrogen fuels much breast cancer growth, such resistance — in which cancers go from estrogen positive to estrogen negative status — can sabotage anticancer drugs that work to block estrogen and prevent disease recurrence after surgery. Estrogen resistance develops in over half of women taking estrogen-blocking medications, such as tamoxifen, and exists from the start in many other women. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/cancer_causing_protein_strongly_tied_to_hormone_resistance_in_breast_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/cancer_causing_protein_strongly_tied_to_hormone_resistance_in_breast_cancer Working with lab cultures and mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a strain of the common gut pathogen Bacteroides fragilis causes colon inflammation and increases activity of a gene called spermine oxidase (SMO) in the intestine. The effect is to expose the gut to hydrogen peroxide – the caustic, germ-fighting substance found in many medicine cabinets -- and cause DNA damage, contributing to the formation of colon tumors, say the scientists. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/common_bacteria_cause_some_colon_tumors_by_altering_peroxide_producing_gene http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/common_bacteria_cause_some_colon_tumors_by_altering_peroxide_producing_gene Johns Hopkins’ Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality has been awarded $10 million for a project designed to reduce surgical-site infections and other major complications of colon surgery. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_awarded_10_million_contract_to_reduce_surgical_infections http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_awarded_10_million_contract_to_reduce_surgical_infections You’ve seen it on television: A doctor shines a bright light into an unconscious patient’s eye to check for brain death. If the pupil constricts, the brain is OK, because in mammals, the brain controls the pupil. Or does it? Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that in most mammals, in fact in most vertebrates, the pupil can constrict without any input from the brain. Their work, which also describes for the first time the molecular mechanism underlying this process, appears in the Nov. 3 issue of Nature. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/shining_a_light_on_pupil_constriction http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/shining_a_light_on_pupil_constriction For the 16th straight year, The Johns Hopkins Hospital has received the Consumer Choice Award from the National Research Corporation (NRC), a firm that specializes in health care performance measurement and improvement. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_hospital_wins_20112012_consumer_choice_award http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_hospital_wins_20112012_consumer_choice_award Kidney transplants performed using organs from live donors over the age of 70 are safe for the donors and lifesaving for the recipients, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. The study shines new light on a long-ignored potential source of additional organs that could address a profound national shortage.. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_study__youre_not_too_old_to_donate_a_kidney http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_study__youre_not_too_old_to_donate_a_kidney A Johns Hopkins breast cancer researcher is the recipient of a $50,000 award designed to encourage rapid translation of her basic research on biomarkers into a commercially available test that could predict the best treatment options for some women with breast cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researcher_wins_prize_for_breast_cancer_biomarker_studies hhttp://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researcher_wins_prize_for_breast_cancer_biomarker_studies Delivering anticancer drugs into breast ducts via the nipple is highly effective in animal models of early breast cancer, and has no major side effects in human patients, according to a report by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers in Science Translational Medicine on Oct. 26. The results of the study are expected to lead to more advanced clinical trials of so-called intraductal treatment for early breast cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/through_the_nipple_breast_cancer_therapy_shows_promise_in_early_tests http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/through_the_nipple_breast_cancer_therapy_shows_promise_in_early_tests Switching hospitalized patients able to take medication by mouth from intravenous to pill forms of the same drugs could safely save millions of dollars a year, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/switching_patients_from_iv_to_pill_form_of_drugs_could_save_millions http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/switching_patients_from_iv_to_pill_form_of_drugs_could_save_millions A Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study comparing perceptions of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) among teen girls and parents has found that parents seriously underestimate the emotional and medical impact this sexually transmitted disease has on teenagers. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Parents-Misjudge-Impact-of-Pelvic-Inflammatory-Disease-on-Teenage-Girls.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Parents-Misjudge-Impact-of-Pelvic-Inflammatory-Disease-on-Teenage-Girls.aspx A technique developed by Johns Hopkins surgeons is providing a new route to get to and remove tumors buried at the base of the skull: through the natural hole behind the molars, above the jawbone and beneath the cheekbone. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_scarless_surgery_takes_out_tumors_through_natural_skull_opening http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_scarless_surgery_takes_out_tumors_through_natural_skull_opening Johns Hopkins scientists have revealed a new way that cells respond to the challenge of low oxygen. A report on the discovery about how the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe regulates its genes in hypoxic conditions appears online Oct. 20 in Molecular Cell. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_researchers_find_new_genetic_switch_that_allows_cells_to_thrive_in_low_oxygen http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_researchers_find_new_genetic_switch_that_allows_cells_to_thrive_in_low_oxygen While most studies have concluded that a cold climate led to the short lower legs typical of Neandertals, researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that lower leg lengths shorter than the typical modern human’s let them move more efficiently over the mountainous terrain where they lived. The findings reveal a broader trend relating shorter lower leg length to mountainous environments that may help explain the limb proportions of many different animals. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/solving_the_mysteries_of_short_legged_neandertals http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/solving_the_mysteries_of_short_legged_neandertals The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has entered into a drug-discovery research collaboration with Eisai, a pharmaceutical company based in Tokyo, to develop proprietary small-molecule drugs for a range of brain conditions such as schizophrenia, pain, brain tumors and Alzheimer’s disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_university_enters_into_a_broad_drug_discovery_collaboration_with_eisai_co_ltd http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_university_enters_into_a_broad_drug_discovery_collaboration_with_eisai_co_ltd Three preeminent researchers from Johns Hopkins — experts in memory, vision and patient safety — today were recognized for outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service with election to membership in the Institute of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. Richard Huganir, Ph.D., Jeremy Nathans, M.D., Ph.D., and Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., were among 65 new members from the United States honored at the organization's 41st annual meeting in Washington, D.C. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_elected_into_institute_of_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_elected_into_institute_of_medicine Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that increased blood levels of a protein specific to central nervous system cells that are vital to the brain’s structure can help physicians identify newborns with brain injuries due to lack of oxygen. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_study_shows_elevated_protein_can_help_predict_brain_injury_in_newborns http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_study_shows_elevated_protein_can_help_predict_brain_injury_in_newborns symposium to be hosted by the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute (BSi) on Oct. 18 at the Baltimore Convention Center will bring together the pharmaceutical industry and academic-based research institutions with the common goal of exploring how the two can best work together to enhance and facilitate the discovery of new drugs. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_brain_science_institute_hosts_conference_to_explore_new_paradigm_for_drug_discovery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_brain_science_institute_hosts_conference_to_explore_new_paradigm_for_drug_discovery Headaches, a virtually universal human complaint at one time or another, are among the top reasons for medical evacuation of military personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan, and for ongoing depletion of active-duty ranks in those countries, according to research led by Johns Hopkins specialists. Just one-third of soldiers sent home because of headaches return to duty in either place, the research shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/headaches_take_toll_on_soldiers http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/headaches_take_toll_on_soldiers Researchers from Johns Hopkins have quantified the number of possible decisions that an individual cell can make after receiving a cue from its environment, and surprisingly, it’s only two. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/why_many_cells_are_better_than_one http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/why_many_cells_are_better_than_one Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a way to stimulate a rat’s stem cells after a liver transplant as a means of preventing rejection of the new organ without the need for lifelong immunosuppressant drugs. The need for anti-rejection medicines, which carry serious side effects, is a major obstacle to successful long-term transplant survival in people. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/stimulated_stem_cells_stop_donor_organ_rejection http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/stimulated_stem_cells_stop_donor_organ_rejection Doctors at Johns Hopkins have shown that during an increasingly popular type of breast-reconstruction surgery, they can safely preserve the internal mammary artery, in case it is needed for future cardiac surgery. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/breast_cancer_surgery_preserves_artery_for_future_heart_surgery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/breast_cancer_surgery_preserves_artery_for_future_heart_surgery Older patients who happened to have been taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs when admitted to the hospital with serious head injuries were 76 percent more likely to survive than those not taking the drugs, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/a_new_use_for_statins http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/a_new_use_for_statins The Johns Hopkins US Family Health Plan (USFHP), a Department of Defense-sponsored managed care plan, was ranked by Consumer Reports as the best private health insurer in Maryland, while Priority Partners, a joint venture between Johns Hopkins HealthCare LLC and the Maryland Community Health System, placed as the state’s top Medicaid health plan. In addition, Johns Hopkins Employer Health Programs (EHP) — a self-funded health plan currently serving over 50,000 members in Maryland, Southern Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia — was ranked the state’s fourth best out of a total of 14 insurers listed by Consumer Reports. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/consumer_reports_ranks_johns_hopkins_insurance_programs_as_among_the_best_in_maryland_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/consumer_reports_ranks_johns_hopkins_insurance_programs_as_among_the_best_in_maryland_ Johns Hopkins infectious disease experts say the medical benefits for male circumcision are clear and that efforts in an increasing number of states (currently 18) to not provide Medicaid insurance coverage for male circumcision, as well as an attempted ballot initiative in San Francisco earlier this year to ban male circumcision in newborns and young boys, are unwarranted. Moreover, they say these actions ignore the last decade of medical evidence that the procedure can substantially protect men and their female partners from certain sexually transmitted infections. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/efforts_to_defund_or_ban_infant_male_circumcision_are_unfounded_and_potentially_harmful_johns_hopkins_experts_say http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/efforts_to_defund_or_ban_infant_male_circumcision_are_unfounded_and_potentially_harmful_johns_hopkins_experts_say "Too busy," and "too complicated." These are the typical excuses one might expect when medical professionals are asked why they fail to use online error-reporting systems designed to improve patient safety and the quality of care. But Johns Hopkins investigators found instead that the most common reason among radiation oncologists was fear of getting into trouble and embarrassment. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/survey_reveals_reasons_doctors_avoid_online_error_reporting_tools http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/survey_reveals_reasons_doctors_avoid_online_error_reporting_tools Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), an important diagnostic test, has traditionally been off limits to more than 2 million people in the United States who have an implanted pacemaker to regulate heart rhythms or an implanted defibrillator to prevent sudden cardiac death. Now, in a study published in the October 4 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, cardiologists at Johns Hopkins report that a protocol they developed has proved effective in enabling patients with implanted cardiac devices to safely undergo an MRI scan. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_study_finds_mri_tests_safe_for_people_with_implanted_cardiac_devices_when_certain_guidelines_are_followed http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_study_finds_mri_tests_safe_for_people_with_implanted_cardiac_devices_when_certain_guidelines_are_followed The Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute announced on Saturday that Newborn Holistic Ministries is the winner of the inaugural Henrietta Lacks Memorial Award. Named in honor of Henrietta Lacks, the award recognizes and supports Baltimore community organizations that are collaborating with The Johns Hopkins University to improve the health and well-being of the city of Baltimore. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/inaugural_henrietta_lacks_memorial_award_winner_announced http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/inaugural_henrietta_lacks_memorial_award_winner_announced Interactive video games, already known to improve motor function in recovering stroke patients, appear to safely enhance physical therapy for patients in intensive care units (ICU), new research from Johns Hopkins suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/practical_play_interactive_video_games_appear_valuable_for_icu_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/practical_play_interactive_video_games_appear_valuable_for_icu_patients A team of scientists, led by Johns Hopkins researchers, say they may have found a way to predict how quickly patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will lose cognitive function by looking at ratios of two fatty compounds in their blood. The finding, they say, could provide useful information to families and caregivers, and might also suggest treatment targets for this heartbreaking and incurable neurodegenerative disorder. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/blood_tests_may_hold_clues_to_pace_of_alzheimers_disease_progression http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/blood_tests_may_hold_clues_to_pace_of_alzheimers_disease_progression A combination of an oral drug, called sorafenib, and a method for injecting microbeads of chemotherapy directly into tumors has been proven safe for liver cancer patients and may improve outcomes for those who have these fast-growing, deadly tumors whose numbers are on the rise in the United States. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/micro_chemo_and_cancer_pill_combo_tested_in_liver_cancer_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/micro_chemo_and_cancer_pill_combo_tested_in_liver_cancer_patients Hospital Punta Pacifica (HPP) in Panama City, Panama, has been awarded the official accreditation of Joint Commission International (JCI). Johns Hopkins Medicine International — the Baltimore, Maryland, USA-based international arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine — assisted Hospital Punta Pacifica in its preparation for the JCI accreditation review by providing rigorous training for the HPP staff in quality, patient safety, infection control, leadership, nursing and human resource management, and by conducting assessments and mock surveys. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/joint_commission_international_accredits_johns_hopkins_managed_hospital_punta_pacifica_in_panama http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/joint_commission_international_accredits_johns_hopkins_managed_hospital_punta_pacifica_in_panama Johns Hopkins scientists investigating chemical modifications across the genomes of adult mice have discovered that DNA modifications in non-dividing brain cells, thought to be inherently stable, instead underwent large-scale dynamic changes as a result of stimulated brain activity. Their report, in the October issue of Nature Neuroscience, has major implications for treating psychiatric diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and for better understanding learning, memory and mood regulation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_discover_fickle_dna_changes_in_brain http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_discover_fickle_dna_changes_in_brain A single high dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called “magic mushrooms,” was enough to bring about a measureable personality change lasting at least a year in nearly 60 percent of the 51 participants in a new study, according to the Johns Hopkins researchers who conducted it. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/single_dose_of_hallucinogen_may_create_lasting_personality_change http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/single_dose_of_hallucinogen_may_create_lasting_personality_change The Johns Hopkins Centers to Reduce Health Disparities and the Office of Diversity and Cultural Competence will host a symposium on unconscious bias and disparities in health care featuring renowned Harvard orthopedic surgeon and author Augustus A. White III, M.D., and leaders from Johns Hopkins disparities centers. White, who is the author of Seeing Patients: Unconscious Bias in Health Care, is the first African-American department chief at Harvard's teaching hospitals. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_presents_health_care_disparities_symposium http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_presents_health_care_disparities_symposium Each year in the United States, more than 200,000 people have a cardiac defibrillator implanted in their chest to deliver a high-voltage shock to prevent sudden cardiac death from a life-threatening arrhythmia. While it’s a necessary and effective preventive therapy, those who’ve experienced a defibrillator shock say it’s painful, and some studies suggest that the shock can damage heart muscle. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/instead_of_defibrillators_painful_jolt_there_may_be_a_gentler_way_to_prevent_sudden_death_according_to_hopkins_scientists http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/instead_of_defibrillators_painful_jolt_there_may_be_a_gentler_way_to_prevent_sudden_death_according_to_hopkins_scientists Using a patient’s own stem cells, researchers at Johns Hopkins have corrected the genetic alteration that causes sickle cell disease (SCD), a painful, disabling inherited blood disorder that affects mostly African-Americans. The corrected stem cells were coaxed into immature red blood cells in a test tube that then turned on a normal version of the gene. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/correcting_sickle_cell_disease_with_stem_cells http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/correcting_sickle_cell_disease_with_stem_cells Oxaliplatin, a platinum-based anticancer drug that’s made enormous headway in recent years against colorectal cancer, appears to cause nerve damage that may be permanent and worsens even months after treatment ends. The chemotherapy side effect, described by Johns Hopkins researchers in the September issue of Neurology, was discovered in what is believed to be the first effort to track oxaliplatin-based nerve damage through relatively cheap and easy punch skin biopsies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/popular_colorectal_cancer_drug_may_cause_permanent_nerve_damage http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/popular_colorectal_cancer_drug_may_cause_permanent_nerve_damage Researchers at Johns Hopkins have modified HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress the immune system. Their work, they say in a report published online September 19 in the journal Blood, could remove a major hurdle in HIV vaccine development and lead to new treatments. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hide_and_seek_altered_hiv_cant_evade_immune_system http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hide_and_seek_altered_hiv_cant_evade_immune_system Researchers working with adult mice have discovered that learning and memory were profoundly affected when they altered the amounts of a certain protein in specific parts of the mammals’ brains. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_reveal_molecular_sculptor_of_memories http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_reveal_molecular_sculptor_of_memories A team of researchers says it has discovered why so many people undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), especially in newer high-strength machines, get vertigo, or the dizzy sensation of free-falling, while inside or when coming out of the tunnel-like machine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_pinpoint_the_cause_of_mri_vertigo http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_pinpoint_the_cause_of_mri_vertigo Johns Hopkins experts in arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD) have defined a set of criteria that could be used to assess a patient’s need for an implanted defibrillator to prevent sudden death. In a study to be published in the September 27 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that is now online, the researchers report that using those criteria, they were able to separate the patients at high risk for a life-threatening irregular heart rhythm from those with low risk. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_study_helps_predict_which_arvd_patients_are_at_highest_risk_of_sudden_cardiac_death http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_study_helps_predict_which_arvd_patients_are_at_highest_risk_of_sudden_cardiac_death In a study of complication rates following prostate biopsy among Medicare beneficiaries, Johns Hopkins researchers have found a significant rise in serious complications requiring hospitalization. The researchers found that this common outpatient procedure, used to diagnose prostate cancer, was associated with a 6.9 percent rate of hospitalization within 30 days of biopsy compared to a 2.9 percent hospitalization rate among a control group of men who did not have a prostate biopsy. The study, which will be published in the November 2011 issue of The Journal of Urology, was posted early online. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_study_reveals_significant_rise_in_prostate_biopsy_complications_and_high_post_procedure_hospitalization_rate http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_study_reveals_significant_rise_in_prostate_biopsy_complications_and_high_post_procedure_hospitalization_rate A pioneer in the field of epigenetics who has been spearheading the use of genome-wide technology for epigenetics research, a researcher who has revealed a weakness in the tuberculosis bacterium that makes it more susceptible to antibiotics, and a scientist who seeks to revolutionize new methods for toxicological testing to improve human health and reduce animal testing have received Director’s Awards from the National Institutes of Health. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/nih_directors_awards_go_to_three_johns_hopkins_scientists_for_work_that_challenges_the_status_quo_and_speeds_translation_of_research http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/nih_directors_awards_go_to_three_johns_hopkins_scientists_for_work_that_challenges_the_status_quo_and_speeds_translation_of_research A small group of veterans with spinal cord injuries who underwent a four-day scuba- diving certification saw significant improvement in muscle movement, increased sensitivity to light touch and pinprick on the legs, and large reductions in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scuba_diving_improves_function_of_body_mind_in_vets_with_spinal_cord_injury http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scuba_diving_improves_function_of_body_mind_in_vets_with_spinal_cord_injury James Patrick Connaughton, M.D., professor emeritus of psychiatry and pediatrics, a superbly talented clinician who treated and cared for some of East Baltimore’s most vulnerable children, died on Sept. 11 at the age of 80. Connaughton passed away at his Woodbrook home. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, for which Connaughton was treated at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center where he received outstanding medical care, family members say. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/James-Connaughton-Pediatric-Psychiatrist-and-Beloved-Teacher-Dies.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/James-Connaughton-Pediatric-Psychiatrist-and-Beloved-Teacher-Dies.aspx Medical imaging experts at Johns Hopkins have reviewed the patient records of 302 men and women who had a much-needed X-ray of the blood vessels near the spinal cord and found that the procedure, often feared for possible complications of stroke and kidney damage, is safe and effective. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/feared_spinal_x_ray_found_to_be_safe_study_shows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/feared_spinal_x_ray_found_to_be_safe_study_shows W. P. Andrew Lee, M.D., 54, professor and director of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a nationally heralded hand transplant surgeon and researcher, was recently elected president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/plastic_surgeon_elected_president_of_american_society_for_surgery_of_the_hand http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/plastic_surgeon_elected_president_of_american_society_for_surgery_of_the_hand In the quest to understand genomes—how they’re built, how they’re organized and what makes them work—a team of Johns Hopkins researchers has engineered from scratch a computer-designed yeast chromosome and incorporated into their creation a new system that lets scientists intentionally rearrange the yeast’s genetic material. A report of their work appears September 14 as an Advance Online Publication in the journal Nature. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/synthetic_chromosome_permits_rapid_on_demand_evolution_of_yeast http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/synthetic_chromosome_permits_rapid_on_demand_evolution_of_yeast Heart specialists at Johns Hopkins have figured out how a widely used pacemaker for heart failure, which makes both sides of the heart beat together to pump effectively, works at the biological level. Their findings, published in the September 14 issue of Science Translational Medicine, may open the door to drugs or genetic therapies that mimic the effect of the pacemaker and to new ways to use pacemakers for a wider range of heart failure patients. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_uncover_how_a_specialized_pacemaker_works_at_the_biological_level_to_strengthen_failing_hearts http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_uncover_how_a_specialized_pacemaker_works_at_the_biological_level_to_strengthen_failing_hearts Most HGTV fans will agree that good design can improve one’s state of mind. Designers at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore also believe it can help patients heal, which is why its new 1.6 million square-foot patient care building, scheduled to open in April 2012, features an elegant design with peace and quiet for patients as a priority. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Soothing-Aesthetics-in-New-Hospital-Will-Help-Healing-Process.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Soothing-Aesthetics-in-New-Hospital-Will-Help-Healing-Process.aspx Infectious disease and disaster preparedness experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine say the premise of the soon-to-be-released Hollywood movie Contagion, in which a lethal airborne virus spreads quickly around the globe, is realistic and should serve as a reminder that the United States has much work to do to prepare for a serious national emergency posed by a deadly virus that spreads quickly. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/contagion_reminder_that_public_health_system_must_be_prepared_for_lethal_disease_outbreak http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/contagion_reminder_that_public_health_system_must_be_prepared_for_lethal_disease_outbreak New Johns Hopkins research shows that medical students — just like the general American population — may have unconscious if not overt preferences for white people, but this innate bias does not appear to translate into different or lesser health care of other races. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/looking_for_the_roots_of_racial_bias_in_delivery_of_health_care http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/looking_for_the_roots_of_racial_bias_in_delivery_of_health_care Contradicting 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 mortality rates in women progress at a constant rate as they age. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_no_link_between_menopause_and_increased_risk_of_fatal_heart_attack http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_no_link_between_menopause_and_increased_risk_of_fatal_heart_attack Johns Hopkins researchers say 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. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_develop_new_way_to_predict_heart_transplant_survival http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_develop_new_way_to_predict_heart_transplant_survival As a public service, the Johns Hopkins Department of Emergency Medicine is providing doctors, nurses and paramedics to staff medical tents at the Baltimore Grand Prix, slated for Sept. 2-4, at the request of Baltimore City officials and event organizers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/media_advisory_johns_hopkins_emergency_department_to_staff_medical_tents_at_baltimore_grand_prix http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/media_advisory_johns_hopkins_emergency_department_to_staff_medical_tents_at_baltimore_grand_prix A Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study of more than 3,000 hospitalized children shows that those colonized but not sick with the antibiotic-resistant bacterium MRSA are at considerable risk for developing full-blown infections. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hospitalized-Children-Who-Carry-MRSA-at-Risk-for-Full-Blown-Infections.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hospitalized-Children-Who-Carry-MRSA-at-Risk-for-Full-Blown-Infections.aspx Nerve cells that regulate everything from heart muscle to salivary glands send out projections known as axons to their targets. By way of these axonal processes, neurons control target function and receive molecular signals from targets that return to the cell body to support cell survival. Now, Johns Hopkins researchers have revealed a molecular mechanism that allows a signal from the target to return to the cell body and fulfill its neuron-sustaining mission. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_reveal_new_survival_mechanism_for_neurons http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_reveal_new_survival_mechanism_for_neurons Temporary 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. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/temporary_er_staff_poses_increased_safety_risk_to_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/temporary_er_staff_poses_increased_safety_risk_to_patients Providing access to an outpatient clinic isn’t enough to keep some trauma patients who have been discharged from the hospital from returning to the emergency department (ED) for follow-up care, even for such minor needs as pain medication refills and dressing changes, according to new Johns Hopkins research. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/uninsured_trauma_patients_are_more_likely_to_use_the_ed_for_follow_up_care http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/uninsured_trauma_patients_are_more_likely_to_use_the_ed_for_follow_up_care Doctors can peer inside the human body to look for tumors, detect a blockage in an artery or see a crack in a bone, but common afflictions like bacterial and viral infections are far more difficult to track, and even the most sophisticated imaging devices can only offer a less-than-definitive answer. https://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hopkins-to-Host-Symposium-On-Infection-Imaging.aspx https://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hopkins-to-Host-Symposium-On-Infection-Imaging.aspx Plastic surgeons say they have developed a new surgical technique for complex skull reconstruction that could improve functional and aesthetic outcomes in cases that have previously been deemed impossible or unsafe and left patients with unsightly skull deformities requiring them to wear a helmet. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/program_reduces_infections_saves_lives___and_money http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/program_reduces_infections_saves_lives___and_money Jane C. Shivnan, MScN, RN, AOCN, has been named executive director of clinical quality and nursing at Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI), the international arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Shivnan has more than 20 years of health care leadership experience, including service as executive director of the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing and as the director of the Institute’s Office of Global Nursing. In her new role, Shivnan will provide strategic oversight and leadership in JHI’s clinical, consulting and knowledge transfer activities. She will also continue to serve the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing as executive director, which will create synergy to further leverage the expertise of Hopkins nurses. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/recognized_leader_in_nursing_joins_johns_hopkins_medicine_international http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/recognized_leader_in_nursing_joins_johns_hopkins_medicine_international A quality improvement program that saves lives by dramatically reducing potentially lethal bloodstream infections in hospital intensive-care units across the state of Michigan also saves those hospitals an average of $1.1 million a year, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/program_reduces_infections_saves_lives_and_money http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/program_reduces_infections_saves_lives_and_money The presence of calcium in coronary arteries is a much better predictor of heart attack and stroke than of C-reactive protein among people with normal levels of LDL cholesterol, according to a study of more than 2,000 people led by a Johns Hopkins heart specialist. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_finds_coronary_calcium_beats_c_reactive_protein_for_predicting_heart_attack_and_stroke_risk http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_finds_coronary_calcium_beats_c_reactive_protein_for_predicting_heart_attack_and_stroke_risk Leaders in biomedical education at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine are calling for a radical new approach to post-graduate training in the life sciences to address significant challenges, including an avalanche of new discoveries in the last decade and the need to transcend traditional departmental boundaries to understand biological processes at multiple levels. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_education_leaders_call_for_radical_transformation_in_graduate_biomedical_curriculum http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_education_leaders_call_for_radical_transformation_in_graduate_biomedical_curriculum An estimated $25 billion is spent annually on treating chronic wounds on patients in the United States. These chronic wounds deeply affect the quality of life of more than six million people who have them. The most common types of chronic skin wounds and skin ulcers are related to venous disease (conditions related to or caused by veins that become diseased or abnormal). Many treatment options are available, but the quality of evidence showing which treatments work better than others is often lacking. It is hard to prove which treatments are effective and should be the standards of care. http://www.hopkinsbayview.org/news/110817lazaruswoundstudy.html http://www.hopkinsbayview.org/news/110817lazaruswoundstudy.html Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found a protein normally involved in blood pressure regulation in a surprising place: tucked within the little “power plants” of cells, the mitochondria. The quantity of this protein appears to decrease with age, but treating older mice with the blood pressure medication losartan can increase protein numbers to youthful levels, decreasing both blood pressure and cellular energy usage. The researchers say these findings, published online during the week of August 15, 2011, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may lead to new treatments for mitochondrial–specific, age-related diseases, such as diabetes, hearing loss, frailty and Parkinson’s disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/switch_in_cells_power_plant_declines_with_age_rejuvenated_by_drug http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/switch_in_cells_power_plant_declines_with_age_rejuvenated_by_drug While the battle over the legality of the Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring most individuals to purchase health insurance continues to be fought, its impact on the quality and cost of care and what it would mean for patients and their physicians has been largely overlooked. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/individual_health_insurance_mandate_is_important_for_patients_and_their_physicians http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/individual_health_insurance_mandate_is_important_for_patients_and_their_physicians For years, medical studies have reached the same conclusion: African-American patients do better on kidney dialysis than their white counterparts. But new Johns Hopkins research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that younger blacks — those under the age of 50 — actually do much worse on dialysis than equally sick whites who undergo the same blood-filtering process. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/conventional_wisdom_unwise_study_shows_young_black_patients_on_kidney_dialysis_do_much_worse___not_better___than_white_counterparts http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/conventional_wisdom_unwise_study_shows_young_black_patients_on_kidney_dialysis_do_much_worse___not_better___than_white_counterparts Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that use over time and not just genetics informs the structure of jaw bones in human populations. The researchers say these findings may be used to predict the diet of an ancient population, even if little evidence exists in the fossil record. It can also make it easier for scientists to pinpoint the genetic relationship between fossils. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/what_shapes_a_bone http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/what_shapes_a_bone Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have completed a comprehensive map of genetic mutations occurring in the second-most common form of brain cancer, oligodendroglioma. The findings, reported in the Aug. 4 issue of Science, also appear to reveal the biological cause of the tumors, they say. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_map_genes_for_common_form_of_brain_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_map_genes_for_common_form_of_brain_cancer A 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. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/combination_of_existing_safety_checks_could_reduce_radiotherapy_errors http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/combination_of_existing_safety_checks_could_reduce_radiotherapy_errors Johns Hopkins scientists have launched a pioneering research program to create, for the first time, human platelet cells from stem cells in order to study inherited blood clotting abnormalities ranging from clots that cause heart attacks and stroke to bleeding disorders. The study is funded by a $9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of a nationwide initiative to examine how genetic variations cause heart, lung and blood diseases. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_begin_first_of_its_kind_research_to_create_blood_platelets_from_stem_cells_to_study_genetics_of_blood_clotting_disorders http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_begin_first_of_its_kind_research_to_create_blood_platelets_from_stem_cells_to_study_genetics_of_blood_clotting_disorders Biomedical engineers at Johns Hopkins have developed a new liquid material that in early experiments in rats and humans shows promise in restoring damaged soft tissue relatively safely and durably. The material, a composite of biological and synthetic molecules, is injected under the skin, then “set” using light to form a more solid structure, like using cold to set gelatin in a mold. The researchers say the product one day could be used to reconstruct soldiers' faces marred by blast injuries. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_composite_material_may_restore_damaged_soft_tissue http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_composite_material_may_restore_damaged_soft_tissue A national transplant policy change designed to give African-American patients greater access to donor kidneys has sliced in half the racial disparities that have long characterized the allocation of lifesaving organs, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/national_policy_change_reduces_racial_disparity_in_kidney_transplants http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/national_policy_change_reduces_racial_disparity_in_kidney_transplants A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and elsewhere shows that methamphetamine use can fuel HIV infection risk among teenage boys and young men who have sex with men (MSM), a group that includes openly gay and bisexual men as well as those who have sex with men but do not identify themselves as gay or bisexual. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Meth-Use-Fuels-Higher-Rates-of-Unsafe-Sex-HIV-Risk-in-Young-Men-Who-Have-Sex-with-Men.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Meth-Use-Fuels-Higher-Rates-of-Unsafe-Sex-HIV-Risk-in-Young-Men-Who-Have-Sex-with-Men.aspx A Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study of Baltimore City children who have asthma and live with smokers shows that indoor air cleaners can greatly reduce household air pollution and lower the rates of daytime asthma symptoms to those achieved with certain anti-inflammatory asthma drugs. Although the air cleaners improved the overall air quality in homes, they did not reduce air nicotine levels and did not counter all ill effects of second-hand smoke, the researchers warn. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Indoor-Air-Cleaners-Ease-Asthma-Symptoms-in-Children-Living-with-Smokers.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Indoor-Air-Cleaners-Ease-Asthma-Symptoms-in-Children-Living-with-Smokers.aspx Powerful new technologies that zoom in on the connections between human genes and diseases have illuminated the landscape of cancer, singling out changes in tumor DNA that drive the development of certain types of malignancies such as melanoma or ovarian cancer. Now several major biomedical centers have collaborated to shine a light on head and neck squamous cell cancer. Their large-scale analysis has revealed a surprising new set of mutations involved in this understudied disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/head_and_neck_cancer_genome_mapped http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/head_and_neck_cancer_genome_mapped Stent makes "coiling" surgery more promising option. The addition of a simple stent can help prevent potentially lethal blood vessel bulges in the brain from recurring after they are repaired in a minimally invasive "coiling" procedure, according to new research by Johns Hopkins physicians. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/adding_stent_during_minimally_invasive_surgery_to_repair_aneurysms_prevents_recurrence http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/adding_stent_during_minimally_invasive_surgery_to_repair_aneurysms_prevents_recurrence Female patients make up most of those who could benefit. Hard-to-match kidney transplant candidates who receive a treatment designed to make their bodies more accepting of incompatible organs are twice as likely to survive eight years after transplant surgery as those who stay on dialysis for years awaiting compatible organs, new Johns Hopkins research finds. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_treatment_provides_dramatic_survival_benefit_for_hard_to_match_kidney_transplant_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_treatment_provides_dramatic_survival_benefit_for_hard_to_match_kidney_transplant_patients Findings help explain tamoxifen resistance in some breast cancers. Using human breast cancer cells and the protein that causes fireflies to glow, a Johns Hopkins team has shed light on why some breast cancer cells become resistant to the anticancer effects of the drug tamoxifen. The key is a discovery of two genetic "dimmer switches" that apparently control how a breast cancer gene responds to the female hormone estrogen. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_discover_how_some_breast_cancers_alter_their_sensitivity_to_estrogen http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_discover_how_some_breast_cancers_alter_their_sensitivity_to_estrogen When The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore opens a new, 1.6 million square-foot patient care building with two 12-story towers in April 2012, an ultra-modern, 30,000 square-foot kitchen expansion will serve the food and nutrition needs of patients, visitors and employees. The addition will double the hospital’s kitchen and be a state-of-the-art facility where the staff will prepare almost 12,000 meals daily for inpatients and customers in the cafeteria and other food venues. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_era_in_kitchen_technology_and_food_service_begins_at_the_johns_hopkins_hospital http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_era_in_kitchen_technology_and_food_service_begins_at_the_johns_hopkins_hospital Landon S. King, M.D., the David Marine Professor of medicine and biological chemistry and director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine has been named the next vice dean for research at Johns Hopkins Medicine, effective Sept. 1. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_names_landon_king_md_vice_dean_for_research http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_names_landon_king_md_vice_dean_for_research Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a gene-based test to distinguish harmless from precancerous pancreatic cysts. The test may eventually help some patients avoid needless surgery to remove the harmless variety. A report on the development is published in the July 20 issue of Science Translational Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/benign_or_cancerous_gene_test_predicts_cancer_potential_in_pancreatic_cysts http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/benign_or_cancerous_gene_test_predicts_cancer_potential_in_pancreatic_cysts For the 21st year in a row, The Johns Hopkins Hospital has taken the top spot in U.S.News & World Report’s annual rankings of American hospitals, placing first in five medical specialties and in the top five in 10 others. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_hospital_ranked_number_one_again_by_usnews__world_report http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_hospital_ranked_number_one_again_by_usnews__world_report Eo Trueblood will graduate with a degree from medical school, but instead of caring for patients or doing research, his job will be to create artwork to convey concepts in medicine that are difficult to describe in words or capture in photographs. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_first_art_as_applied_to_medicine_department_celebrates_100_years http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_first_art_as_applied_to_medicine_department_celebrates_100_years Heart experts at Johns Hopkins have begun testing a new device designed to replace blocked aortic valves in patients for whom traditional open-heart surgery is considered too risky, such as elderly patients and those with other serious medical conditions. The testing is part of a nationwide study to evaluate the device, which is deployed in a minimally invasive way. The first two Maryland patients to receive the device had it put in place by Johns Hopkins doctors on July 8, 2011. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_begins_of_minimally_invasive_treatment_for_blocked_heart_valves http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_begins_of_minimally_invasive_treatment_for_blocked_heart_valves In a large and comprehensive investigation into the underlying causes of sudden cardiac death (SCD) -- a surreptitious killer of hundreds of thousands annually in the United States -- researchers have discovered a variation in the genome's DNA sequence that is linked to a significant increase in a person's risk of SCD. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_identify_new_genetic_risk_factor_for_sudden_cardiac_death http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_identify_new_genetic_risk_factor_for_sudden_cardiac_death Johns Hopkins and South African scientists have further compelling evidence that new, simpler and shorter treatments with antibiotic drugs could dramatically help prevent tens of millions of people worldwide already infected with the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, and especially those co-infected with HIV, from developing full-blown TB. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simpler_combination_therapy_as_good_as_old_regimen_to_prevent_full_blown_tb_in_people_with_and_without_hiv http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simpler_combination_therapy_as_good_as_old_regimen_to_prevent_full_blown_tb_in_people_with_and_without_hiv A team of AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and other institutions have embarked on a joint five-year research initiative to cure HIV disease by finding ways to completely purge the virus from the body in people already successfully suppressing the virus with antiretroviral drug therapy. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/expanded_research_effort_to_seek_cure_for_aids http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/expanded_research_effort_to_seek_cure_for_aids The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded two groups at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine each approximately $2.3 million a year for seven years to establish two Programs of Excellence in Glycosciences. Gerald Hart, Ph.D., director of biological chemistry and Ronald Schnaar, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and molecular sciences, will lead these independent efforts to better understand the roles of sugars in the molecular mechanisms of disease, particularly lung and heart diseases. . http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_awarded_32_million http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_awarded_32_million Johns Hopkins and South African scientists have further compelling evidence that new, simpler and shorter treatments with antibiotic drugs could dramatically help prevent tens of millions of people worldwide already infected with the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, and especially those co-infected with HIV, from developing full-blown TB. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simpler_combination_therapy_as_good_as_old_regimen_to_prevent_full_blown_tb_in_people_with_and_without_hiv http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simpler_combination_therapy_as_good_as_old_regimen_to_prevent_full_blown_tb_in_people_with_and_without_hiv Identifying a suitable donor for leukemia and lymphoma patients who need bone marrow transplants may be far easier now that results of two clinical trials show transplant results with half-matched bone marrow or umbilical cord blood are comparable to fully matched tissue, thanks in large part to the availability of effective antirejection drugs and special post-transplant chemotherapy. The finding means that nearly all patients in need of a transplant can find donors, according to Johns Hopkins scientists who participated in the trials. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/half_matched_transplants_widen_pool_of_donors http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/half_matched_transplants_widen_pool_of_donors Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have developed a technique that delivers gene therapy into human brain cancer cells using nanoparticles that can be freeze-dried and stored for up to three months prior to use. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/just_add_water_and_treat_brain_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/just_add_water_and_treat_brain_cancer Healthy, middle-aged smokers who take the most popular smoking cessation drug on the market have a 72 percent increased risk of being hospitalized with a heart attack or other serious heart problems compared to those taking a placebo, a Johns Hopkins-led study suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/smokers_using_varenicline_to_quit_the_habit_at_greater_risk_of_heart_attack_or_other_serious_heart_problems http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/smokers_using_varenicline_to_quit_the_habit_at_greater_risk_of_heart_attack_or_other_serious_heart_problems Scientists at Johns Hopkins have provided more clues to one of the least understood phenomena in some cancers: why the “ends caps” of cellular DNA, called telomeres, lengthen instead of shorten. In a study published online June 30 in Science Express, the Johns Hopkins researchers say they have identified two genes that, when defective, may cause these telomere elongations. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/two_genes_linked_to_why_telomeres_stretch_in_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/two_genes_linked_to_why_telomeres_stretch_in_cancer Generic anti-epilepsy drugs, pharmaceutical products similar to brand-name versions, save consumers billions of dollars each year, but some are different enough from branded formulations that they may not be effective, particularly if patients switch between two generic drugs, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. A report on the study, published online and in an upcoming issue of Annals of Neurology, raises questions about whether some generic products are safe and effective when a narrow dose range separates patients from help and harm. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/variation_in_make_up_of_generic_epilepsy_drugs_can_lead_to_dosing_problems http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/variation_in_make_up_of_generic_epilepsy_drugs_can_lead_to_dosing_problems A Johns Hopkins team has discovered in young adult mice that a lone brain stem cell is capable not only of replacing itself and giving rise to specialized neurons and glia – important types of brain cells – but also of taking a wholly unexpected path: generating two new brain stem cells. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/nervous_system_stem_cells_can_replace_themselves_give_rise_to_variety_of_cell_types_even_amplify http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/nervous_system_stem_cells_can_replace_themselves_give_rise_to_variety_of_cell_types_even_amplify Obese patients are nearly 12 times more likely to suffer a complication following elective plastic surgery than their normal-weight counterparts, according to new research by Johns Hopkins scientists. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surgical_complications_twelve_times_more_likely_in_obese_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surgical_complications_twelve_times_more_likely_in_obese_patients Becker’s Hospital Review magazine has selected Edward D. Miller, M.D., dean of the medical faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, as one of 65 prominent Physician Leaders of Hospitals and Health Systems in America. The award is based on the physician leaders’ “arrays of experience in medicine and management” along with their strong clinical and financial backgrounds. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_ceo_recognized_as_one_of_the_top_leaders_of_hospital_and_health_systems http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_ceo_recognized_as_one_of_the_top_leaders_of_hospital_and_health_systems Using the latest gene sequencing tools to examine so-called epigenetic influences on the DNA makeup of colon cancer, a Johns Hopkins team says its results suggest cancer treatment might eventually be more tolerable and successful if therapies could focus on helping cancer cells get back to normal in addition to strategies for killing them. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_expose_cancer_cells_universal_dark_matter http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_expose_cancer_cells_universal_dark_matter Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who use inhaled corticosteroids to improve breathing for more than six months have a 27 percent increased risk of bone fractures, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_long_term_inhaled_corticosteroid_use_increases_fracture_risk_in_lung_disease_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_long_term_inhaled_corticosteroid_use_increases_fracture_risk_in_lung_disease_patients Gordon F. Tomaselli, M.D., professor and director of the Division of Cardiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will become president of the American Heart Association (AHA), the nation’s leading voluntary health organization focused on cardiovascular disease and stroke, on July 1. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_cardiologist_gordon_tomaselli_md_becomes_president_of_the_american_heart_association_president http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_cardiologist_gordon_tomaselli_md_becomes_president_of_the_american_heart_association_president Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a natural mechanism that might one day be used to block the expression of the mutated gene known to cause Huntington’s disease. Their experiments offer not an immediate cure, but a potential new approach to stopping or even preventing the development of this relentless neurodegenerative disorder. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/a_step_toward_controlling_huntingtons_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/a_step_toward_controlling_huntingtons_disease Johns Hopkins researchers have found a likely explanation for the slow growth of the most common childhood brain tumor, pilocytic astrocytoma. Using tests on a new cell-based model of the tumor, they concluded that the initial process of tumor formation switches on a growth-braking tumor-suppressor gene, in a process similar to that seen in skin moles. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/slow_growth_of_childhood_brain_tumors_explained http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/slow_growth_of_childhood_brain_tumors_explained Johns Hopkins Medicine International, the international arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine, has elected Christopher W. Kersey, M.D., M.B.A., to become its new chairman of the board. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/christopher_w_kersey_elected_chairman_of_the_board_of_johns_hopkins_medicine_international http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/christopher_w_kersey_elected_chairman_of_the_board_of_johns_hopkins_medicine_international Julie A. Freischlag, M.D., the director of the Department of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and surgeon in chief at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, has been elected the first female vice president of the Society for Vascular Surgery. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_surgery_director_named_vice_president_of_society_for_vascular_surgery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_surgery_director_named_vice_president_of_society_for_vascular_surgery In an effort to unravel the tangled biology of autism, Johns Hopkins scientists have created a mouse model that mimics a human mutation of a gene known to be associated with autism spectrum disorders. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_create_new_mouse_model_of_autism http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_create_new_mouse_model_of_autism Blood vessels and supporting cells appear to be pivotal partners in repairing nerves ravaged by diabetic neuropathy, and nurturing their partnership with nerve cells might make the difference between success and failure in experimental efforts to regrow damaged nerves, Johns Hopkins researchers report in a new study. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/to_fix_diabetic_nerve_damage_blood_vessels_and_support_cells_may_be_the_real_targets_of_treatment_hopkins_study_suggests http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/to_fix_diabetic_nerve_damage_blood_vessels_and_support_cells_may_be_the_real_targets_of_treatment_hopkins_study_suggests The science of outcomes reporting is young and lags behind the desire to publically report adverse medical outcomes, write Elliott R. Haut, M.D., an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Peter J. Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., a Johns Hopkins professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, in the June 15 Journal of the American Medical Association. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rating_hospital_quality_means_asking_the_right_questions_experts_say http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rating_hospital_quality_means_asking_the_right_questions_experts_say People who use a mist inhaler to deliver a drug widely prescribed in more than 55 countries to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be 52 percent more likely to die, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rating_hospital_quality_means_asking_the_right_questions_experts_say http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rating_hospital_quality_means_asking_the_right_questions_experts_say Cells grow abundant when oxygen is available, and generally stop when it is scarce. Although this seems straightforward, no direct link ever has been established between the cellular machinery that senses oxygen and that which controls cell division. Now, in the June 10 issue of Molecular Cell, researchers at Johns Hopkins report that the MCM proteins, which promote cell division, also directly control the oxygen-sensing HIF-1 protein. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_link_cell_division_and_oxygen_levels http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_link_cell_division_and_oxygen_levels On rare occasion, the light-sensing photoreceptor cells in the eye misfire and signal to the brain as if they have captured photons, when in reality they haven’t. For years this phenomenon remained a mystery. Reporting in the June 10 issue of Science, neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that a light-capturing pigment molecule in photoreceptors can be triggered by heat, as well, giving rise to these false alarms. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/why_animals_dont_have_infrared_vision http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/why_animals_dont_have_infrared_vision Patient safety expert Peter J. Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been named director of the newly established Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/pronovost_named_director_of_new_hopkins_patient_safety_institute http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/pronovost_named_director_of_new_hopkins_patient_safety_institute The oral antifungal drug itraconazole, most commonly used to treat nail fungus, may keep prostate cancer from worsening and delay the need for chemotherapy in men with advanced disease. Details of the finding, from a clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins experts, are scheduled for presentation on Saturday, June 4 at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/antifungal_drug_delays_need_for_chemo_in_advanced_prostate_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/antifungal_drug_delays_need_for_chemo_in_advanced_prostate_cancer Revealing another part of the story of muscle development, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown how the cytoskeleton from one muscle cell builds finger-like projections that invade into another muscle cell’s territory, eventually forcing the cells to combine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/how_muscle_develops_a_dance_of_cellular_skeletons http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/how_muscle_develops_a_dance_of_cellular_skeletons It's long been known that cancer cells eat a lot of sugar to stay alive. In fact, where normal, noncancerous cells generate energy from using some sugar and a lot of oxygen, cancerous cells use virtually no oxygen and a lot of sugar. Many genes have been implicated in this process and now, reporting in the May 27 issue of Cell, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that this so-called Warburg effect is controlled. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/understanding_cancer_energetics http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/understanding_cancer_energetics "Overweight and obese people appear to really have options when choosing a weight-loss program, including a low-carb diet, and even if it means eating more fat," says the studies' lead investigator exercise physiologist Kerry Stewart, Ed.D. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/low_carb_higher_fat_diets_add_no_arterial_health_risks_to_obese_people_seeking_to_lose_weight http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/low_carb_higher_fat_diets_add_no_arterial_health_risks_to_obese_people_seeking_to_lose_weight Johns Hopkins Children’s Center scientists have found that having a regular outpatient mental health provider may not be enough to prevent children and teens with behavioral problems from repeatedly ending up in the emergency room. The study is published in the June 1 issue of the journal Psychiatric Services. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/ER-Visits-Persist-for-Children-with-Mental-Health-Problems-Despite-Regular-Outpatient-Care.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/ER-Visits-Persist-for-Children-with-Mental-Health-Problems-Despite-Regular-Outpatient-Care.aspx Despite concerns that surgeon fatigue is leading to dangerous complications for patients and data showing worse outcomes for many patients who undergo surgery at night, new Johns Hopkins research suggests that — in the case of heart and lung transplants — time of day has no affect on patient survival. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/nighttime_surgery_not_a_factor_in_survival_for_heart_and_lung_transplants_johns_hopkins_study_shows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/nighttime_surgery_not_a_factor_in_survival_for_heart_and_lung_transplants_johns_hopkins_study_shows Recognizing the urgent need to advance the science of reducing preventable harm and improve health care quality, Johns Hopkins Medicine is announcing the establishment of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, an organization whose work will benefit not only Johns Hopkins patients but those around the world. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_establishes_armstrong_institute_for_patient_safety_and_quality http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_establishes_armstrong_institute_for_patient_safety_and_quality Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC) in Salisbury, Md., is the latest health system to join the Johns Hopkins Clinical Research Network (JHCRN). Developed by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), JHCRN is designed to establish a network of academic and community-based clinical researchers who provide new opportunities for research collaborations and accelerate the transfer of new diagnostic, treatment and disease-prevention advances from the research arena to patient care. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/peninsula_regional_joins_johns_hopkins_clinical_research_network http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/peninsula_regional_joins_johns_hopkins_clinical_research_network Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) and Walgreens (NYSE, NASDAQ:WAG) today announced they have entered into a wide-ranging agreement designed to promote collaboration on population-based research and to jointly review and develop protocols to improve outcomes of patients with chronic diseases. In addition, JHM and Walgreens will together explore the development of new models for improving care for individuals. This will include the creation of new educational and training programs for Walgreens 70,000 health care service providers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_and_walgreens_sign_collaboration_agreement http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_and_walgreens_sign_collaboration_agreement Coronary computed tomographic (CT) 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. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/ct_angiography_screening_in_asymptomatic_patients_leads_to_more_medicines_tests_and_procedures_without_clear_benefit http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/ct_angiography_screening_in_asymptomatic_patients_leads_to_more_medicines_tests_and_procedures_without_clear_benefit Generates enough material for several tests, improving choice of implanted embryos. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have devised a new technique, which helps couples that are affected by or are carriers of genetic diseases have in vitro fertilized babies free of both the disease in question and other chromosomal abnormalities. The results were reported in the April issue of Fertility and Sterility. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_genetic_testing_technology_for_ivf_embryos http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_genetic_testing_technology_for_ivf_embryos Johns Hopkins researchers identify genes linked to worsening of cystic fibrosis. Johns Hopkins Institute for Genetic Medicine researchers working as part of the North American Cystic Fibrosis Consortium have discovered two regions of the genome that affect the severity of cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition that causes scarring throughout the body, affecting most notably the pancreas and lungs. Reporting online this week in Nature Genetics, the team describes the first-ever study to identify genetic variations that are associated with more severe cases of CF. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/doctor_how_sick_will_i_get_its_all_in_the_genes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/doctor_how_sick_will_i_get_its_all_in_the_genes Johns Hopkins team discovers brain defense in mice and a possible new strategy for treating neurologic disorders. Johns Hopkins scientists say that a newly discovered "survival protein" protects the brain against the effects of stroke in rodent brain tissue by interfering with a particular kind of cell death that's also implicated in complications from diabetes and heart attack. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/what_doesnt_kill_the_brain_makes_it_stronger http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/what_doesnt_kill_the_brain_makes_it_stronger A distinguished group of 224 graduates will embark on their future careers as physicians and scientists at the 116th convocation ceremony of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine on May 24. The graduation ceremony will be held at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall at10:30 a.m. A total of 100 M.D. degrees, 110 Ph.D. degrees and 20 master’s degrees will be conferred. Six of the graduates will receive both an M.D. and a Ph.D. degree. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_holds_116th_graduation_on_may_24_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_holds_116th_graduation_on_may_24_ A new institute dedicated to international medical education has been inaugurated at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. The inauguration ceremony for the medical school and teaching hospital, named for Malaysian physician, businessman and donor Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Mohan Swami, was held at the Johns Hopkins University Medicine School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 19, 2011. It was attended by Dato Sri Haji Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, prime minister of Malaysia, and other dignitaries. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_to_house_new_international_medical_education_project http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_to_house_new_international_medical_education_project More than 20 nationally recognized experts in neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, neuropsychology, critical care, rehabilitation medicine and trauma surgery are gathering at Johns Hopkins to discuss advances in traumatic brain injury (TBI) research. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_to_host_all_day_conference_on_traumatic_brain_injury http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_to_host_all_day_conference_on_traumatic_brain_injury Network Increases Research Opportunities for Patients Throughout the Region. The five-hospital Inova Health System based in Northern Virginia has joined the Johns Hopkins Clinical Research Network (JHCRN). Developed by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), JHCRN is designed to bring together community-based clinical researchers to provide new opportunities for research collaborations and accelerate the transfer of new diagnostic, treatment, and disease-prevention advances from the research arena to patient care. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/inova_health_system_joins_johns_hopkins_clinical_research_network http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/inova_health_system_joins_johns_hopkins_clinical_research_network Johns Hopkins research shows hospital websites use industry-provided content and overstate claims of robotic success. An estimated four in 10 hospital websites in the United States publicize the use of robotic surgery, with the lion’s share touting its clinical superiority despite a lack of scientific evidence that robotic surgery is any better than conventional operations, a new Johns Hopkins study finds. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hospitals_misleading_patients_about_benefits_of_robotic_surgery_study_suggests http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hospitals_misleading_patients_about_benefits_of_robotic_surgery_study_suggests Altered gene involved in both faulty cholesterol regulation and pregnancy hormone production. A variation in a gene involved in regulating cholesterol in the bloodstream also appears to affect progesterone production in women, making it a likely culprit in a substantial number of cases of their infertility, a new study from Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gene_variation_linked_to_infertility_in_women_study_finds http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gene_variation_linked_to_infertility_in_women_study_finds Harry C. “Hal” Dietz, III, M.D., the Victor A. McKusick Professor of Genetics and Medicine at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is one of 72 new members of the National Academy of Sciences, an honorary society that advises the government on scientific matters. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researcher_elected_to_national_academy_of_sciences http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researcher_elected_to_national_academy_of_sciences Johns Hopkins researchers discover losartan protects against loss of old or damaged muscle. Using geriatric mice, a Johns Hopkins research team has shown that losartan, a commonly used blood pressure drug, not only improves regeneration of injured muscle but also protects against its wasting away from inactivity. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/blood_pressure_drug_shows_some_muscle http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/blood_pressure_drug_shows_some_muscle Johns Hopkins researchers have demonstrated that human liver cells derived from adult cells coaxed into an embryonic state can engraft and begin regenerating liver tissue in mice with chronic liver damage. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/adult_stem_cells_take_root_in_livers_and_repair_damage http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/adult_stem_cells_take_root_in_livers_and_repair_damage Older, sicker heart-transplant recipients are significantly more likely to be alive a year after their operations if they have their transplants at hospitals that do a large number of them annually, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. These patients fare less well at low-volume centers, the research shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/for_older_sicker_heart_transplant_patients_hospitals_doing_the_most_operations_yield_better_outcomes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/for_older_sicker_heart_transplant_patients_hospitals_doing_the_most_operations_yield_better_outcomes Work in flies and mice has implications for regeneration therapies. Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered how two closely related proteins guide projections from nerve cells with exquisite accuracy, alternately attracting and repelling these axons as they navigate the most miniscule and frenetic niches of the nervous system to make remarkably precise connections. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_reveal_nerve_cells_navigation_system http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_reveal_nerve_cells_navigation_system Short courses of antibiotics appear just as effective as longer ones — and a great deal safer — in treating respiratory infections that might cause pneumonia in children on temporary breathing devices, according to a Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study published online May 3 in Clinical Infectious Diseases. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/short_antibiotic_courses_safer_for_breathing_tube_infections_in_children http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/short_antibiotic_courses_safer_for_breathing_tube_infections_in_children Chicago-based publications Becker’s Hospital Review and its Ambulatory Surgery Center Review have named The Johns Hopkins Hospital as one of the 100 best places to work in health care in the United States for 2011. Johns Hopkins also made Becker’s listing in 2010. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_hospital_named_by_beckers_magazines_as_best_place_to_work http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_hospital_named_by_beckers_magazines_as_best_place_to_work A small Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study of children and teens with cystic fibrosis (CF) shows that simple exercise, individually tailored to each patient’s preference and lifestyle, can help improve lung function and overall fitness. The findings were reported on May 3 at the 2011 annual meeting of Pediatric Academic Societies in Denver, Colo. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simple_exercise_improves_lung_function_in_children_with_cf http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simple_exercise_improves_lung_function_in_children_with_cf Johns Hopkins researchers transform inert white fat into brown fat to burn off calories and weight. By knocking down the expression of a protein in rat brains known to stimulate eating, Johns Hopkins researchers say they not only reduced the animals' calorie intake and weight, but also transformed their fat into a type that burns off more energy. The finding could lead to better obesity treatments for humans, the scientists report. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/turning_bad_fat_into_good_a_future_treatment_for_obesity http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/turning_bad_fat_into_good_a_future_treatment_for_obesity Young black men who have sex with men (MSM) get infected with HIV nearly five times more often than MSM from other races, even though they don’t have more unprotected sex. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/higher_hiv_risk_in_black_gay_men_linked_to_partner_choice_risk_perception http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/higher_hiv_risk_in_black_gay_men_linked_to_partner_choice_risk_perception Extremely premature babies fed human donor milk are less likely to develop the dangerous intestinal condition necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) than babies fed a standard premature infant formula derived from cow’s milk, according to research by investigators at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and elsewhere. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/formula_fed_preemies_at_higher_risk_for_dangerous_gi_condition_surgery_than_babies_who_get_donor_milk http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/formula_fed_preemies_at_higher_risk_for_dangerous_gi_condition_surgery_than_babies_who_get_donor_milk Scientists at Johns Hopkins have shown in laboratory experiments in mice that blocking the action of a signaling protein deep inside the heart’s muscle cells blunts the most serious ill effects of high blood pressure on the heart. These include heart muscle enlargement, scar tissue formation and loss of blood vessel growth. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/animal_studies_reveal_new_route_to_treating_heart_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/animal_studies_reveal_new_route_to_treating_heart_disease Pediatricians from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and elsewhere have discovered a link between low levels of vitamin D and anemia in children. The findings, presented on May 1 at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Denver, Colo., show that vitamin D deficiency may play an important role in anemia. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/low_vitamin_d_in_kids_may_play_a_role_in_anemia http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/low_vitamin_d_in_kids_may_play_a_role_in_anemia Even mild blast exposure damages nerve cells in mice, study shows. Stronger and tougher body armor to shield the chest, abdomen and back may be just what soldiers fighting in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars need to better protect their brains from mild injuries tied to so-called "shell shock," results of a Johns Hopkins study in mice suggests. Such mild trauma, resulting from the initial shock of exploding mines, grenades and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) now accounts for more than 80 percent of all brain injuries among U.S. troops. Some 160,000 American veteran men and women are estimated to have sustained this kind of trauma. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/shielding_body_protects_brain_from_shell_shocking_blast_injuries http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/shielding_body_protects_brain_from_shell_shocking_blast_injuries Hospitals and physician practices that form care-coordinating networks called "Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)," under provisions of the new health-care law could reap cost-savings and other benefits. Experts at Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania warn, however, that such networks could potentially be designed to exclude minorities and widen disparities in health care. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/will_minorities_be_left_out_of_health_care_law_provision http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/will_minorities_be_left_out_of_health_care_law_provision A discovery by Johns Hopkins scientists about how a single-celled fungus survives in low-oxygen settings may someday help humans whose immune systems are compromised by organ transplants or AIDS. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simple_fungus_reveals_clue_to_immune_system_protection http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simple_fungus_reveals_clue_to_immune_system_protection A Johns Hopkins University dean, a vice dean and a professor are among the 212 fellows named to the 231st class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_deans_and_faculty_member_named_aaas_fellows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_deans_and_faculty_member_named_aaas_fellows Jack Griffin, an internationally acclaimed and admired expert on diseases of the peripheral nervous system, founding director of the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute, and former director of Hopkins School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology, died Saturday, April 16, after a long battle with bladder cancer. He was 69. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/jack_griffin_nerve_disorder_expert_and_researcher_dies http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/jack_griffin_nerve_disorder_expert_and_researcher_dies Repeated unnecessary 911 calls are a common drain on the manpower and finances of emergency medical services, but a pilot program that identified Baltimore City’s top 911 callers and coupled them with a case worker has succeeded in drastically cutting the number of such calls while helping callers get proper care. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/coaching_citys_top_911_callers_can_trim_cost_improve_patient_care http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/coaching_citys_top_911_callers_can_trim_cost_improve_patient_care Newly revealed process has implications for understanding cancers, psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Using human kidney cells and brain tissue from adult mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have uncovered the sequence of steps that makes normally stable DNA undergo the crucial chemical changes implicated in cancers, psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. The process may also be involved in learning and memory, the researchers say. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_team_discovers_how_dna_changes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_team_discovers_how_dna_changes Compounds helped nerve extensions re-grow faster in mouse studies. Drugs already in development to treat Alzheimer’s disease may eventually be tapped for a different purpose altogether: re-growing the ends of injured nerves to relieve pain and paralysis. According to a new Johns Hopkins study, experimental compounds originally designed to combat a protein that builds up in Alzheimer’s-addled brains appear to make crushed or cut nerve endings grow back significantly faster, a potential boon for those who suffer from neuropathies or traumatic injuries. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/experimental_alzheimers_disease_drugs_might_help_patients_with_nerve_injuries http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/experimental_alzheimers_disease_drugs_might_help_patients_with_nerve_injuries A Johns Hopkins study of 769 men from across the United States recently diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer shows that forgoing immediate surgery to remove the tumor or radiation poses no added risk of death. Delaying treatment is fine, the results show, so long as the cancer’s progression and tumor growth are closely monitored through “active surveillance” and there is no dramatic worsening of the disease over time. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/closely_monitoring_low_risk_prostate_cancer_with_biopsy_does_not_raise_risk_of_death_and_discourages_overtreatment http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/closely_monitoring_low_risk_prostate_cancer_with_biopsy_does_not_raise_risk_of_death_and_discourages_overtreatment Benefits sustained after program’s end with "problem-solving" approach. An intensive program that taught low-income, poorly educated diabetics to better manage their disease resulted in significantly improved long-term blood sugar control, according to Johns Hopkins researchers who designed and implemented the program. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_diabetes_education_program_yields_improved_blood_sugar_control http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_diabetes_education_program_yields_improved_blood_sugar_control Johns Hopkins scientists have developed a simplified, cheaper, all-purpose method they say can be used by scientists around the globe to more safely turn blood cells into heart cells. The method is virus-free and produces heart cells that beat with nearly 100 percent efficiency, they claim. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/universal_virus_free_method_to_turn_blood_cells_into_beating_heart_cells http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/universal_virus_free_method_to_turn_blood_cells_into_beating_heart_cells The recent flurry of highly publicized cases of young athletes dying suddenly on the playing field has prompted Johns Hopkins Children's Center cardiologists to discuss the medical significance of a child's sudden death for the rest of the family. Because most cases of sudden cardiac death in young athletes stem from an underlying heart condition, a child's sudden death or resuscitation from cardiac arrest should always prompt medical evaluation for the whole family, starting with parents and siblings and, possibly, extending to other family members. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/young_athletes_sudden_death_may_warrant_checkups_for_the_entire_family http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/young_athletes_sudden_death_may_warrant_checkups_for_the_entire_family Johns Hopkins patient safety expert argues that current "metrics" don't paint clear picture of quality. With a push to make hospitals and doctors more accountable for health care quality, more attention must be paid to the accuracy and reliability of measures used to evaluate caregivers, says a prominent Johns Hopkins patient safety expert. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/unreliable_outcomes_measures_hamper_efforts_to_assure_better_safer_care http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/unreliable_outcomes_measures_hamper_efforts_to_assure_better_safer_care Johns Hopkins researchers report the discovery of a molecular switch that regulates the behavior of a protein that, when altered, is already known to increase human susceptibility to schizophrenia and mood disorders.The findings, published online in the journal Nature, expand the possibility of creating biomarkers that can better diagnose those with mental illnesses and track their treatment. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_study_solidifies_role_of_disc1_in_risk_for_schizophrenia_and_other_mental_illness http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_study_solidifies_role_of_disc1_in_risk_for_schizophrenia_and_other_mental_illness With the help of two sets of brothers with autism, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a gene associated with autism that appears to be linked very specifically to the severity of social interaction deficits. The gene, GRIP1 (glutamate receptor interacting protein 1), is a blueprint for a traffic-directing protein at synapses — those specialized contact points between brain cells across which chemical signals flow. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gene_linked_to_severity_of_autisms_social_dysfunction http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gene_linked_to_severity_of_autisms_social_dysfunction The United States should pay close attention to how the United Kingdom carries out plans to assess a new drug's worth using factors that go beyond clinical and cost effectiveness, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. In a commentary to appear in tomorrow's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the bioethicists detail and discuss a new "value-based pricing" policy proposed by the British government. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/what_value_and_price_to_place_on_new_drugs_challenges_facing_new_british_model_bear_watching_says_johns_hopkins_bioethicists http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/what_value_and_price_to_place_on_new_drugs_challenges_facing_new_british_model_bear_watching_says_johns_hopkins_bioethicists All Children’s Hospital, in St. Petersburg, Fla., is now a part of the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) and a fully integrated member of Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM). All Children's is the first U.S. hospital outside of the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., region to become integrated with JHM, which includes the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/all_childrens_hospital_joins_johns_hopkins_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/all_childrens_hospital_joins_johns_hopkins_medicine Johns Hopkins scientists and their colleagues paired laboratory and epidemiologic data to find that men using the cardiac drug, digoxin, had a 24 percent lower risk for prostate cancer. The scientists say further research about the discovery may lead to use of the drug, or new ones that work the same way, to treat the cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/heart_drug_cuts_prostate_cancer_risk http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/heart_drug_cuts_prostate_cancer_risk Hospitals can reduce the risk of life-threatening bloodstream infections in children with peripherally inserted central venous catheters by assessing daily the patient’s progress and removing the device as early as possible, according to a new Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study published online March 31 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/remove_childrens_catheters_as_soon_as_possible_to_prevent_bloodstream_infections http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/remove_childrens_catheters_as_soon_as_possible_to_prevent_bloodstream_infections Old-fashioned, manual faucets work better, study shows; Hopkins is removing new ones. A study of newly installed, hands-free faucets at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, all equipped with the latest electronic-eye sensors to automatically detect hands and dispense preset amounts of water, shows they were more likely to be contaminated with one of the most common and hazardous bacteria in hospitals compared to old-style fixtures with separate handles for hot and cold water. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/latest_hands_free_electronic_water_faucets_found_to_be_hindrance_not_help_in_hospital_infection_control http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/latest_hands_free_electronic_water_faucets_found_to_be_hindrance_not_help_in_hospital_infection_control Johns Hopkins researchers argue for reversing ban on transplanting infected organs and making them available to HIV-infected patients. If Congress reversed its ban on allowing people with HIV to be organ donors after their death, roughly 500 HIV-positive patients with kidney or liver failure each year could get transplants within months, rather than the years they currently wait on the list, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/could_hiv_infected_organs_save_lives http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/could_hiv_infected_organs_save_lives Johns Hopkins Medicine is pleased that out of more than 85 hospitals in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, all five of its hospitals were included in the new rankings by U.S. News & World Report of “best hospitals” in various metro areas. The five hospitals rated in their areas are The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medical Bayview Center and Howard County General Hospital for the Baltimore region and Suburban Hospital and Sibley Memorial Hospital for the Washington, D.C., region. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/all_five_johns_hopkins_medicine_hospitals_listed_in_new_us_news__world_reports_best_hospitals_metro_area_rankings http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/all_five_johns_hopkins_medicine_hospitals_listed_in_new_us_news__world_reports_best_hospitals_metro_area_rankings Delays in Diagnosis Common. Once a medical rarity in children, inflammatory bowel disease today is increasingly common in kids, but many of them may not be diagnosed in a timely manner, according to experts from the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Johns Hopkins Children’s. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/doctors_see_more_children_with_inflammatory_bowel_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/doctors_see_more_children_with_inflammatory_bowel_disease Findings could lead to new avenues of treatment research. A study of thousands of people with bipolar disorder suggests that genetic risk factors may influence the decision to attempt suicide. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_team_identifies_genetic_link_to_attempted_suicide http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_team_identifies_genetic_link_to_attempted_suicide Delays in Diagnosis Common. Once a medical rarity in children, inflammatory bowel disease today is increasingly common in kids, but many of them may not be diagnosed in a timely manner, according to experts from the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Johns Hopkins Children’s. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/doctors_see_more_children_with_inflammatory_bowel_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/doctors_see_more_children_with_inflammatory_bowel_disease New Role for Short Telomeres. New evidence has emerged from studies in mice that short telomeres or "caps" at the ends of chromosomes may predispose people to age-related diabetes, according to Johns Hopkins scientists. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/dna_end_caps_length_linked_to_diabetes_risk http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/dna_end_caps_length_linked_to_diabetes_risk Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) and Anne Arundel Health System (AAHS) are announcing plans to expand health services in western Anne Arundel County by jointly developing a 60,000-square-foot medical office building in Odenton, Md. The building is scheduled to open by the end of 2012 or early 2013. The $14 million project will augment primary care and specialty services already provided by both institutions in the Odenton and Fort Meade area. In addition, it is envisioned that an urgent care center will be developed adjacent to the new medical building. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_and_anne_arundel_health_system_collaborate_to_expand_odenton_medical_site http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_and_anne_arundel_health_system_collaborate_to_expand_odenton_medical_site Coupling an electronic prescription drug ordering system with a computerized method for reporting adverse events can dramatically reduce the number of medication errors in a hospital’s psychiatric unit, suggests new Johns Hopkins research. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/computerized_systems_reduce_psychiatric_drug_errors http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/computerized_systems_reduce_psychiatric_drug_errorsl The Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) is advising that people in the United States should not take potassium iodide as a preventive medication for possible radiation fallout from Japan's evolving nuclear plant crisis. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_experts_taking_potassium_iodide_could_be_harmful http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_experts_taking_potassium_iodide_could_be_harmful Scientists use new technique to reprogram cells with risk gene for major mental illness. Using skin cells from adult siblings with schizophrenia and a genetic mutation linked to major mental illnesses, Johns Hopkins researchers have created induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) using a new and improved "clean" technique. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_team_creates_stem_cells_from_schizophrenia_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_team_creates_stem_cells_from_schizophrenia_patients Using a light-triggered chemical tool, Johns Hopkins scientists report that they have refined a means of moving individual molecules around inside living cells and sending them to exact locations at precise times. This new tool, they say, gives scientists greater command than ever in manipulating single molecules, allowing them to see how molecules in certain cell locations can influence cell behavior and to determine whether cells will grow, die, move or divide. A report on the work was published online December 13 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_researchers_use_light_to_move_molecules http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_researchers_use_light_to_move_molecules Johns Hopkins researchers believe they have uncovered the molecular switch for the secretion of insulin -- the hormone that regulates blood sugar -- providing for the first time an explanation of this process. In a report published online March 1 in Cell Metabolism, the researchers say the work solves a longtime mystery and may lead to better treatments for type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/insulin_releasing_switch_discovered http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/insulin_releasing_switch_discovered The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine continues to be recognized as one of the top medical schools in the nation. In the new 2012 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate Schools, Johns Hopkins is ranked #3 overall among U.S. medical schools, in addition to receiving top-tier rankings in specialty areas. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_university_school_of_medicine_retains_top__us_news_rankings_for_2012 http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_university_school_of_medicine_retains_top__us_news_rankings_for_2012 Johns Hopkins medical students will find out where their careers as doctors will begin. The suspense will end precisely at noon on March 17, when 97 Johns Hopkins University medical students will learn where they will begin their careers as doctors after graduation this spring. Surrounded by family members, classmates and professors, fourth-year students at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine will open official letters to find out the hospital where they have been accepted for their residency. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/match_day_an_emotional_milestone_for_medical_school_graduates http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/match_day_an_emotional_milestone_for_medical_school_graduates Johns Hopkins researchers examine newest medications, find they come up short. An inexpensive type 2 diabetes drug that has been around for more than 15 years works just as well and has fewer side effects than a half-dozen other, mostly newer and more expensive classes of medication used to control the chronic disease, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/newer_doesnt_mean_better_when_it_comes_to_type_2_diabetes_drugs http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/newer_doesnt_mean_better_when_it_comes_to_type_2_diabetes_drugs Baltimore trial lawyer and leading businessman Francis B. Burch Jr. has been elected chairman of the board of Johns Hopkins Medicine, effective July 1. The current chairman of the DLA Piper global board and co-chairman of DLA Piper LLP (U.S.), Burch within the last decade led the transformation of Piper & Marbury, a regional Maryland law firm with 250 lawyers, to DLA Piper, a top-10 global legal practice with 71 offices in 29 countries and more than 3,500 lawyers. Burch has been a member of the Johns Hopkins Medicine board of trustees since its inception in 1996. He succeeds C. Michael Armstrong, who has been chairman since 2005. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/francis_b_burch_jr_named_new_chairman_of_johns_hopkins_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/francis_b_burch_jr_named_new_chairman_of_johns_hopkins_medicine Providing clues into why the severity of a common parasitic infection can vary greatly from person to person, a new Johns Hopkins study shows that each one of three strains of the cat-borne parasite Toxoplasma gondii sets off a unique reaction in the nerve cells it invades. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/toxoplasmosis_the_strain_explains_severity_of_infection http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/toxoplasmosis_the_strain_explains_severity_of_infection Findings expected to affect surgical approach. Johns Hopkins Children’s Center researchers have discovered that most children with severe cerebral palsy have starkly asymmetric pelvic bones. The newly identified misalignment can affect how surgeries of the pelvis, spine and surrounding structures are performed, the researchers say. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_childrens_study_finds_some_patients_with_cerebral_palsy_have_asymmetric_pelvic_bones http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_childrens_study_finds_some_patients_with_cerebral_palsy_have_asymmetric_pelvic_bones A light-sensing receptor that's packed inside the eye's photoreceptor cells has an altogether surprising role in cells elsewhere in the body, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered. Using fruit flies, they showed that this protein, called rhodopsin, also is critical for sensing temperature. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_reveal_role_of_light_sensor_in_temperature_sensation http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_reveal_role_of_light_sensor_in_temperature_sensation Ellen Beth Levitt, an award-winning media relations and health care communications leader, has joined Johns Hopkins Medicine as a senior communications specialist. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/ellen_beth_levitt_joins_johns_hopkins_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/ellen_beth_levitt_joins_johns_hopkins_medicine Long journey of organelles to feet and hands leads to dysfunction, pain. The burning, tingling pain of neuropathy may affect feet and hands before other body parts because the powerhouses of nerve cells that supply the extremities age and become dysfunctional as they complete the long journey to these areas, Johns Hopkins scientists suggest in a new study. The finding may eventually lead to new ways to fight neuropathy, a condition that often accompanies other diseases including HIV/AIDS, diabetes and circulatory disorders. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/feet_first_old_mitochondria_might_be_responsible_for_neuropathy_in_the_extremities http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/feet_first_old_mitochondria_might_be_responsible_for_neuropathy_in_the_extremities Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that PARIS — the protein — facilitates the most common form of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which affects about 1 million older Americans. The findings of their study, published March 4 in Cell, could lead to important new targets for treatment. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_team_explores_paris_finds_a_key_to_parkinsons_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_team_explores_paris_finds_a_key_to_parkinsons_ Discovery of molecular mechanism reveals antitumor possibilities. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered that a natural product isolated from a traditional Chinese medicinal plant commonly known as thunder god vine, or lei gong teng, and used for hundreds of years to treat many conditions including rheumatoid arthritis works by blocking gene control machinery in the cell. The report, published as a cover story of the March issue of Nature Chemical Biology, suggests that the natural product could be a starting point for developing new anticancer drugs. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/solving_a_traditional_chinese_medicine_mystery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/solving_a_traditional_chinese_medicine_mystery Viruses that are natural part of human genome may be culprit. A retrovirus that inserted itself into the human genome thousands of years ago may be responsible for some cases of the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gherig's disease. The finding, made by Johns Hopkins scientists, may eventually give researchers a new way to attack this universally fatal condition. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_study_suggests_als_could_be_caused_by_a_retrovirus http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_study_suggests_als_could_be_caused_by_a_retrovirus Becker's Hospital Review magazine has selected The Johns Hopkins Hospital as one of the “50 Best Hospitals in America.” The award is based on reputation among M.D. specialists and analysis from the publication’s editorial team, who scored and weighted data from outside sources examining patient safety, clinical outcomes and reputation. After reviewing these national rankings, the team performed additional research and sought insight from industry sources before determining final selections. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_hospital_recognized_as_top_hospital_by_business_magazine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_hospital_recognized_as_top_hospital_by_business_magazine In a commentary published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a leading patient safety expert argues that failure to integrate new electronic equipment in modern hospital operating rooms and intensive care units results in diagnostic mistakes, failures to identify deteriorating patients, communication errors and inefficient work. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/health_care_needs_to_look_to_aviation_industry_to_improve_safety http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/health_care_needs_to_look_to_aviation_industry_to_improve_safety Johns Hopkins researchers find mineral deficiency increases disease risk. Lower potassium levels in the blood may help explain why African-Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes as whites, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/potassium_levels_possible_key_to_racial_disparity_in_type_2_diabetes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/potassium_levels_possible_key_to_racial_disparity_in_type_2_diabetes An inexpensive, routine blood test could hold the key to why some patients with congestive heart failure do well after being discharged from the hospital and why others risk relapse, costly readmission or death within a year, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simple_blood_test_at_discharge_could_help_reduce_hospital_readmissions_for_heart_failure_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/simple_blood_test_at_discharge_could_help_reduce_hospital_readmissions_for_heart_failure_patients Blacks at lesser risk. Nearly two-thirds of Americans age 70 and older have hearing loss, but those who are of black race seem to have a protective effect against this loss, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins and National Institute on Aging researchers. These findings, published online Feb. 28 in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, provide what is believed to be the first nationally representative survey in older adults on this often ignored and underreported condition. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hearing_loss_rate_in_older_adults_climbs_to_more_than_60_percent_in_national_survey http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hearing_loss_rate_in_older_adults_climbs_to_more_than_60_percent_in_national_survey Abnormal chromosomes have long been detected in children with leukemias and lymphomas, and now, research by Johns Hopkins scientists has linked such abnormalities with a molecular clock that controls the timing of a high-stakes genetic exchange inside dividing immune system cells http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_tie_cell_cycle_clock_to_childhood_cancers http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_tie_cell_cycle_clock_to_childhood_cancers A team of heart experts at Johns Hopkins has found that dual lab tests of blood clotting factors accurately predict the patients whose blood vessels, in particular veins implanted to restore blood flow to the heart during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), are more likely to fail or become clogged within six months. One test gauges the speed of blood platelet clumping and the other measures the level of a clumping chemical byproduct. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/paired_lab_tests_accurately_detect_patients_whose_heart_grafts_are_most_vulnerable_to_clogging_soon_after_bypass_surgery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/paired_lab_tests_accurately_detect_patients_whose_heart_grafts_are_most_vulnerable_to_clogging_soon_after_bypass_surgery The current focus on medical errors isn’t quite as new as it seems. A Johns Hopkins review of groundbreaking neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing’s notes, made at the turn of the last century, has turned up copious documentation of his own surgical mishaps as well as his suggestions for preventing those mistakes in the future. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/famed_neurosurgeons_century_old_notes_reveal_modern_style_admission_of_medical_error http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/famed_neurosurgeons_century_old_notes_reveal_modern_style_admission_of_medical_error When it comes to curing skin infected with the antibiotic-resistant bacterium MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), timely and proper wound cleaning and draining may be more important than the choice of antibiotic, according to a new Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study. The work is published in the March issue of Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Careful-Cleaning-of-Childrens-Skin-Wounds-Key-to-Healing-Regardless-of-Antibiotic-Choice.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Careful-Cleaning-of-Childrens-Skin-Wounds-Key-to-Healing-Regardless-of-Antibiotic-Choice.aspx Johns Hopkins researchers say they have identified practical strategies to implement environmentally friendly practices in operating rooms and other hospital facilities that could result in vastly reduced health care costs and pose no risk to patient safety. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/going_green_in_the_operating_room http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/going_green_in_the_operating_room Relatively lenient regulations regarding human subjects protections in the 1950s played an important role in pediatric oncology being the first field of medicine in which doctors simultaneously treated patients and carried out clinical research, according to a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. http://bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/290/interior.asp http://bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/290/interior.asp Brian Gragnolati, president/CEO of Suburban Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, has been named senior vice president of the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS). In his new position, Gragnolati will head Johns Hopkins Medicine’s (JHM) Community Division, a newly established office designed to ensure greater system-wide clinical integration. The effective date of the appointment is March 1, 2011. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/brian_gragnolati_appointed_senior_vp_of_the_johns_hopkins_health_system_and_head_of_the_newly_created_johns_hopkins_medicine_community_division http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/brian_gragnolati_appointed_senior_vp_of_the_johns_hopkins_health_system_and_head_of_the_newly_created_johns_hopkins_medicine_community_division Cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia — the most lethal and among the most common of all hospital-associated infections — dropped by more than 70 percent in Michigan hospitals where medical staff used a simple checklist designed by Johns Hopkins researchers. Such pneumonias kill an estimated 36,000 Americans each year. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/checklist_cuts_lethal_ventilator_associated_lung_infections http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/checklist_cuts_lethal_ventilator_associated_lung_infections Children with hip and thigh implants designed to help heal a broken bone or correct other bone conditions are at risk for subsequent fractures of the very bones that the implants were intended to treat, according to new research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hip-Thigh-Implants-Can-Raise-Bone-Fracture-Risk-in-Children.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hip-Thigh-Implants-Can-Raise-Bone-Fracture-Risk-in-Children.aspx The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Baltimore School of Law will jointly launch what is believed to be the nation’s first academic center for medicine and law that focuses on the health care provider. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_university_of_baltimore_form_new_center_for_medicine_and_law http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_university_of_baltimore_form_new_center_for_medicine_and_law In fact, according to new research from Johns Hopkins, the fusion of muscle cells is a power struggle that involves a smaller mobile antagonist that points at, pokes and finally pushes into its larger, stationary partner using a newly identified finger-like projection. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/macho_muscle_cells_force_their_way_to_fusion http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/macho_muscle_cells_force_their_way_to_fusion Seniors with hearing loss are significantly more likely to develop dementia over time than those who retain their hearing, a study by Johns Hopkins and National Institute on Aging researchers suggests. The findings, the researchers say, could lead to new ways to combat dementia, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide and carries heavy societal burdens. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hearing_loss_and_dementia_linked_in_study http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hearing_loss_and_dementia_linked_in_study After analyzing data on 2,155 private contractors, diplomats and other civilians supporting war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan who were medically evacuated out of combat zones, researchers have found they are more likely to be evacuated for noncombat-related injuries, but more likely to return to work in-country after treatment for these conditions. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/military_and_civilian_medical_experts_turning_needed_attention_to_army_of_injured_civilians_supporting_overseas_wars http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/military_and_civilian_medical_experts_turning_needed_attention_to_army_of_injured_civilians_supporting_overseas_wars Infectious disease experts at Johns Hopkins say new research clearly shows that screening teens and young adults for sexually transmitted infections may best be achieved by making free, confidential home-kit testing available over the Internet. From a public health standpoint, the project is a clear winner, the experts say. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/free_web_based_ordering_of_home_test_kits_for_sexually_transmitted_infections_proves_popular_and_effective_with_teens_and_young_adults http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/free_web_based_ordering_of_home_test_kits_for_sexually_transmitted_infections_proves_popular_and_effective_with_teens_and_young_adults The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a private, nonprofit organization that accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations, has recognized Johns Hopkins Community Physicians’ (JHCP) Canton Crossing and the Wyman Park Internal Medicine offices for excellent patient-centered care and for achieving high marks in their Patient-Centered Medical Home Program (PCMH). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/third_johns_hopkins_community_physicians_site_receives_high_marks_from_national_nonprofit_organization http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/third_johns_hopkins_community_physicians_site_receives_high_marks_from_national_nonprofit_organization Motorcycle helmets, long known to dramatically reduce the number of brain injuries and deaths from crashes, appear to also be associated with a lower risk of cervical spine injury, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/motorcycle_helmets_reduce_spine_injuries_after_collisions_helmet_weight_as_risk_to_neck_called_a_myth http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/motorcycle_helmets_reduce_spine_injuries_after_collisions_helmet_weight_as_risk_to_neck_called_a_myth Andrew Ewald, Ph.D., who studies how cells build organs and how these same cellular processes can contribute to breast cancer metastasis, will receive the American Association of Anatomists’ 2011 Morphological Sciences Award for his “outstanding contributions to the field of epithelial morphogenesis.” He will present an award lecture at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Anatomists, Sunday, Apr. 10, in Washington, D.C. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_andrew_ewald_honored_by_anatomy_society http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_andrew_ewald_honored_by_anatomy_society Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) must adjust and adapt to the new health care reform laws or risk marginalization in the new health care arena, according to a New England Journal of Medicine Perspective article published online February 2. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/accountable_care_at_academic_medical_centers_lessons_learned http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/accountable_care_at_academic_medical_centers_lessons_learned Teenage girls and young women infected with HIV get pregnant more often and suffer pregnancy complications more frequently than their HIV-negative peers, according to new research led by Johns Hopkins investigators. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Teens-with-HIV-at-High-Risk-for-Pregnancy-Complications.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Teens-with-HIV-at-High-Risk-for-Pregnancy-Complications.aspx Nine Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine postdoctoral fellows recently were awarded fellowships. Rita Strack, Ph.D., received one of 12 total Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation fellowships, and Bagrat Abazyan, M.D., Robert H. Cudmore, Ph.D., Mi-Hyeon Jang, Ph.D., Shinichi Kano, Sun-Hong Kim, Ph.D., M.D., Ph.D., Minae Niwa, Ph.D., Frederick Charles Nucifora Jr., Ph.D., D.O., M.H.S., and Emily G. Severance, Ph.D., were among the 214 recipients of the NARSAD: The Brain and Behavior Research Fund Young Investigator fellowship. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_postdoctoral_fellows_win_awards http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_postdoctoral_fellows_win_awards Efforts to keep hospital patients safe and continually improve the overall results of health care can’t work unless medical centers figure out a way to get physicians more involved in the process. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/more_doctors_must_join_nurses_administrators_in_leadng_efforts_to_improve_patient_safety_and_outcomes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/more_doctors_must_join_nurses_administrators_in_leadng_efforts_to_improve_patient_safety_and_outcomes Michael E. Zenilman, M.D., who was until recently the chairman of the department of surgery at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, has been appointed vice chair and regional director of surgery for Johns Hopkins Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_names_new_regional_director_of_surgery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_names_new_regional_director_of_surgery A Johns Hopkins-led safety checklist program that virtually eliminated bloodstream infections in hospital intensive-care units throughout Michigan appears to have also reduced deaths by 10 percent, a new study suggests. Although prior research showed a major reduction in central-line related bloodstream infections at hospitals using the checklist, the new study is the first to show its use directly lowered mortality. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/safety_checklist_use_yields_10_percent_drop_in_hospital_deaths http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/safety_checklist_use_yields_10_percent_drop_in_hospital_deaths Former Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), John Michael Colmers, 57, has been named Johns Hopkins Medicine vice president for health care transformation and strategic planning. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/john_michael_colmers_appointed_vice_president_for_health_care_transformation_and_strategic_planning_for_johns_hopkins_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/john_michael_colmers_appointed_vice_president_for_health_care_transformation_and_strategic_planning_for_johns_hopkins_medicine Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found a better way to create induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells—adult cells reprogrammed with the properties of embryonic stem cells—from a small blood sample. This new method, described last week in Cell Research, avoids creating DNA changes that could lead to tumor formation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_develop_safer_way_to_make_induced_pluripotent_stem_cells http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_develop_safer_way_to_make_induced_pluripotent_stem_cells The Maryland Breastfeeding Coalition and its sister group the D.C. Breastfeeding Coalition have recognized the Johns Hopkins’ East Baltimore Medical Campus as the region’s top workplace for supporting breastfeeding mothers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_named_top_breastfeeding_friendly_workplace http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_named_top_breastfeeding_friendly_workplace All Children’s Hospital (ACH) and Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) are pleased to announce another step in the progression toward their planned integration. On January 27, 2011, the All Children’s Health System Board voted favorably on the Johns Hopkins integration. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/all_childrens_hospital_board_votes_to_integrate_with_johns_hopkins_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/all_childrens_hospital_board_votes_to_integrate_with_johns_hopkins_medicine A team of scientists at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere has discovered that a single alteration in the genetic code of about a fourth of African-Americans helps protect them from coronary artery disease, the leading cause of death in Americans of all races. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/altered_gene_protects_some_african_americans_from_coronary_artery_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/altered_gene_protects_some_african_americans_from_coronary_artery_disease A study of more than 14,000 men and women whose hearts stopped suddenly suggests that the chances of survival are very high if such cardiac arrests are witnessed in large public venues, including airports, sports arenas or malls. The reasons, researchers say, are that almost four out of five such cases appear to be due to a survivable type of heart rhythm disruption and that big places with lots of people are more likely to have an automated external defibrillator, or AED device, handy, along with those who can apply it as well as CPR. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/chance_of_surviving_shockable_cardiac_arrests_when_bystanders_use_an_automated_external_defibrillator_are_excellent_in_big_public_venues_study_shows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/chance_of_surviving_shockable_cardiac_arrests_when_bystanders_use_an_automated_external_defibrillator_are_excellent_in_big_public_venues_study_shows Scientists at Johns Hopkins have deciphered the genetic code for a type of pancreatic cancer called neuroendocrine or islet cell tumors. The work, described online in the Jan. 20 issue of Science Express, shows that patients whose tumors have certain coding "mistakes" live twice as long as those without them. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/genetic_code_deciphered_for_form_of_pancreatic_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/genetic_code_deciphered_for_form_of_pancreatic_cancer The vast majority of already published and relevant clinical trials of a given drug, device or procedure are routinely ignored by scientists conducting new research on the same topic, a new Johns Hopkins study suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/clinical_trials_cited_for_ignoring_previous_relevant_research http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/clinical_trials_cited_for_ignoring_previous_relevant_research Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that nitroxoline, an antibiotic commonly used around the world to treat urinary tract infections, can slow or stop the growth of human breast and bladder cancer cells by blocking the formation of new blood vessels. The results, appearing in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that nitroxoline shows promise as a potential therapeutic agent. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/antibiotic_slow_growth_of_bladder_breast_cancer_cells http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/antibiotic_slow_growth_of_bladder_breast_cancer_cells The Johns Hopkins Brain Sciences Institute has funded a total of $5 million to 12 different research groups at Hopkins to launch the new Synapses, Circuits and Cognitive Disorders Program. The new BSi program aims to understand the fundamentals of brain function by focusing on the synapse — the point of contact between two nerve cells — to better understand cognitive disorders. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_grants_5_million_to_study_cognitive_disorders http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_grants_5_million_to_study_cognitive_disorders An international team of lung experts has new evidence from a study in shantytowns near Lima, Peru, that teens living immediately next to a busy roadway have increased risk of allergies and asthma. The odds can go up by 30 percent for developing allergies to dust mites, pet hairs and mold, and can double for having actual asthma symptoms, such as wheezing and using medications to help them breathe. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/living_near_busy_roadways_ups_chances_of_allergic_asthma http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/living_near_busy_roadways_ups_chances_of_allergic_asthma Medical students should have basic knowledge of common medication errors before they begin seeing patients at the hospital, and researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center report that allowing them to play detective by watching, spotting and analyzing medical errors as they occur can go a long way toward helping prevent potentially fatal mistakes in their future practices. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Teaching-Future-Doctors-The-Basics-of-Medication-Errors.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Teaching-Future-Doctors-The-Basics-of-Medication-Errors.aspx As a response to a 2007 episode in which four patients in Chicago were transplanted with organs from a single donor unknowingly infected with HIV — the only such episode in 20 years — one-third of transplant surgeons in the United States “overreacted” and began routinely using fewer organs from high-risk donors, new research from Johns Hopkins finds. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/transplant_surgeons_fear_using_organs_from_high_risk_donors_despite_safety_record http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/transplant_surgeons_fear_using_organs_from_high_risk_donors_despite_safety_record The Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute (BSi) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OMJPI) to advance the development of novel therapeutics for neurological and psychiatric diseases. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_brain_science_institute_forges_agreement_to_develop_novel_therapeutics_for_neurological_and_psychiatric_disorders http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_brain_science_institute_forges_agreement_to_develop_novel_therapeutics_for_neurological_and_psychiatric_disorders A quick online assessment tool developed by Johns Hopkins researchers can help worried seniors find out if they are at risk of developing dementia and determine whether they should seek a comprehensive, face-to-face diagnosis from a physician, according to a new study. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/online_tool_can_help_seniors_quickly_determine_risk_for_dementia http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/online_tool_can_help_seniors_quickly_determine_risk_for_dementia Kidney transplants using organs from live donors work just as well if the kidneys are shipped — be it across town or across the country — as when the donors and recipients are operated on at the same hospital, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/shipping_kidneys_for_transplant_is_safe_johns_hopkins_research_finds http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/shipping_kidneys_for_transplant_is_safe_johns_hopkins_research_finds A new Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study challenges the widespread practice of treating premature babies with nitric oxide gas to prevent lung problems, neurological damage and death. The research, based on analysis of 22 major studies of the effect of nitric oxide in babies born before 34 weeks of age, found no evidence of benefit in most infants. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hold_the_gas__inhaled_nitric_oxide_of_no_benefit_to_most_premature_babies http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hold_the_gas__inhaled_nitric_oxide_of_no_benefit_to_most_premature_babies Doctors who have completed training in internal medicine are in general poorly prepared for jobs as primary care physicians, most notably lacking the knowledge to best care for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/internal_medicine_residents_graduate_unprepared_for_primary_care_jobs http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/internal_medicine_residents_graduate_unprepared_for_primary_care_jobs Five Johns Hopkins researchers have been elected by their peers as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/five_johns_hopkins_researchers_named_aaas_fellows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/five_johns_hopkins_researchers_named_aaas_fellows Lab studies show that combining drugs that target a variety of developmental cell signaling pathways may do a better job of killing deadly brain tumors than single drugs that target one pathway at a time, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers. The combined therapy approach apparently reduces tumor resistance to chemotherapy, they say. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/better_way_to_treat_deadly_brain_tumors http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/better_way_to_treat_deadly_brain_tumors The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issueshas appointed two faculty experts at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics to senior staff positions that will support the advisory panel in its ongoing work to provide the White House with expertise and guidance on matters such as emerging technologies and human subjects protections. http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/277/interior.asp http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/277/interior.asp Steven J. Thompson has been named chief executive officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine International, the arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine that enters into international agreements and manages Johns Hopkins Medicine’s rapidly growing international enterprises. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/steven_j_thompson_appointed_ceo_of_johns_hopkins_medicine_international http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/steven_j_thompson_appointed_ceo_of_johns_hopkins_medicine_international Severely injured patients who are routinely given IV fluids by paramedics before transport to the nearest trauma center are significantly more likely to die than similarly injured patients who don’t get the time-consuming IV treatment before hospitalization, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/on_scene_iv_fluids_for_trauma_patients_lifesaver_or_time_waster http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/on_scene_iv_fluids_for_trauma_patients_lifesaver_or_time_waster Hospitalizing teen girls with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) costs six times as much as treating them in the emergency room, and up to 12 times more than treating them in an outpatient clinic, according to a small study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/outpatient-care-underused-in-treatment-of-teens-with-PID.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/outpatient-care-underused-in-treatment-of-teens-with-PID.aspx Few things are more startling to parents than the sight of a child’s bright red-colored urine. Yet, blood in the urine — especially microscopic blood found during routine well-child visits — is fairly common, usually temporary and rarely a cause for concern, say experts at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Bloody-Urine-After-Injury-Rarely-Cause-For-Alarm.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Bloody-Urine-After-Injury-Rarely-Cause-For-Alarm.aspx Children who live in areas with fewer pediatricians are more likely to suffer life-threatening ruptures of the appendix than those in areas with more pediatricians, even when accounting for other factors such as the number of hospitals, imaging technology, insurance coverage and the number of surgeons in an area, according to a study from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. The study’s findings, based on an analysis of nearly 250,000 hospital records of children with appendicitis, are published online in the December issue of JAMA-Archives of Surgery. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Children-in-Areas-with-Few-Pediatricians-at-Higher-Risk-for-Appendix-Ruptures.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Children-in-Areas-with-Few-Pediatricians-at-Higher-Risk-for-Appendix-Ruptures.aspx A team of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center researchers has discovered that a protein involved in cystic fibrosis (CF) also regulates inflammation and cell death in emphysema and may be responsible for other chronic lung diseases. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/cf-protein-plays-role-in-other-chronic-lung-diseases.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/cf-protein-plays-role-in-other-chronic-lung-diseases.aspx A study among almost 50,000 people worldwide has identified DNA sequence variations linked with the heart’s electrical rhythm in several surprising regions among 22 locations across the human genome. The variants were found by an international consortium, including Johns Hopkins researchers, and reported Nov. 14 in the Nature Genetics advance online publication. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/genome_wide_hunt_reveals_links_to_abnormal_rhythms_behind_sudden_death_heart_damage http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/genome_wide_hunt_reveals_links_to_abnormal_rhythms_behind_sudden_death_heart_damage A survey conducted by Johns Hopkins faculty found strong support among their peers for working more closely with the minority, inner-city community that surrounds the institution. Overall, 91 percent of faculty responders said closer ties make research more relevant to those it ultimately serves, and 87 percent said it improves the quality of research. http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/274/interior.asp http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/274/interior.asp By determining what goes missing in human cells when the gene that is most commonly mutated in pancreatic cancer gets turned on, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a potential strategy for therapy. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/missing_molecules_hold_promise_of_therapy_for_pancreatic_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/missing_molecules_hold_promise_of_therapy_for_pancreatic_cancer In a proof of principal study in mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins and the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) have shown that a set of genetic instructions encased in a nanoparticle can be used as an “ignition switch” to rev up gene activity that aids cancer detection and treatment. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/nanoscale_gene_ignition_switch_may_help_spot_and_treat_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/nanoscale_gene_ignition_switch_may_help_spot_and_treat_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_at_american_society_of_cell_biology_annual_meeting http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_at_american_society_of_cell_biology_annual_meeting A gene target for drug resistance, a triple-drug cocktail for triple negative breast cancer, and patients’ risk for carpal tunnel syndrome are among study highlights scheduled to be presented by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists during the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_report_on_new_breast_cancer_studies http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_report_on_new_breast_cancer_studies Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a previously unrecognized step in the activation of infection-fighting white blood cells, the main immunity troops in the body’s war on bacteria, viruses and foreign proteins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/theres_a_new_officer_in_the_infection_control_army http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/theres_a_new_officer_in_the_infection_control_army Duke Cameron, M.D., a long-time Johns Hopkins surgeon, internationally renowned for his work in surgical repair of the heart’s main blood vessel, the aorta, has been named the new cardiac surgeon in charge at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and director of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_appoints_new_chief_heart_surgeon http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_appoints_new_chief_heart_surgeon Shootings like the one in which a gunman shot a doctor and killed a patient at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in September are “exceedingly rare,” but the rate of other assaults on workers in U.S. health care settings is four times higher than other workplaces, conclude two Johns Hopkins emergency physicians after reviewing workplace violence in health settings. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hospital_shootings_rare_but_rate_of_other_assaults_high_johns_hopkins_researchers_find http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hospital_shootings_rare_but_rate_of_other_assaults_high_johns_hopkins_researchers_find Using a new gene sequencing method, a team of researchers led by scientists from Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health has discovered a gene that appears to cause some instances of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The finding could lead to novel ways to treat the more common form of this fatal neurodegenerative disease, which kills the vast majority of the nearly 6,000 Americans diagnosed with ALS every year. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gene_that_causes_some_cases_of_familial_als_discovered http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gene_that_causes_some_cases_of_familial_als_discovered In what is believed to be the first controlled human study of the effects of salvinorin A, the active ingredient in Salvia divinorum, a controversial new hallucinogen featured widely on You Tube and other internet sites, Johns Hopkins researchers report that the effects are surprisingly strong, brief, and intensely disorienting, but without apparent short-term adverse effects in healthy people. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_of_controversial_halluclinogen_salvia_shows_intense_and_novel_effects_in_humans http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_of_controversial_halluclinogen_salvia_shows_intense_and_novel_effects_in_humans Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered how statins, the most commonly prescribed class of medication in the United States, appear to trigger a rare but serious autoimmune muscle disease in a small portion of the 30 million Americans who take the cholesterol-lowering drugs. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/statin_use_linked_to_rare_autoimmune_muscle_disease_study_finds http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/statin_use_linked_to_rare_autoimmune_muscle_disease_study_finds According to the critical care experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital who treated him, Allen Bagents, 24, of Arlington, Va., is the least likely person anyone ever expects to get sick, let alone suffer a six-week, potentially fatal bout with the swine flu, better known as H1N1 influenza. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/case_report__near_lethal_bout_of_swine_flu_successfully_treated_with_heart_lung_machine_and_lung_transplant http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/case_report__near_lethal_bout_of_swine_flu_successfully_treated_with_heart_lung_machine_and_lung_transplant A myriad of inputs that report on a body’s health bombard pancreatic beta cells continuously, and these cells must consider all signals and “decide” when and how much insulin to release to maintain balance in blood sugar, for example. Reporting in Nature Chemical Biology last month, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased out how these cells interpret incoming signals and find that three proteins relay signals similar to an electrical circuit. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/on_off_on_off_the_circuitry_of_insulin_releasing_cells http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/on_off_on_off_the_circuitry_of_insulin_releasing_cells A collaborative, government-led effort to guide and standardize diagnosis, treatment and management of food allergies has resulted in the release of an official set of recommendations for physicians. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Official-Food-Allergy-Treatment-Guidelines-Released.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Official-Food-Allergy-Treatment-Guidelines-Released.aspx Male mice born with a genetic mutation that’s believed to make humans more susceptible to schizophrenia develop behaviors that mimic other major psychiatric illnesses when their mothers are exposed to an assault to the immune system while pregnant, according to new Johns Hopkins research. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gene_environment_interactions_could_influence_several_psychiatric_disorders http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/gene_environment_interactions_could_influence_several_psychiatric_disorders A prescribed set of hospital-wide patient-safety programs can lead to rapid improvements in the “culture of safety” even in a large, complex, academic medical center, according to a new study by safety experts at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/set_of_specific_interventions_rapidly_improves_hospital_safety_culture http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/set_of_specific_interventions_rapidly_improves_hospital_safety_culture Using a widely heralded Johns Hopkins checklist and other patient-safety tools, intensive care units across the state of Michigan reduced the rate of potentially lethal bloodstream infections to near zero. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/checklist_continues_to_stop_bloodstream_infections_in_their_tracks_this_time_in_rhode_island http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/checklist_continues_to_stop_bloodstream_infections_in_their_tracks_this_time_in_rhode_island W. P. Andrew Lee, M.D., a Pennsylvania hand surgeon heralded for his successful hand transplants and breakthrough research on overcoming rejection in composite tissue grafting, has been named the chair of the newly formed Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_alumnus_w_p_andrew_lee_to_head_department_of_plastic_surgery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_alumnus_w_p_andrew_lee_to_head_department_of_plastic_surgery HIV infected patients whose treatment is delayed not only become sicker than those treated earlier, but also require tens of thousands of dollars more in care over the first several years of their treatment. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/for_hiv_positive_patients_delayed_treatment_a_costly_decision http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/for_hiv_positive_patients_delayed_treatment_a_costly_decision Johns Hopkins Children’s Center scientists have discovered that high blood levels of a protein commonly found in the central nervous system can predict brain injury and death in critically ill children on a form of life support called extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/protein_found_to_predict_brain_injury_in_children_on_ecmo_life_support http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/protein_found_to_predict_brain_injury_in_children_on_ecmo_life_support Scientists at Johns Hopkins have identified a compound that could be used to starve cancers of their sugar-based building blocks. The compound, called a glutaminase inhibitor, has been tested on laboratory-cultured, sugar-hungry brain cancer cells and, the scientists say, may have the potential to be used for many types of primary brain tumors. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/compound_that_blocks_sugar_pathway_slows_cancer_cell_growth http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/compound_that_blocks_sugar_pathway_slows_cancer_cell_growth Johns Hopkins scientists report success in significantly lowering levels of both fat mass and blood sugar in mice treated with a chemical compound designed to disrupt production of a hormone known to stimulate weight gain in humans. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/goat_pharm_at_johns_hopkins http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/goat_pharm_at_johns_hopkins By tracking the fate of a group of immature cells that persist in the adult brain and spinal cord, Johns Hopkins researchers discovered in mice that these cells undergo dramatic changes in ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/mysterious_cells_may_play_role_in_als http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/mysterious_cells_may_play_role_in_als Rolling back suggestions from previous studies, a Johns Hopkins study of 950 healthy men and women has shown that taking daily doses of a cholesterol-lowering statin medication to protect coronary arteries and ward off heart attack or stroke may not be needed for everyone. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/statin_therapy_may_be_overprescribed_in_healthy_people_without_evidence_of_diseased_arteries_new_study_shows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/statin_therapy_may_be_overprescribed_in_healthy_people_without_evidence_of_diseased_arteries_new_study_shows A Johns Hopkins researcher who designed a programmable, vibrating wristband to treat neurological motor disorders was awarded $50,000 last week to help in her quest to develop the product for market. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/money_awarded_to_researchers_trying_to_turn_science_into_business http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/money_awarded_to_researchers_trying_to_turn_science_into_business Heart imaging specialists at Johns Hopkins have shown that a combination of CT scans that measure how much blood is flowing through the heart and the amount of plaque in surrounding arteries are just as good as tests that are less safe, more complex and more time-consuming to detect coronary artery disease and its severity. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/combination_of_high_tech_ct_scans_just_as_good_as_older_more_tedious_imaging_to_detect_coronary_artery_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/combination_of_high_tech_ct_scans_just_as_good_as_older_more_tedious_imaging_to_detect_coronary_artery_disease Surgical items, such as sponges and small instruments, left in the bodies of children who undergo surgery are quite uncommon and rarely fatal but decidedly dangerous and expensive mistakes, according to a Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study to be published in the November issue of JAMA-Archives of Surgery. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/surgical-instruments-left-in-childrens-rarely-fatal-but-dangerous.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/surgical-instruments-left-in-childrens-rarely-fatal-but-dangerous.aspx Johns Hopkins Medicine is sponsoring a community forum to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of the Sickle Cell Disease. An inherited blood disorder that’s often marked by very painful episodes, sickle cell disease is the most common genetic condition affecting African-Americans in the United States. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/forum_on_sickle_cell_disease_open_to_public http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/forum_on_sickle_cell_disease_open_to_public Low levels of vitamin D, the essential nutrient obtained from milk, fortified cereals and exposure to sunlight, doubles the risk of stroke in whites, but not in blacks, according to a new report by researchers at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/vitamin_d_deficit_doubles_risk_of_stroke_in_whites_but_not_in_blacks http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/vitamin_d_deficit_doubles_risk_of_stroke_in_whites_but_not_in_blacks Heart experts at Johns Hopkins say that physicians might be drawing conclusions too soon about irreversible brain damage in patients surviving cardiac arrest whose bodies were for a day initially chilled into a calming coma. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/not_so_fast__study_suggests_physicians_wait_longer_for_signs_of_brain_recovery_after_hypothermia_used_to_treat_victims_of_cardiac_arrest http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/not_so_fast__study_suggests_physicians_wait_longer_for_signs_of_brain_recovery_after_hypothermia_used_to_treat_victims_of_cardiac_arrest High cholesterol levels in middle age do not appear to increase women’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia later in life, new Johns Hopkins-led research finds, despite a body of scientific evidence long suggesting a link between the two. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/women_take_note__high_cholesterol_in_middle_age_not_a_risk_factor_for_alzheimers_and_other_dementias_study_suggests http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/women_take_note__high_cholesterol_in_middle_age_not_a_risk_factor_for_alzheimers_and_other_dementias_study_suggests Children with hepatitis C fare decidedly better with a supercharged combination of two antiviral drugs than with the usual and standard single-drug regimen, according to research led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Antiviral-Cocktail-Better-than-Single-Drug-for-Children-with-Hepatitis-C.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Antiviral-Cocktail-Better-than-Single-Drug-for-Children-with-Hepatitis-C.aspx Physicians, nurses and other health care providers can have some of the most up-to-date information on the growing diabetes epidemic at their fingertips, thanks to the release of a new Johns Hopkins guide to the disease now available on all smart phone devices. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/smart_phone_app_helps_doctors_control_patients_diabetes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/smart_phone_app_helps_doctors_control_patients_diabetes For the 15th straight year, the National Research Corporation (NRC) has given The Johns Hopkins Hospital its Consumer Choice Award for the Baltimore region. For 2010-2011, Hopkins also was rated as the top choice by consumers in the Bethesda, Md., area. The award is based on ratings from health care consumers, who assessed hospital standings based on four metrics: best overall quality, best image/reputation, best doctors and best nurses. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/consumer_choice_award_goes_to_the_johns_hopkins_hospital_for_the_15th_consecutive_year http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/consumer_choice_award_goes_to_the_johns_hopkins_hospital_for_the_15th_consecutive_year By tracking the flow of information in a cell preparing to split, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a protein mechanism that coordinates and regulates the dynamics of shape change necessary for division of a single cell into two daughter cells. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_reshape_basic_understanding_of_cell_divisio http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_reshape_basic_understanding_of_cell_divisio In a move to address a growing need for integrated regional health care services for patients, officials of Sibley Memorial Hospital and The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation have completed and signed documents on November 1, 2010, officially integrating the Washington, D.C.,-based Sibley Hospital into the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/sibley_memorial_hospital_joins_johns_hopkins_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/sibley_memorial_hospital_joins_johns_hopkins_medicine Just as with everyone else perhaps, the more hours surgeons work, and the more nights they spend on call each week, the more likely they are to face burn-out, depression, dissatisfaction with their careers and serious work-home conflicts, according to a major new study led by Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic researchers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_to_develop_medical_school_and_teaching_hospital_in_malaysia http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_to_develop_medical_school_and_teaching_hospital_in_malaysia Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, University of Helsinki and Stanford University have developed a technique to keep normal and cancerous prostate tissue removed during surgery alive and functioning normally in the laboratory for up to a week. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_develop_method_to_keep_surgically_removed_prostate_tissue_alive http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_develop_method_to_keep_surgically_removed_prostate_tissue_alive Scientists at Johns Hopkins have taken a less-is-more approach to designing effective drug treatments that are precisely tailored to disease-causing pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, and cancer cells, any of which can trigger the body’s immune system defenses. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/immune_systems_bare_essentials_used_to_speedily_detect_drug_targets http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/immune_systems_bare_essentials_used_to_speedily_detect_drug_targets Just as with everyone else perhaps, the more hours surgeons work, and the more nights they spend on call each week, the more likely they are to face burn-out, depression, dissatisfaction with their careers and serious work-home conflicts, according to a major new study led by Johns Hopkins and Mayo Clinic researchers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_led_study_suggests_that_long_hours_lead_to_personal_and_patient_safety_problems http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_led_study_suggests_that_long_hours_lead_to_personal_and_patient_safety_problems Researchers working with mice have discovered that by removing a protein from the region of the brain responsible for recalling fear, they can permanently delete traumatic memories. Their report on a molecular means of erasing fear memories in rodents appears this week in Science Express. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_discover_how_to_erase_memory http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_discover_how_to_erase_memory Pancreatic cancer develops and spreads much more slowly than scientists have thought, according to new research from Johns Hopkins investigators. The finding indicates that there is a potentially broad window for diagnosis and prevention of the disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surprise_finding_pancreatic_cancers_progress_to_lethal_stage_slowly http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surprise_finding_pancreatic_cancers_progress_to_lethal_stage_slowly Pancreatic cancer develops and spreads much more slowly than scientists have thought, according to new research from Johns Hopkins investigators. The finding indicates that there is a potentially broad window for diagnosis and prevention of the disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surprise_finding_pancreatic_cancers_progress_to_lethal_stage_slowly http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surprise_finding_pancreatic_cancers_progress_to_lethal_stage_slowly John Groopman, Ph.D., associate director of cancer prevention and control at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Anna M. Baetjer Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is the recipient of the Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/john_groopman_recognized_for_seminal_cancer_prevention_research http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/john_groopman_recognized_for_seminal_cancer_prevention_research Mild constipation in children is fairly common, but gastroenterologists at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center have been seeing what they believe is the start of a troubling trend: more children with more serious and chronic bouts of the condition. Experts attribute the problem to lack of physical activity, inadequate water intake and fiber-poor diets. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Plugged-Up-Doctors-See-Signs-of-Worsening-Constipation-in-Children.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Plugged-Up-Doctors-See-Signs-of-Worsening-Constipation-in-Children.aspx Knowledge gaps and fear — some of it unjustified — are common among the caregivers of children with a drug-resistant staph bacterium known as MRSA, according to the results of a small study from the Johns Hopkins Children Center. These caregivers thirst for timely, detailed and simple information, the researchers add. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Fears-Common-Among-Parents-of-Children-with-Drug-Resistant-Bacteria.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Fears-Common-Among-Parents-of-Children-with-Drug-Resistant-Bacteria.aspx Women who have been severely injured are 14 percent more likely to survive than similarly injured men, according to a new Johns Hopkins study, a difference researchers believe may be due to the negative impact of male sex hormones on a traumatized immune system. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surviving_trauma_being_a_woman_confers_advantages http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surviving_trauma_being_a_woman_confers_advantages Persistently high blood pressure, or hypertension, may spell worse heart trouble for black children under the age of 13 than for other children of the same ages, according to research led by scientists at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and published in the November issue of Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/High-Blood-Pressure-May-Take-Greater-Toll-on-Youngest-Black-Children-s-Hearts.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/High-Blood-Pressure-May-Take-Greater-Toll-on-Youngest-Black-Children-s-Hearts.aspx An estimated 2.5 percent of Americans — 7.5 million people — have at least one food allergy and young black children with asthma appear to be at the highest risk, according to findings from what is believed to be the largest food allergy study to date. The research was conducted by investigators at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Nearly-3-of-100-Americans-Have-a-Food-Allergy.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Nearly-3-of-100-Americans-Have-a-Food-Allergy.aspx When cells make the proteins that carry out virtually every function of life, it’s vital that the right things happen at the right times, and — maybe more importantly — that wrong things are stopped from happening at the wrong times. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/positively_negative_cellular_structures_enforcer_role_discovered_by_johns_hopkins_scientists http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/positively_negative_cellular_structures_enforcer_role_discovered_by_johns_hopkins_scientists The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has been awarded a $3.84 million federal grant to support the creation of the Osler Urban Health Residency Track (UHRT), which will bolster the institution’s mission to produce primary care physician leaders versed in the medical and social issues that afflict the underserved of Baltimore City. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_awarded_384_million_federal_grant_to_expand_urban_health_residencies http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_awarded_384_million_federal_grant_to_expand_urban_health_residencies Scientists from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Morgan State University have received a $ 3.2 million National Institutes of Health grant designed to promote racial, ethnic and socio-economic diversity in reproductive science research. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/seeking-minority-scientists-to-study-reproductive-health.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/seeking-minority-scientists-to-study-reproductive-health.aspx Four Johns Hopkins University faculty members have been elected into the prestigious National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM). This honor was bestowed upon Benjamin S. Carson Sr., M.D., Carol Greider, Ph.D., Roger A. Johns, M.D., M.H.S., and Jeremy Sugarman, M.D., M.P.H., M.A. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/four_jhu_researchers_elected_into_the_national_academy_of_sciences_institute_of_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/four_jhu_researchers_elected_into_the_national_academy_of_sciences_institute_of_medicine Using a computer program, researchers from Johns Hopkins have predicted which changes in the DNA code may cause pancreatic cells to become cancerous and deadly. The investigators say the findings could lead to more focused studies on better ways to treat the disease, which has only a 5 percent survival rate five years after diagnosis. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/computer_predicts_pancreatic_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/computer_predicts_pancreatic_cancer Christopher Dyer Saudek, M.D., founder and director of the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Diabetes Center, a pioneer in the development of implantable insulin pumps, and a tireless physician who was ever available to his patients, died Wednesday after a battle with metastatic melanoma. He was 68. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/christopher_saudek_diabetes_expert_and_implantable_insulin_pump_pioneer_dies http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/christopher_saudek_diabetes_expert_and_implantable_insulin_pump_pioneer_dies The public is invited to join renowned brain researchers, artists, musicians, architects, educators, historians and curators for a series of conversations about the creative process and the basic science underlying aesthetics and beauty. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_science_of_the_arts_johns_hopkins_brain_sciences_institute_launches_public_lecture_series_on_sensory_science_and_the_arts http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_science_of_the_arts_johns_hopkins_brain_sciences_institute_launches_public_lecture_series_on_sensory_science_and_the_arts In research that may surprise off-road riding enthusiasts and safety experts, a Johns Hopkins team has found that crashes involving ATVs — four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles — are significantly more dangerous than crashes involving two-wheeled off-road motorcycles, such as those used in extreme sports like Motocross. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surprise_two_wheels_safer_than_four_in_off_road_riding_and_racing_johns_hopkins_study_shows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/surprise_two_wheels_safer_than_four_in_off_road_riding_and_racing_johns_hopkins_study_shows A dramatic increase in the use of medical imaging in emergency departments when seeing patients with injuries hasn’t paid off with an equal rise in diagnosing life-threatening conditions or follow-up hospital admissions, a team of Johns Hopkins researchers concludes in a study to be published in the October 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/dramatic_rise_in_mri_ct_use_in_emergency_departments_raise_questions http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/dramatic_rise_in_mri_ct_use_in_emergency_departments_raise_questions As the song says, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and now researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that the sights and sounds of chirping birds, ribbiting frogs and water trickling downstream can ease the substantial pain of bone marrow extraction in one of five people who must endure it. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/natures_sights_and_sounds___but_not_cityscapes_and_noise___ease_spinal_pain_during_bone_marrow_extractions http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/natures_sights_and_sounds___but_not_cityscapes_and_noise___ease_spinal_pain_during_bone_marrow_extractions A protein that pumps calcium out of cells also moonlights as a signal to get massive quantities of the stuff to flow in, according to Johns Hopkins scientists. Their discovery of this surprisingly opposite function, reported Oct. 1 inCell, highlights the link between calcium and cancer and holds the promise of a new therapeutic target for certain breast cancers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_discover_new_therapeutic_target_for_some_breast_cancers http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_discover_new_therapeutic_target_for_some_breast_cancers In response to the national attention on venereal-disease experiments in Guatemala led by a U.S. government physician in the 1940s, bioethicist and social justice scholar Ruth R. Faden says the episode was profoundly and egregiously unethical. http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/252/interior.asp http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/252/interior.asp Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered a way to turn off the immune system’s allergic reaction to certain food proteins in mice, a discovery that could have implications for the millions of people who suffer severe reactions to foods, such as peanuts and milk. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_turn_off_severe_food_allergies_in_mice http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_turn_off_severe_food_allergies_in_mice Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that the over-activation of a single protein may shut down the brain-protecting effects of a molecule and facilitate the most common form of Parkinson’s disease. The finding of this mechanism could lead to important new targets for drugs already known to inhibit it, thus controlling symptoms of the disorder, which affects about 1 million older Americans. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/parkinsons_disease_excess_of_special_protein_identified_as_key_to_symptoms_and_possible_new_target_for_treatment_with_widely_used_anti_cancer_drug http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/parkinsons_disease_excess_of_special_protein_identified_as_key_to_symptoms_and_possible_new_target_for_treatment_with_widely_used_anti_cancer_drug Johns Hopkins has a wide range of experts available for interviews and comments about seasonal flu, H1N1, emergency preparedness, infection control, flu transmission in children, vaccine safety, flu treatment, public health ethics, flu in cancer patients, and related public communications strategies. If you would like to interview a Johns Hopkins expert, call or e-mail the designated information officer in the list below. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/flu_experts_at_the_johns_hopkins_medical_institutions http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/flu_experts_at_the_johns_hopkins_medical_institutions A CT scan can mean the difference between an accurate and a wrong diagnosis, timely and delayed treatment and, in some cases, life and death. But because CT scans and other tests that use X-ray technology expose the body to often large doses of radiation, their unnecessary, repeated and excessive use may increase cancer risk, especially in children. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Doctors-Urged-to-Minimize-CT-Scans-in-Children.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Doctors-Urged-to-Minimize-CT-Scans-in-Children.aspx Exposure to common viruses in daycare puts children with a chronic lung condition caused by premature birth at risk for serious respiratory infections, according to a study from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center published in the October issue of Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Daycare-Puts-Childrens-with-Lung-Disease-at-Risk-for-Serious-Illness.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Daycare-Puts-Childrens-with-Lung-Disease-at-Risk-for-Serious-Illness.aspx With the flu season looming and health officials calling for across-the-board immunization, some parents may wonder just how safe the egg-based flu vaccine is for children with allergies. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Flu-Vaccines-Safe-for-Most-Allergic-Children.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Flu-Vaccines-Safe-for-Most-Allergic-Children.aspx African-American victims of motorcycle crashes were 1.5 times more likely to die from their injuries than similarly injured whites, even though many more of the African-American victims were wearing helmets at the time of injury, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/black_motorcyclists__even_in_helmets__more_likely_to_die_in_crashes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/black_motorcyclists__even_in_helmets__more_likely_to_die_in_crashes The growing use of rapid response teams dispatched by hospitals to evaluate patients whose conditions have suddenly deteriorated may be masking systemic problems in how hospitals care for their sickest patients, says a prominent Johns Hopkins patient safety expert. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rethinking_how_hospitals_react_when_a_patients_health_deteriorates http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/rethinking_how_hospitals_react_when_a_patients_health_deteriorates Bedwetting perennially drives parents to the pediatric urology clinic at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, but September — and the start of the school year — always brings a predictable uptick in visits, according to pediatric urologist Ming-Hsien Wang, M.D. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Start-of-School-Can-Worsen-Bedwetting-in-Children.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Start-of-School-Can-Worsen-Bedwetting-in-Children.aspx Bedwetting perennially drives parents to the pediatric urology clinic at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, but September — and the start of the school year — always brings a predictable uptick in visits, according to pediatric urologist Ming-Hsien Wang, M.D. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/media_advisory_prostate_cancer_awareness_week_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/media_advisory_prostate_cancer_awareness_week_ At approximately 11:11 a.m. on Thursday, September 16, The Johns Hopkins Hospital alerted Baltimore City police that a visitor who was a resident of Virginia shot and wounded a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine faculty physician on the eighth floor of The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s Nelson Building. Police responded within minutes, and the individual was isolated and contained by police. No other patients, visitors or employees were in harm’s way at that point. Sometime during his containment, the individual fatally shot himself and, tragically, his mother, who was a patient on the unit. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/update_on_shooting_at_the_johns_hopkins_hospital http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/update_on_shooting_at_the_johns_hopkins_hospital Long-term exposure to a common stress hormone may leave a lasting mark on the genome and influence how genes that control mood and behavior are expressed, a mouse study led by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. The finding, published in the September issue of Endocrinology, could eventually lead to new ways to explain and treat depression, bipolar disorder, and other mental illnesses. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/chronic_stress_may_cause_long_lasting_epigenetic_changes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/chronic_stress_may_cause_long_lasting_epigenetic_changes Johns Hopkins scientists who specialize in unconventional hunts for genetic information outside nuclear DNA sequences have bagged a weighty quarry — 13 genes linked to human body mass. The experiments screened the so-called epigenome for key information that cells remember other than the DNA code itself and may have serious implications for preventing and treating obesity, the investigators say. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_find_genes_related_to_body_mass http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_find_genes_related_to_body_mass September 19-25 is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Week. If you are planning a story on prostate cancer, a disease that’s diagnosed in more than 200,000 American men each year, please consider calling on experts from the Johns Hopkins Brady Urological Institute. With a variety of experts whose work truly follows the “bench to bedside” model of clinical research — focusing on developing innovative new treatments as well as basic research to better understand this common and sometimes deadly disease — the Brady Institute can provide you with unique sources who can answer your questions about prostate cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_prostate_cancer_experts_available http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_prostate_cancer_experts_available In common with professional singers, teachers returning to the nation’s classrooms this month are good candidates for severe voice problems, and Johns Hopkins throat specialists have some tips for them – and anyone whose job demands a lot of loud vocalization. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/like_opera_singers_teachers_prone_to_voice_stress http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/like_opera_singers_teachers_prone_to_voice_stress Tune into the Stand Up To Cancer broadcast on Sept. 10th at 8 PM to hear about Johns Hopkins Dream Teams http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_center/research_clinical_trials/research/su2c/ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_center/research_clinical_trials/research/su2c/ The Johns Hopkins Children’s Center top pediatrician is urging a “rethink” of a new sickle cell screening program, calling it an enlightened but somewhat rushed step toward improving the health of young people who carry the sickle cell mutation. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/New-Sickle-Cell-Screening-Program-for-College-Athletes-Comes-with-Serious-Pitfalls-Experts-Say.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/New-Sickle-Cell-Screening-Program-for-College-Athletes-Comes-with-Serious-Pitfalls-Experts-Say.aspx Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have identified two genes whose mutations appear to be linked to ovarian clear cell carcinoma, one of the most aggressive forms of ovarian cancer. Clear cell carcinoma is generally resistant to standard therapy. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_id_genes_tied_to_deadliest_ovarian_cancers http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_id_genes_tied_to_deadliest_ovarian_cancers Johns Hopkins researchers have determined why certain stem cells are able to stay stem cells. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/keeping_stem_cells_from_changing_fates http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/keeping_stem_cells_from_changing_fates Uninsured minority pedestrians hit by cars are at a significantly higher risk of death than their insured white counterparts, even if the injuries sustained are similar, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/race_insurance_status_cited_in_uneven_death_rates_among_pedestrians_hit_by_cars http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/race_insurance_status_cited_in_uneven_death_rates_among_pedestrians_hit_by_cars Intensively treating hypertension in some African Americans with kidney disease by pushing blood pressure well below the current recommended goal may significantly decrease the number who lose kidney function and require dialysis, suggests a Johns Hopkins-led study publishing in the New England Journal of Medicine Thursday. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/lower_blood_pressure_may_preserve_kidney_function_in_some_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/lower_blood_pressure_may_preserve_kidney_function_in_some_patients A new study suggests yet another reason for Americans to abandon their current fatty diets in favor of one rich in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fat. Choosing these healthier options appears to significantly reduce the long-term risk of heart disease in patients with mildly elevated blood pressure, particularly African Americans. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/blood_pressure_lowering_diet_may_also_reduce_risk_of_heart_disease_especially_in_african_americans http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/blood_pressure_lowering_diet_may_also_reduce_risk_of_heart_disease_especially_in_african_americans Johns Hopkins researchers working on mice have discovered a protein that is a major target of a gene that, whe n mutated in humans, causes tumors to develop on nerves associated with hearing, as well as cataracts in the eyes. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_link_protein_to_tumor_growth http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/researchers_link_protein_to_tumor_growth A hunt throughout the human genome for variants associated with common late-onset Parkinson's disease has revealed a new genetic link that implicates the immune system and offers new targets for drug development. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_parkinsons_gene_is_linked_to_immune_system http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_parkinsons_gene_is_linked_to_immune_system Fire up the citronella-scented tiki torches, and slather on the DEET: Everybody knows these simple precautions repel insects, notably mosquitoes, whose bites not only itch and irritate, but also transmit diseases such as West Nile virus, malaria and dengue. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_discover_how_chemical_repellants_trip_up_insects http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_discover_how_chemical_repellants_trip_up_insects Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that using specific drugs can protect nerve cells in mice from the lethal effects of Parkinson’s disease. The researchers’ findings are published in the August 22 issue of Nature Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/a_promising_target_for_developing_treatments_against_parkinsons_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/a_promising_target_for_developing_treatments_against_parkinsons_disease Results of a large national study show that nearly three-quarters of obese patients with type 2 diabetes who undergo weight-loss surgery are able to stop insulin and other antidiabetes drugs within six months. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/national_study_shows_weight_loss_surgery_frees_most_obese_type_2_diabetics_of_insulin_and_other_sugar_controlling_drugs http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/national_study_shows_weight_loss_surgery_frees_most_obese_type_2_diabetics_of_insulin_and_other_sugar_controlling_drugs Having charted the occurrence of a common chemical change that takes place while stem cells decide their fates and progress from precursor to progeny, a Johns Hopkins-led team of scientists has produced the first-ever epigenetic landscape map for tissue differentiation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_map_epigenetic_changes_during_blood_cell_differentiation http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_map_epigenetic_changes_during_blood_cell_differentiation Building on a tool that they developed in yeast four years ago, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine scanned the human genome and discovered what they believe is the reason people have such a variety of physical traits and disease risks. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_identify_dna_that_may_contribute_to_each_persons_uniqueness http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/scientists_identify_dna_that_may_contribute_to_each_persons_uniqueness Building on a tool that they developed in yeast four years ago, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine scanned the human genome and discovered what they believe is the reason people have such a variety of physical traits and disease risks. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_establishes_new_clinical_research_network http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_establishes_new_clinical_research_network Johns Hopkins Medicine has signed an agreement with the U.S. Navy to provide medical and disaster research experts to staff the USS Iwo Jima during the next four months, as the ship sets sail to provide medical assistance to Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana and Suriname. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medical_team_to_deploy_on_navy_mission http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medical_team_to_deploy_on_navy_mission A leading expert in cardiopulmonary resuscitation says two new studies from U.S. and European researchers support the case for dropping mouth-to-mouth, or rescue breathing by bystanders and using "hands-only" chest compressions during the life-saving practice, better known as CPR. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/cpr_without_mouth_to_mouth_rescue_breathing_may_be_better_for_many_victims_of_cardiac_arrest http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/cpr_without_mouth_to_mouth_rescue_breathing_may_be_better_for_many_victims_of_cardiac_arrest Michelangelo, the 16th century master painter and accomplished anatomist, appears to have hidden an image of the brainstem and spinal cord in a depiction of God in the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers reports. These findings by a neurosurgeon and a medical illustrator, published in the May Neurosurgery, may explain long controversial and unusual features of one of the frescoes’ figures. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/brainstem_spinal_cord_images_hidden_in_michelangelos_sistine_chapel_fresco http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/brainstem_spinal_cord_images_hidden_in_michelangelos_sistine_chapel_fresco Men who develop prostate cancer, especially the more aggressive and dangerous forms that spread throughout the body, tend to retain denser bones as they age than men who stay free of the disease, suggests new research from Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/dense_bones_linked_to_raised_risk_for_prostate_cancer http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/dense_bones_linked_to_raised_risk_for_prostate_cancer Johns Hopkins is deeply shocked and saddened by the stabbing death of research technologist Stephen B. Pitcairn. His colleagues and friends here mourn his loss and extend sincere condolences to his family. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/statement_on_the_death_of_stephen_b_pitcairn http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/statement_on_the_death_of_stephen_b_pitcairn A Johns Hopkins scientist who proposes to design and create an all-new series of novel drugs is one of 17 winners of a special grant known as a Director’s Pioneer Award from the National Institutes of Health. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/25m_nih_pioneer_award_goes_to_johns_hopkins_pharmacologist http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/25m_nih_pioneer_award_goes_to_johns_hopkins_pharmacologist In the coming weeks, most back-to-school stories will focus on parents and schools helping kids make the transition from the liberal summer vacation schedule to a more regimented one and offering ways on how students can reach their full academic potential. Seldom do any of these stories focus on something just as important: the teachers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/voice_problems_an_occupational_hazard_for_teachers http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/voice_problems_an_occupational_hazard_for_teachers Hopkins scientists who have spent years killing off brain cells to figure out why and how they die now say their investigations have also shed light on how the brain defends itself. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_discover_brains_guardian_protein http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_scientists_discover_brains_guardian_protein Becker's Hospital Review, a publication for hospital executives, has named the orthopedic and spine program at The Johns Hopkins Hospital as one of the 40 best in the United States. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_spine_program_named_one_of_the_nations_best http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_spine_program_named_one_of_the_nations_best Next week, players from all National Football League (NFL) squads will report for the start of training camp. With that come the unfortunate injuries, which as they say, “are just part of the game.” Those body-flying tackles and bone-jarring hits can wreak havoc on the bodies of NFL players from head to toe and every joint and muscle in between. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/footballhead_shoulders_knees_andvoice http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/footballhead_shoulders_knees_andvoice A new st dy by Johns Hopkins researchers has found that insulin, the sugar-regulating hormone, is required for normal bone development and that it may provide a link between bone health and metabolic disease, such as diabetes. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_suggests_link_between_metabolic_disease_bone_mass_in_mice http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_suggests_link_between_metabolic_disease_bone_mass_in_mice Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) and All Children’s Hospital & Health System (ACH) of St. Petersburg, Fla., have signed a letter of intent to integrate. After appropriate due diligence is completed sometime later this year, ACH will join the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) as a fully integrated member of JHM. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/all_childrens_hospital_to_integrate_with_johns_hopkins_medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/all_childrens_hospital_to_integrate_with_johns_hopkins_medicine Once more — and for the 20th year in a row — The Johns Hopkins Hospital has taken the top spot in U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of American hospitals, placing first in five medical specialties and in the top five in 10 others. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/20_years_in_a_row_the_johns_hopkins_hospital_again_tops_us_news__world_report_honor_roll http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/20_years_in_a_row_the_johns_hopkins_hospital_again_tops_us_news__world_report_honor_roll In health care reform discussions, talk inevitably turns to making hospitals and physicians accountable for patient outcomes. But in a commentary being published in the July 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Johns Hopkins patient safety expert Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., argues that the health care industry doesn’t yet have measurable, achievable and routine ways to prevent patient harm — and that, in many cases, there are too many barriers in the way to attain them. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/bringing_true_accountability_to_health_care__lessons_from_efforts_to_reduce_hospital_acquired_infections http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/bringing_true_accountability_to_health_care__lessons_from_efforts_to_reduce_hospital_acquired_infections By inspecting the sequence of all 3 billion “letters” that make up the genome of a single person affected with a rare, inherited disorder, a Johns Hopkins and Duke University team ferreted out the single genetic mutation that accounts for the disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/double_teaming_a_whole_genome_hunt http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/double_teaming_a_whole_genome_hunt Amid growing concerns about clinical trials for drugs that have been approved by the F.D.A. but are later linked to serious health risks, an independent committee at the Institute of Medicine led by two professors from Johns Hopkins University has developed a conceptual framework to guide the agency through the tough decision of ordering such controversial “post-market” drug-safety trials. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_faculty_lead_development_of_report_to_fda_on_ethical_scientific_issues_related_to_post_market_clinical_trials http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_faculty_lead_development_of_report_to_fda_on_ethical_scientific_issues_related_to_post_market_clinical_trials A Johns Hopkins review of nearly 150 randomized controlled trials on children — all published in well-regarded medical journals — reveals that 40 to 60 percent of the studies either failed to take steps to minimize risk for bias or to at least properly describe those measures. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/pediatric_clinical_studies_appear_prone_to_bias_hopkins_review_shows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/pediatric_clinical_studies_appear_prone_to_bias_hopkins_review_shows Having discovered a dramatic increase of an easy-to-detect enzyme in the red blood cells of people with diabetes and prediabetes, Johns Hopkins scientists say the discovery could lead to a simple, routine test for detecting the subtle onset of the disease, before symptoms or complications occur and in time to reverse its course. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_team_discovers_sweet_way_to_detect_prediabetes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_team_discovers_sweet_way_to_detect_prediabetes Patients with a certain type of scleroderma may get cancer and scleroderma simultaneously, Johns Hopkins researchers have found, suggesting that in some diseases, autoimmunity and cancer may be linked. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_suggests_link_between_scleroderma_cancer_in_certain_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/study_suggests_link_between_scleroderma_cancer_in_certain_patients Leaders in the financial, pharmaceutical and medical fields are among the four selected for one-year terms on the board of trustees for Johns Hopkins Medicine. One of the new trustees, Christopher W. Kersey, M.D., M.B.A., has also been named to a three-year term on the board of trustees for The Johns Hopkins Hospital. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_adds_four_to_board_of_trustees http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_adds_four_to_board_of_trustees Only a small fraction of transplant centers nationwide are willing to accept and transplant deceased-donor kidneys that they perceive as less than perfect, leading to lengthy, organ-damaging delays as officials use a one-by-one approach to find a willing taker. Now, Johns Hopkins researchers have designed a formula they say can predict which donor kidneys are most likely to be caught in that process, a method that could potentially stop thousands of usable kidneys each year from being discarded because it took too long for them to be transplanted. Previous studies have shown such kidneys can extend the life of certain dialysis patients, if allocated and transplanted in a timely manner. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hard_to_place_kidneys_new_allocation_formula_developed_by_johns_hopkins_could_prevent_waste_and_trasplant_delays http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hard_to_place_kidneys_new_allocation_formula_developed_by_johns_hopkins_could_prevent_waste_and_trasplant_delays A gene that encodes a protein responsible for determining whether certain immune cells live or die shows subtle differences in some people with asthma, a team led by Johns Hopkins researchers reports in the June European Journal of Human Genetics. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/subtle_mutations_in_immune_gene_may_increase_risk_for_asthma http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/subtle_mutations_in_immune_gene_may_increase_risk_for_asthma Becker's Hospital Review magazine has selected The Johns Hopkins Hospital as one of the “30 Best Hospitals in America.” The award is based on reputation among M.D.-specialists, hospital mortality-index data, patient safety scores and a group of other care-related factors, such as nurse staffing and available technology. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_hospital_recognized_as_top_hospital_by_business_magazine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_hospital_recognized_as_top_hospital_by_business_magazine Depression and lack of social support appear to precipitate suicidal thoughts and behavior in some college students, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, the University of Maryland and other institutions. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/depression_lack_of_social_support_trigger_suicidal_thoughts_in_college_students http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/depression_lack_of_social_support_trigger_suicidal_thoughts_in_college_students A trial of a novel radioactive compound readily and safely distinguished the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients from healthy volunteers on brain scans and opens the doors to making such imaging available beyond facilities that can manufacture their own radioactive compounds. The results, reported by a Johns Hopkins team in the June Journal of Nuclear Medicine, could lead to better ways to distinguish Alzheimer’s from other types of dementia, track disease progression and develop new therapeutics to fight the memory-ravaging disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/novel_radiotracer_shines_new_light_on_the_brains_of_alzheimers_disease_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/novel_radiotracer_shines_new_light_on_the_brains_of_alzheimers_disease_patients In what is believed to be the largest review of the human genetic code to determine why some people’s blood platelets are more likely to clump faster than others, scientists at Johns Hopkins and in Boston have found a septet of overactive genes, which they say likely control that bodily function. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/genetic_septet_in_control_of_blood_platelet_clotting http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/genetic_septet_in_control_of_blood_platelet_clotting Edward Miller, Dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, shared his concerns regarding a critical aspect of the new health care law: a massive increase of 32 million newly insured individuals, including 16 million new Medicaid beneficiaries. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_medicine_deanceo_edward_miller_discusses_health_care_reform_at_the_national_press_club http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_medicine_deanceo_edward_miller_discusses_health_care_reform_at_the_national_press_club A lawyer and researcher at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics says a new legal and ethical framework needs to be placed around the donation and banking of human biological material, one that would more clearly define the terms of the material’s use — and address donor expectations before research begins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/berman_institute_scholar_calls_for_a_new_legal_ethical_framework_for_research_with_human_tissue_specimens http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/berman_institute_scholar_calls_for_a_new_legal_ethical_framework_for_research_with_human_tissue_specimens Scientists at Johns Hopkins report using a laser beam to activate a protein that makes a cluster of fruit fly cells act like a school of fish turning in social unison, following the lead of the one stimulated with light. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/fly_cells_flock_together_follow_the_light http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/fly_cells_flock_together_follow_the_light More than 150 volunteers and hospital employees will take part in a mock disaster drill on Wednesday, June 16, at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The drill will test whether Emergency Department doctors, nurses and other staff are ready for a real calamity in Baltimore. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/disaster_drill_to_test_and_train_emergency_response http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/disaster_drill_to_test_and_train_emergency_response Pediatricians whose patients undergo “routine” brain MRIs need a plan to deal with findings that commonly reveal unexpected-but-benign anomalies that are unlikely to cause any problem, reports a research team led by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center investigators. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/brain_mri_in_children_incidental_findings_yield_disclosure_dilemmas_for_doctors_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/brain_mri_in_children_incidental_findings_yield_disclosure_dilemmas_for_doctors_patients Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center has been awarded the largest gift for pancreas cancer research in its history. The award was made possible by Albert P. “Skip” Viragh, Jr., a mutual fund leader, and a pancreas cancer patient treated at Johns Hopkins. He died of the disease at age 62. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/20_million_to_johns_hopkins_for_pancreas_cancer_research http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/20_million_to_johns_hopkins_for_pancreas_cancer_research Experts from Johns Hopkins Medicine hosted a press conference following a continuing medical education program on the epidemiology of head injury in professional football. This program was an evidence-based review of traumatic brain injury in the sport. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/stories/TBI.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/stories/TBI.html Made popular for its ability to smooth wrinkles when injected into the face, Botox — a toxin known to weaken or paralyze certain nerves and muscles — may have another use that goes beyond the cosmetic. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/botox_eases_nerve_pain_in_certain_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/botox_eases_nerve_pain_in_certain_patients In an effort to ignite a passion for science and engineering in middle and high school students, Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa has been chosen by the USA Science and Engineering Festival as part of a group of 50 scientists who will speak at Washington, D.C.-area schools this fall. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_neurosurgeon_will_be_one_of_nifty_fifty_to_speak_at_dc__area_schools http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_neurosurgeon_will_be_one_of_nifty_fifty_to_speak_at_dc__area_schools Once damaged, nerves in the spinal cord normally cannot grow back and the only drug approved for treating these injuries does not enable nerve regrowth. Publishing online this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine show that treating injured rat spinal cords with an enzyme, sialidase, improves nerve regrowth, motor recovery and nervous system function. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/improving_recovery_from_spinal_cord_injury http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/improving_recovery_from_spinal_cord_injury Surgeons at Johns Hopkins have safely and effectively operated inside the brains of a dozen patients by making a small entry incision through the natural creases of an eyelid to reach the skull and deep brain. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Shortcut_Through_Eyelid_Gives_Surgeons_LessInvasive_Approach_To_Fix_Brain_Fluid_Leaks_and_Remove_Tumors_Near_Front_of_Skull http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Shortcut_Through_Eyelid_Gives_Surgeons_LessInvasive_Approach_To_Fix_Brain_Fluid_Leaks_and_Remove_Tumors_Near_Front_of_Skull African Americans with incomes below the poverty line have a significantly higher risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) than higher-income African-Americans or whites of any socioeconomic status, research led by scientists at Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging shows. Conducted in a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of participants from the city of Baltimore, Md., the study could help researchers eventually develop strategies to prevent CKD in vulnerable populations. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/income_race_combine_to_make_perfect_storm_for_kidney_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/income_race_combine_to_make_perfect_storm_for_kidney_disease Becker’s Hospital Review and Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) magazines have named The Johns Hopkins Hospital as one of the 100 best places to work in health care in the United States for 2010. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/The_Johns_Hopkins_Hospital_Named_A_Best_Place_To_Work http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/The_Johns_Hopkins_Hospital_Named_A_Best_Place_To_Work A Johns Hopkins and Japanese research team has generated the first comprehensive genetic “parts” list of a mouse hypothalamus, an enigmatic region of the brain — roughly cherry-sized, in humans — that controls hunger, thirst, fatigue, body temperature, wake-sleep cycles and links the central nervous system to control of hormone levels. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/genetic_parts_list_now_available_for_key_part_of_the_mammalian_brain http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/genetic_parts_list_now_available_for_key_part_of_the_mammalian_brain The director and a core faculty member of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics have been appointed co-chairs of an Institute of Medicine committee that will evaluate the scientific and ethical issues involved in studies of drug safety after FDA approval. http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/224/interior.asp http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/224/interior.asp Transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins who have reviewed the medical records of more than 20,000 heart transplant patients say that it is not simply racial differences, but rather flaws in the health care system, along with type of insurance and education levels, in addition to biological factors, that are likely the causes of disproportionately worse outcomes after heart transplantation in African Americans. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Health_Care_System_Flaws_and_Lack_of_Private_Insurance_Contribute_To_Higher_Deaths_Among_Black_Heart_Transplant_Patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Health_Care_System_Flaws_and_Lack_of_Private_Insurance_Contribute_To_Higher_Deaths_Among_Black_Heart_Transplant_Patients Exposure to the common virus that causes cold sores may be partially responsible for shrinking regions of the brain and the loss of concentration skills, memory, coordinated movement and dexterity widely seen in patients with schizophrenia, according to research led by Johns Hopkins scientists. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Cold_Sore_Virus_May_Contribute_To_Cognitive_and_Brain_Abnormalities_in_Schizophrenia http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Cold_Sore_Virus_May_Contribute_To_Cognitive_and_Brain_Abnormalities_in_Schizophrenia Edward Miller, Johns Hopkins Medicine dean and CEO, will share his concerns regarding a critical aspect of the new health care law: A massive increase of 32 million newly insured individuals, which includes 16 million new Medicaid beneficiaries, and its ramifications on an ever-strained health care workforce. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_medicine_deanceo_ed_miller_to_speak_at_the_national_press_club_june_21_in_washington_dc http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_medicine_deanceo_ed_miller_to_speak_at_the_national_press_club_june_21_in_washington_dc In a move to address growing interest in more efficient, integrated regional health care services for patients, officials of Sibley Memorial Hospital and The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation have announced their intention to enter into discussions regarding the integration of Sibley Hospital into the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Sibley_Memorial_Hospital_To_Join_Johns_Hopkins_Medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Sibley_Memorial_Hospital_To_Join_Johns_Hopkins_Medicine Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., a leading health policy advisor in the Obama administration, will address graduates at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s 115th convocation on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 2:30 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Health_Policy_Advisor_To_Address_Johns_Hopkins_School_Of_Medicine_Graduation http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Health_Policy_Advisor_To_Address_Johns_Hopkins_School_Of_Medicine_Graduation Lloyd Minor, M.D., an expert in balance and inner-ear disorders, and Johns Hopkins University’s provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, has been awarded the Prosper Ménière Society’s 2010 gold medal. The award is for Minor’s contributions to understanding the scientific basis of Ménière’s disease, named for the French scientist who pegged its hallmark symptoms of recurring dizziness and “constant ringing noise in the head,” or so-called tinnitus, to dysfunction in the inner ear. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Provost_Honored_With_International_Award http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Provost_Honored_With_International_Award A consortium of five Baltimore hospitals, led by the Johns Hopkins Department of Emergency Medicine, has acquired and donated to Baltimore city new wireless technology able to transmit electrocardiograms from the field over the Internet to hospital-based medical specialists. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_radiation_oncology_services_in_howard_county http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/new_radiation_oncology_services_in_howard_county A consortium of five Baltimore hospitals, led by the Johns Hopkins Department of Emergency Medicine, has acquired and donated to Baltimore city new wireless technology able to transmit electrocardiograms from the field over the Internet to hospital-based medical specialists. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/high_fat_ketogenic_diet_effectively_treats_persistent_childhood_seizures_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/high_fat_ketogenic_diet_effectively_treats_persistent_childhood_seizures_ A consortium of five Baltimore hospitals, led by the Johns Hopkins Department of Emergency Medicine, has acquired and donated to Baltimore city new wireless technology able to transmit electrocardiograms from the field over the Internet to hospital-based medical specialists. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Hospital_Partnership_Donates_Lifesaving_Wireless_EKG_Technology_To_Baltimore http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Hospital_Partnership_Donates_Lifesaving_Wireless_EKG_Technology_To_Baltimore Johns Hopkins Medicine presents a continuing medical education program on an evidence-based perspective of traumatic brain injury in professional football for National Football League (NFL) physicians and trainers, NFL players, and Department of Defense clinicians and researchers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Press_Conference_on_Traumatic_Brain_Injury_in_Professional_Football http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Press_Conference_on_Traumatic_Brain_Injury_in_Professional_Football A simple, 10-minute “frailty” test administered to older patients before they undergo surgery can predict with great certainty their risk for complications, how long they will stay in the hospital and — most strikingly — whether they are likely to end up in a nursing home afterward, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/level_of_frailty_predicts_surgical_outcomes_in_older_patients_johns_hopkins_researchers_find http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/level_of_frailty_predicts_surgical_outcomes_in_older_patients_johns_hopkins_researchers_find Johns Hopkins cardiac surgeons — none who are involved in the care of ABC ‘s Barbara Walters — are prepared to give background to reporters or comment on diseased aortic valves and aortic valve replacement surgery, performed at a rate of more than one a week at Johns Hopkins for many years. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Barbara_Walters_Heart_SurgeryJohns_Hopkins_Experts_Available_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Barbara_Walters_Heart_SurgeryJohns_Hopkins_Experts_Available_ Husbands or wives who care for spouses with dementia are six times more likely to develop the memory-impairing condition than those whose spouses don’t have it, according to results of a 12-year study led by Johns Hopkins, Utah State University, and Duke University. The increased risk that the researchers saw among caregivers was on par with the power of a gene variant known to increase susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease, they report in the May Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Spouses_Who_Care_For_Partners_With_Dementia_at_Sixfold_Higher_Risk_of_Same_Fate http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Spouses_Who_Care_For_Partners_With_Dementia_at_Sixfold_Higher_Risk_of_Same_Fate Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that a compound in dark chocolate may protect the brain after a stroke by increasing cellular signals already known to shield nerve cells from damage. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/How_Dark_Chocolate_May_Guard_Against_Brain_Injury_From_Stroke http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/How_Dark_Chocolate_May_Guard_Against_Brain_Injury_From_Stroke Lung researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a possible protein trigger responsible for sarcoidosis, a potentially fatal inflammatory disease marked by tiny clumps of inflammatory cells that each year leave deep, grainy scars on the lungs, lymph nodes, skin and almost all major organs in hundreds of thousands of Americans. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/a_century_old_puzzle_comes_together_scientists_id_potential_protein_trigger_in_lung_disease_sarcoidosis http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/a_century_old_puzzle_comes_together_scientists_id_potential_protein_trigger_in_lung_disease_sarcoidosis Nancy L. Craig, Ph.D., a professor of molecular biology and genetics, and King-Wai Yau, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience and ophthalmology, both in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, are among 72 scientists nationwide newly elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences, an honorary society that advises the government on scientific matters. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Researchers_Elected_To_National_Academy_Of_Sciences http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Researchers_Elected_To_National_Academy_Of_Sciences IPhone, iPad and Motorola Droid users can now, with the touch of a button, instantly access the Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer office (http://www.techtransfer.jhu.edu/.) The new, free app allows anyone to easily connect to the office, which operates as the licensing arm for technologies developed by Hopkins faculty and staff and links entrepreneurs and investors with cutting-edge advances in science. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_technology_transfer_theres_an_app_for_that http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_technology_transfer_theres_an_app_for_that Grover M. Hutchins, M.D., a world-renowned pathologist who practiced at Johns Hopkins Medicine for more than 50 years, died Wednesday while traveling in Africa, from head injuries sustained from a fall. Hutchins, 77, and his wife, Loretta, both of Baltimore, were on a cruise around the world. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_pathologist_grover_m_hutchins_md_77 http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_pathologist_grover_m_hutchins_md_77 Harold Lehmann, M.D., Ph.D, F.A.C.M.I., F.A.A.P., associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of training and research for the Johns Hopkins Division of Health Sciences Informatics (http://dhsi.med.jhmi.edu), has been awarded a $3.75 million grant to develop post-baccalaureate and masters-level health IT workforce-training programs at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_researcher_receives_375_million_stimulus_grant_to_develop_health_information_technology_workforce_training_program http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_medicine_researcher_receives_375_million_stimulus_grant_to_develop_health_information_technology_workforce_training_program The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) are establishing a collaborative program to advance the development and use of stem cells in therapies for a wide range of diseases, the organizations announced today. The program will train researchers to use stem cells and foster joint research projects. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_School_Of_Medicine_Enters_Collaboration_With_New_York_Stem_Cell_Foundation http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_School_Of_Medicine_Enters_Collaboration_With_New_York_Stem_Cell_Foundation A Johns Hopkins team has identified a protein in sensory cells on the “tongues” of fruit flies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/project_fruit_fly_what_accounts_for_insect_taste http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/project_fruit_fly_what_accounts_for_insect_taste A deeply moving video that follows pediatric patient Steven McDonough. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Brain_Surgery_Video_Nominated_For_Prestigious_Webby_Award http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Brain_Surgery_Video_Nominated_For_Prestigious_Webby_Award These news tips are based on abstracts and presentations by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Guide_to_News_from_Johns_Hopkins_at_AACR_Meeting http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Guide_to_News_from_Johns_Hopkins_at_AACR_Meeting The standard practice of cooling and then rewarming a patient to prevent organ damage. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Risk_Of_Stroke_Associated_With_Bypass_Surgery_Technique_Designed_To_Prevent_Organ_Damage http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Risk_Of_Stroke_Associated_With_Bypass_Surgery_Technique_Designed_To_Prevent_Organ_Damage Johns Hopkins researchers discover pathway in mice for resveratrol’s apparent protective effect. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/How_Red_Wine_May_Shield_Brain_From_Stroke_Damage http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/How_Red_Wine_May_Shield_Brain_From_Stroke_Damage Inpatient mortality rates, used by organizations to issue “report cards” on the quality of individual U.S. hospitals, are a poor gauge of how well hospitals actually perform. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/death_rates_not_best_judge_of_hospital_quality_researchers_say http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/death_rates_not_best_judge_of_hospital_quality_researchers_say Two genetics researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have been awarded prestigious honorary Doctor of Medicine degrees by European scientific institutions. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Two_Hopkins_Scientists_Awarded_European_Honorary_Doctorates http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Two_Hopkins_Scientists_Awarded_European_Honorary_Doctorates The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will hold its 24th Annual Mood Disorders Research and Education Symposium on April 20, focusing on joint efforts between researchers and clinicians to study and treat depression and bipolar disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/psychiatry_symposium_to_address_collaborations_in_mood_disorder_research_treatments http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/psychiatry_symposium_to_address_collaborations_in_mood_disorder_research_treatments Second annual Mismatch speed-dating event for entrepreneurs. More than a dozen entrepreneurs and an equal number of Johns Hopkins scientists will meet – in rapid succession – to find good matches of mutual interest in the realm of technology transfer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/speed_dating_with_a_twist_matching_entrepreneurs_and_scientists http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/speed_dating_with_a_twist_matching_entrepreneurs_and_scientists As many as 8 million adults in the United States who have undiagnosed or early-stage hypertension may also have kidney disease, putting them at higher-risk of what may be preventable kidney failure, new research led by Johns Hopkins suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/millions_with_silent_hypertension_may_have_kidney_disease_too http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/millions_with_silent_hypertension_may_have_kidney_disease_too The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has retained a top-tier ranking among the nation’s best medical schools, as reported in the USNWR's 2011 edition of America’s Best Graduate Schools. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_remains_top_tier_among_nations_best_medical_schools http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_school_of_medicine_remains_top_tier_among_nations_best_medical_schools Using a method they developed to watch moment to moment as they move a molecule to precise sites inside live human cells, Johns Hopkins scientists are closer to understanding why and how a protein at one location may signal division and growth, and the same protein at another location, death. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Hopkins_Researchers_Put_Proteins_Right_Where_They_Want_Them http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Hopkins_Researchers_Put_Proteins_Right_Where_They_Want_Them Obese women who have bariatric surgery before getting pregnant are at significantly lower risk for developing dangerous hypertensive disorders during pregnancy than those who don’t, according to a study of medical insurance records by Johns Hopkins experts. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/WeightLoss_Surgery_Significantly_Reduces_Risk_of_Hypertensive_Disorders_In_Pregnancy http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/WeightLoss_Surgery_Significantly_Reduces_Risk_of_Hypertensive_Disorders_In_Pregnancy A new technique using tissue from those below-the-waist “love handles” improves cosmetic breast reconstruction in slim, athletic cancer patients without adequate fat sources elsewhere, a small Johns Hopkins study has found. The method also turns out to be less complicated than other options for surgeons as well, the research shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/love_handles_repurposed_for_breast_reconstruction_in_women_without_enough_belly_fat http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/love_handles_repurposed_for_breast_reconstruction_in_women_without_enough_belly_fat Despite national guidelines aimed at improving sexual health services for teenagers, most sexually active boys — even those who report high-risk sexual behaviors — still get too little counseling about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during their visits to the doctor, according to a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/sti_hiv_counseling_inadequate_in_male_teens http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/sti_hiv_counseling_inadequate_in_male_teens Premature babies born with severe forms of the potentially blinding eye condition retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) should be treated promptly after diagnosis because they continue to benefit from early therapy well into their preschool years, according to a nationwide study conducted at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and 25 other pediatric hospitals. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/early_surgery_better_in_preemies_with_blinding_eye_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/early_surgery_better_in_preemies_with_blinding_eye_disease The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has chosen Johns Hopkins Children’s Center neonatologist Christoph Lehmann, M.D., to lead its new medical informatics branch. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_childrens_physician_to_lead_new_informatics_branch_at_american_academy_of_pediatrics http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/hopkins_childrens_physician_to_lead_new_informatics_branch_at_american_academy_of_pediatrics Nicholas J. Fortuin, M.D., one of Johns Hopkins Medicine’s most dedicated and admired clinical cardiologists, teachers and institutional leaders, died unexpectedly near Owings Mills Sunday while biking, his favorite sport and pastime. The cause of death was not known, but it is likely he suffered a heart attack, colleagues say. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_cardiologist_and_trustee_nicholas_j_fortuin_md_69 http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_cardiologist_and_trustee_nicholas_j_fortuin_md_69 The Johns Hopkins Hospital will launch a campaign on Monday, April 12 to encourage healthier eating among patients, visitors and staff — Meatless Monday. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/The_Johns_Hopkins_Hospital_Launches_Meatless_Monday http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/The_Johns_Hopkins_Hospital_Launches_Meatless_Monday A new report from critical care experts at Johns Hopkins shows that use of prescription sedatives goes down by half so that mild exercise programs can be introduced to the care of critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Curtailing use of the drowsiness-inducing medications not only allows patients to exercise, which is known to reduce muscle weakness linked to long periods of bed rest, but also reduces bouts of delirium and hallucinations and speeds up ICU recovery times by as much as two to three days, the paper concludes. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/More_Benefits_Found_From_Mild_Exercise_In_Critically_Ill_Patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/More_Benefits_Found_From_Mild_Exercise_In_Critically_Ill_Patients Gregg Semenza, M.D., Ph.D., director of the vascular program at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering and a member of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, is one of seven recipients of the 2010 Canada Gairdner Awards. Canada’s only international science prizes, they are among the world’s most prestigious medical research awards. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Gregg_Semenza_Named_Canada_Gairdner_International_Awardee_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Gregg_Semenza_Named_Canada_Gairdner_International_Awardee_ More than half of donor kidneys in the United State infected with hepatitis C are thrown away, despite the need among hepatitis C patients who may die waiting for an infection-free organ, Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Donor_Kidneys_From_Hepatitis_C_Patients_Needlessly_Denied_To_Patients_With_That_Infection_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Donor_Kidneys_From_Hepatitis_C_Patients_Needlessly_Denied_To_Patients_With_That_Infection_ Congenital stationary night blindness, an inherited condition that affects one’s ability to see in the dark, is caused by a mutation in a calcium channel protein that shuttles calcium into and out of cells. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased apart the molecular mechanism behind this mutation, uncovering a more general principle of how cells control calcium levels. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Understanding_Night_Blindness_and_Calcium_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Understanding_Night_Blindness_and_Calcium_ The Ethisphere Institute, a New York-based think tank established to advance best practices in business ethics and corporate social responsibility, has named The Johns Hopkins Hospital to its 2010 list of the world’s most ethical companies and institutions. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_hospital_named_one_of_worlds_most_ethical_organizations_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/the_johns_hopkins_hospital_named_one_of_worlds_most_ethical_organizations_ People with diabetes who undergo cancer surgery are more likely to die in the month following their operations than those who have cancer but not diabetes, an analysis by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Diabetes_Raises_Risk_of_Death_In_Cancer_Surgery_Patients_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Diabetes_Raises_Risk_of_Death_In_Cancer_Surgery_Patients_ A protein discovered in fruit fly eyes has brought a Johns Hopkins team closer to understanding how the human heart and other organs automatically “right size” themselves, a piece of information that may hold clues to controlling cancer. http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/211/interior.asp http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/211/interior.asp Once considered a hospital anomaly, community-acquired infections with drug-resistant strains of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus now turn up regularly among children hospitalized in the intensive-care unit, according to research from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/community_acquired_mrsa_becoming_more_common_in_pediatric_icu_patients http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/community_acquired_mrsa_becoming_more_common_in_pediatric_icu_patients A medical student and faculty directors from the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics analyzed depictions of bioethical issues and professionalism over a full season of two popular medical dramas— “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House, M.D.”—and found that the shows were “rife” with ethical dilemmas and actions that often ran afoul of professional codes of conduct. http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/209/interior.asp http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/module/press/pressid/209/interior.asp From the first tip-off during March Madness to the championship’s final buzzer, and with start of the 2010 Major League Baseball season, on Sunday, April 4, thousands of people will relentlessly scream and shout, placing tremendous strain on their voices. While no one is recommending complete silence, the constant pressure on the vocal cords can cause great damage. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Doctor_Says_Sports_Events_and_Cell_Phones_Can_Harm_Voice http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Doctor_Says_Sports_Events_and_Cell_Phones_Can_Harm_Voice A protein discovered in fruit fly eyes has brought a Johns Hopkins team closer to understanding how the human heart and other organs automatically “right size” themselves, a piece of information that may hold clues to controlling cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/how_does_a_heart_know_when_its_big_enough http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/how_does_a_heart_know_when_its_big_enough Suspecting that a particular protein in tuberculosis was likely to be vital to the bacteria’s survival, Johns Hopkins scientists screened 175,000 small chemical compounds and identified a potent class of compounds that selectively slows down this protein’s activity and, in a test tube, blocks TB growth, demonstrating that the protein is indeed a vulnerable target. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Team_Finds_New_Way_To_Attack_TB http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Team_Finds_New_Way_To_Attack_TB Florence Sabin, the famed pathologist, became the first woman given the title of full professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1917. The second female professor wasn’t named until more than 40 years later. And when Janice Clements, Ph.D., was promoted in 1990, she was only the 24th woman in the nearly 100-year history of the medical school to make full professor. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_to_host_a_tribute_to_150_women_professors_celebration http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_to_host_a_tribute_to_150_women_professors_celebration Surgeons at The Johns Hopkins Hospital have successfully completed their 100th kidney swap — a procedure popularized here to enlarge the pool of kidneys available for donation and provide organs to patients who might have died waiting for them. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_reaches_milestone_in_pioneering_incompatible_donor_kidney_transplants http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_reaches_milestone_in_pioneering_incompatible_donor_kidney_transplants Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a safe and inexpensive antibiotic in use since the 1970s for treating acne effectively targets infected immune cells in which HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, lies dormant and prevents them from reactivating and replicating. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Acne_Drug_Prevents_HIV_Breakout http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Acne_Drug_Prevents_HIV_Breakout By studying the genetics of a rare inherited disorder called stiff skin syndrome, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have learned more about scleroderma, a condition affecting about one in 5,000 people that leads to hardening of the skin as well as other debilitating and often life-threatening problems. The findings, which appear this week in Science Translational Medicine, open doors to testing new treatments. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Causes_Found_For_Stiff_Skin_Conditions http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Causes_Found_For_Stiff_Skin_Conditions story ideas from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with a partial focus on the upcoming NCAA basketball tournaments. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Sports_And_MedicineFocused_Story_Ideas http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Sports_And_MedicineFocused_Story_Ideas Hospitals may reduce the risk of life-threatening bloodstream infections in newborns with peripherally inserted central venous catheters by replacing the device every 30 days or so, according to a new Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/in_the_fight_against_life_threatening_catheter_infections_length_of_use_is_key http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/in_the_fight_against_life_threatening_catheter_infections_length_of_use_is_key African-American, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged patients with brain tumors are significantly less likely to be referred to high-volume hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery than other patients of similar age, the same gender, and with similar comorbidities, according to new research by Johns Hopkins doctors. The finding, published in the March Archives of Surgery, suggests a scenario in direct contrast to recommendations from federal health care agencies encouraging better access and quality of health care for people of all races. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/minority_underpriveleged_patients_not_as_likely_to_be_referred_to_specialty_hospitals_for_brain_tumors http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/minority_underpriveleged_patients_not_as_likely_to_be_referred_to_specialty_hospitals_for_brain_tumors Arnall Patz, director emeritus of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins; a pivotal figure in the history of ophthalmology; and the recipient of both a Presidential Medal of Freedom and an Albert Lasker Award, often called the “American Nobel,” for his groundbreaking research into the causes and prevention of blindness, died on March 10. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/arnall_patz_md_june_14_1920_march_10_2010 http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/arnall_patz_md_june_14_1920_march_10_2010 Johns Hopkins University’s newly formed Brain Science Institute’s NeuroTranslational Program has entered into a licensing agreement with pharmaceutical company Eisai Inc. to discover and develop small molecule glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) inhibitors. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Brain_Science_Institute_Announces_License_Agreement_To_Develop_New_Treatments_For_Neurological_Disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Brain_Science_Institute_Announces_License_Agreement_To_Develop_New_Treatments_For_Neurological_Disease African-American, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged patients with brain tumors are significantly less likely to be referred to high-volume hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery than other patients of similar age, the same gender, and with similar comorbidities, according to new research by Johns Hopkins doctors. The finding, published in the March Archives of Surgery, suggests a scenario in direct contrast to recommendations from federal health care agencies encouraging better access and quality of health care for people of all races. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Doctor_and_Disaster_Expert_Says_Resource_Problems_In_Haiti_Required_Difficult_Ethical_DecisionMaking http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Doctor_and_Disaster_Expert_Says_Resource_Problems_In_Haiti_Required_Difficult_Ethical_DecisionMaking People whose “bad” cholesterol and risk of future heart disease stay too high despite cholesterol-lowering statin therapy can safely lower it by adding a drug that mimics the action of thyroid hormone. In a report published in the Mar. 11, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Johns Hopkins and Swedish researchers say an experimental drug called eprotirome lowered cholesterol up to 32 percent in those already on statins, an effect equal to that expected from doubling the statin drug doses, without harmful side effects. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/experimental_drug_that_mimics_thryoid_hormone_safely_lowers_bad_cholesterol_in_statin_treated_patients_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/experimental_drug_that_mimics_thryoid_hormone_safely_lowers_bad_cholesterol_in_statin_treated_patients_ In a landmark study of more than 80,000 live kidney donors from across the United States, Johns Hopkins researchers have found the procedure carries very little medical risk and that, in the long term, people who donate one of their kidneys are likely to live just as long as those who have two healthy ones. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/kidney_donors_suffer_few_ill_effects_from_life_giving_act_landmark_study_finds http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/kidney_donors_suffer_few_ill_effects_from_life_giving_act_landmark_study_finds The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has been awarded a $9.7 million federal grant to study ways to improve cardiovascular outcomes among African-American patients and to understand and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in blood pressure management in Baltimore. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_wins_97_million_federal_grant_to_study_cardiovascular_racial_disparities_in_baltimore http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_wins_97_million_federal_grant_to_study_cardiovascular_racial_disparities_in_baltimore The Johns Hopkins Hospital has again received the 2010 American Alliance of Healthcare Providers’ (AAHCP) American Hospital of Choice Award. Johns Hopkins has been selected for this award seven times since the award’s inception in 2002. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_hospital_earns_2010_hospital_of_choice_award http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_hospital_earns_2010_hospital_of_choice_award In reports of two new studies, researchers led by Johns Hopkins say they have identified the mechanisms rooted in two anatomical brain abnormalities that may explain the onset of schizophrenia and the reason symptoms don’t develop until young adulthood. Both types of anatomical glitches are influenced by a gene known as DISC1, whose mutant form was first identified in a Scottish family with a strong history of schizophrenia and related mental disorders. The findings could lead to new ways to treat, prevent or modify the disorder or its symptoms. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Why_Symptoms_Of_Schizophrenia_Emerge_In_Young_Adulthood http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Why_Symptoms_Of_Schizophrenia_Emerge_In_Young_Adulthood Wider adoption of the practice of recycling medical equipment — including laparoscopic ports and durable cutting tools typically tossed out after a single use — could save hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars annually and curb trash at medical centers, the second-largest waste producers in the United States after the food industry. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Going_Green_In_The_Hospital http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Going_Green_In_The_Hospital Barton Childs, M.D., professor emeritus of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a legendary geneticist and teacher who influenced the practice of generations of physicians and shaped their understanding of inherited disease, died Feb. 18 at The Johns Hopkins Hospital after a short illness. He was 93. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/eminent_hopkins_childrens_pediatrician_and_geneticist_barton_childs_md_dies_at_age_93 http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/eminent_hopkins_childrens_pediatrician_and_geneticist_barton_childs_md_dies_at_age_93 Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have used data from the whole genome sequencing of cancer patients to develop individualized blood tests they believe can help physicians tailor patients' treatments. The genome-based blood tests, believed to be the first of their kind, may be used to monitor tumor levels after therapy and determine cancer recurrence. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Personalized_Blood_Tests_for_Cancer_Using_Whole_Genome_Sequence http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Personalized_Blood_Tests_for_Cancer_Using_Whole_Genome_Sequence Obesity in general nearly doubles the risk of developing kidney stones, but the degree of obesity doesn’t appear to increase or decrease the risk one way or the other, a new study from Johns Hopkins shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/ObesityMild_or_Severeraises_Kidney_Stone_Risk http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/ObesityMild_or_Severeraises_Kidney_Stone_Risk If bad bacteria lurk in your system, chances are they will bump into the immune system’s protective cells whose job is gobbling germs. The catch is that these do-gooders, known as macrophages, ingest and destroy only those infectious invaders that they can securely hook and reel in. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Hopkins_Scientists_Discover_How_Protein_Trips_Up_Germs http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Hopkins_Scientists_Discover_How_Protein_Trips_Up_Germs Research by Johns Hopkins sensory biologists studying fruit flies, has revealed a critical step in fly vision. Humans with problems in this same step suffer retinal dystrophies, which manifest as visual defects ranging from mild visual impairments to complete blindness. The article, published Jan. 26 in Current Biology paves the way for using the fruit fly to screen for therapies to treat human retinal degeneration. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/All_Eyes_On_Retinal_Degeneration http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/All_Eyes_On_Retinal_Degeneration Current and former patients treated with the high-fat ketogenic diet to control multiple, daily and severe seizures can be reassured by the news that not only is the diet effective, but it also appears to have no long-lasting side effects, say scientists at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/high_fat_ketogenic_diet_to_control_seizures_is_safe_over_long_term http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/high_fat_ketogenic_diet_to_control_seizures_is_safe_over_long_term One-third of people over the age of 65 wait longer than necessary for lifesaving, new kidneys because their doctors fail to put them in a queue for organs unsuitable to transplant in younger patients but well-suited to seniors, research from Johns Hopkins suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Seniors_Stymied_In_Wait_For_Kidney_Transplants http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Seniors_Stymied_In_Wait_For_Kidney_Transplants In the wake of Johns Hopkins’ success in virtually eliminating intensive-care unit bloodstream infections via a simple five-step checklist, the safety scientist who developed and popularized the tool warns medical colleagues that they are no panacea. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Making_A_Better_Medical_Safety_Checklist http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Making_A_Better_Medical_Safety_Checklist A group of Johns Hopkins physicians and nurses will leave Baltimore Sunday to assist Haiti earthquake victims undergoing treatment onboard the USNS Comfort, stationed off the Haitian coast. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/valentines_day_deployment_set_for_johns_hopkins_medical_team_to_usns_comfort_mission_to_haiti http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/valentines_day_deployment_set_for_johns_hopkins_medical_team_to_usns_comfort_mission_to_haiti A campaign that makes seasonal flu vaccinations for hospital staff free, convenient, ubiquitous and hard to ignore succeeds fairly well in moving care providers closer to a state of "herd" immunity and protecting patients from possible infection transmitted by health care workers, according to results of a survey at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/protecting_patients_study_shows_that_johns_hopkins_flu_vaccination_rates_are_twice_the_national_average http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/protecting_patients_study_shows_that_johns_hopkins_flu_vaccination_rates_are_twice_the_national_average Diana Pillas, longtime coordinator-counselor of the Pediatric Epilepsy Center at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, died Saturday, Feb. 6, of breast cancer. Pillas, 69, continued to work until the week before her death. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/pediatric_epilepsy_center_coordinator_diana_pillas_loses_breast_cancer_battle http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/pediatric_epilepsy_center_coordinator_diana_pillas_loses_breast_cancer_battle Using an elaborate sleuthing system they developed to probe how cells manage their own division, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that common but hard-to-see sugar switches are partly in control. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Sweet_Sugar_Plays_Key_Role_In_Cell_Division http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Sweet_Sugar_Plays_Key_Role_In_Cell_Division Praised for her work “closing the racial gap in health care,” Lisa Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been named one of “100 History Makers in the Making” by msnbc.com. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Msnbccom_Names_Johns_Hopkins_Doctor_One_of_100_History_Makers_in_the_Making http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Msnbccom_Names_Johns_Hopkins_Doctor_One_of_100_History_Makers_in_the_Making The state of Michigan, which used a five-step checklist developed at Johns Hopkins to virtually eliminate bloodstream infections in its hospitals’ intensive care units , has been able to keep the number of these common, costly and potentially lethal infections near zero — even three years after first adopting the standardized procedures. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/three_years_out_safety_checklist_continues_to_keep_hospital_infections_in_check http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/three_years_out_safety_checklist_continues_to_keep_hospital_infections_in_check Physicians in training and bioethicists at Johns Hopkins have created an easy-to-remember checklist to help medical students and clinicians quickly assess a patient’s decision-making capacity in an emergency. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/learning_curves__bioethics_memory_aid_can_help_assess_patient_decision_making_capacity_in_medical_emergencies http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/learning_curves__bioethics_memory_aid_can_help_assess_patient_decision_making_capacity_in_medical_emergencies Cardiologists and heart imaging specialists at 15 medical centers in eight countries, and led by researchers at Johns Hopkins, have enrolled the first dozen patients in a year-long investigation to learn whether the subtle squeezing of blood flow through the inner layers of the heart is better than traditional SPECT nuclear imaging tests and other diagnostic radiology procedures for accurately tracking the earliest signs of coronary artery clogs. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/tiny_constraints_in_heart_blood_flow_a_better_sign_of_blood_vessel_narrowing_and_early_coronary_artery_disease http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/tiny_constraints_in_heart_blood_flow_a_better_sign_of_blood_vessel_narrowing_and_early_coronary_artery_disease Johns Hopkins scientists believe they may have figured out how genetic snippets called microRNAs are able to shut down the production of some proteins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/argonautes_a_big_turn_off_for_proteins_ http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/argonautes_a_big_turn_off_for_proteins_ Johns Hopkins Medicine sincerely acknowledges the contribution to advances in biomedical research made possible by Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells. It’s important to note that at the time the cells were taken from Mrs. Lacks’ tissue, the practice of obtaining informed consent from cell or tissue donors was essentially unknown among academic medical centers. Sixty years ago, there was no established practice of seeking permission to take tissue for scientific research purposes. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/A_Statement_From_Johns_Hopkins_Medicine_About_HeLa_Cells_and_Their_Use http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/A_Statement_From_Johns_Hopkins_Medicine_About_HeLa_Cells_and_Their_Use National home care and health care leaders kicked off an 18-month national home-health quality-improvement campaign this month at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) headquarters. Registration to participate opened to all home health agencies on January 21. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/National_Health_Care_Leaders_Launch_Campaign_To_Reduce_Avoidable_Hospitalizations_and_Improve_Medication_Management http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/National_Health_Care_Leaders_Launch_Campaign_To_Reduce_Avoidable_Hospitalizations_and_Improve_Medication_Management People profoundly deficient in human growth hormone (HGH) due to a genetic mutation appear to live just as long as people who make normal amounts of the hormone, a new study shows. The findings suggest that HGH may not be the “fountain of youth” that some researchers have suggested. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/human_growth_hormone_not_a_life_extender_after_all http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/human_growth_hormone_not_a_life_extender_after_all The Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) will deploy a group of Johns Hopkins physicians, nurses and other experts Wednesday to Haiti to help that nation’s injured and suffering. A second group will leave Feb. 4. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Disaster_Team_to_Deploy_for_Haiti_Wednesday http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Disaster_Team_to_Deploy_for_Haiti_Wednesday Considered a dermatological nuisance that was long gone, skin irritations caused by toilet seats appear to be making a comeback in pediatricians’ offices, according to research led by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center investigator Bernard Cohen, M.D. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/poop_dermatitis_linked_to_fashionable_toilet_seats_harsh_chemicals http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/poop_dermatitis_linked_to_fashionable_toilet_seats_harsh_chemicals Many pediatricians score high on screening their patients for developmental delays, but barely make a passing grade in referring children with suspected delays for further testing or treatment, according to a study from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and other institutions to appear in the February issue of Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/children_with_suspected_development_problems_may_not_get_needed_referrals_study_shows http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/children_with_suspected_development_problems_may_not_get_needed_referrals_study_shows The American Nurses Association (ANA), the largest nursing organization in the United States, has recognized The Johns Hopkins Hospital for consistently yielding outstanding patient outcomes that are tied directly to the high quality of nursing care. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/The_Johns_Hopkins_Hospital_Wins_ANA_Award_For_Outstanding_Nursing_Quality http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/The_Johns_Hopkins_Hospital_Wins_ANA_Award_For_Outstanding_Nursing_Quality The most common reasons for medical evacuation of military personnel from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years have been fractures, tendonitis and other musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders, not combat injuries, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study published January 22 in The Lancet. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/leading_cause_of_medical_evacuation_out_of_war_zones_its_not_combat_injury http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/leading_cause_of_medical_evacuation_out_of_war_zones_its_not_combat_injury Several Johns Hopkins Medicine physicians are now in Haiti and helping to serve that battered nation’s injured and suffering. These volunteers range from emergency physicians to a pulmonary specialist. More Hopkins medical experts are hoping to go to Haiti to help the nation recover in the near future. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_physicians_serving_in_haiti_disaster_others_preparing_to_depart http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_physicians_serving_in_haiti_disaster_others_preparing_to_depart Michael Pena has joined the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics to serve as its communications specialist and media-relations representative. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Communications_Specialist_Joins_Johns_Hopkins_Berman_Institute_of_Bioethics http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Communications_Specialist_Joins_Johns_Hopkins_Berman_Institute_of_Bioethics A common complication following surgery in elderly patients is postoperative delirium, a state of confusion that can lead to long-term health problems and cause some elderly patients to complain that they “never felt the same” again after an operation. But a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that simply limiting the depth of sedation during procedures could safely cut the risk of postoperative delirium by 50 percent. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/lighter_sedation_for_elderly_during_surgery_may_reduce_risk_of_confusion_disorientation_after http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/lighter_sedation_for_elderly_during_surgery_may_reduce_risk_of_confusion_disorientation_after Pediatric hospitals can significantly decrease the number of bloodstream infections from central venous catheters by following some low-tech rules: Insert the catheter correctly and, above all, keep everything squeaky clean after that. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Simple-Steps-Prevent-Life-Threatening-Bloodstream-Infections-in-Children.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Simple-Steps-Prevent-Life-Threatening-Bloodstream-Infections-in-Children.aspx Acknowledging that the idea of rationing health care, particularly at the end of life, may incite too much vitriol to get much rational consideration, a Johns Hopkins emeritus professor of neurology called for the start of a discussion anyway, with an opinion piece featured in this month’s issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Reasoning_Through_The_Rationing_Of_EndOfLife_Care http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Reasoning_Through_The_Rationing_Of_EndOfLife_Care A multidisciplinary research team at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has been awarded $8 million in funding by the National Institutes of Mental Health to develop methods to rid the body of HIV. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_awarded_8_million_for_hiv_research http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/johns_hopkins_researchers_awarded_8_million_for_hiv_research Johns Hopkins medical disaster experts are available for comment about the Haiti earthquake response http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Medical_Disaster_Experts_For_Haiti_Earthquake_Response http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Johns_Hopkins_Medical_Disaster_Experts_For_Haiti_Earthquake_Response Immobilizing the spines of shooting and stabbing victims before they are taken to the hospital — standard procedure in Maryland and some other parts of the country — appears to double the risk of death compared to transporting patients to a trauma center without this time-consuming, on-scene medical intervention, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/for_gunshot_and_stab_victims_on_scene_spine_immobilization_may_do_more_harm_than_good http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/for_gunshot_and_stab_victims_on_scene_spine_immobilization_may_do_more_harm_than_good Analyzing physicians’ practice patterns may hold valuable clues about how to curb the nation’s rising health care costs, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/workers_comp_research_provides_insight_into_curbing_health_care_costs http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/workers_comp_research_provides_insight_into_curbing_health_care_costs The Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore (USA) announced today that it will collaborate in research, education and patient care with the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Leading_Ophthalmological_Centers_In_The_United_States_and_Saudi_Arabia_Announce_Affiliation http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Leading_Ophthalmological_Centers_In_The_United_States_and_Saudi_Arabia_Announce_Affiliation Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers say preliminary studies show that a vaccine made with leukemia cells may be able to reduce or eliminate the last remaining cancer cells in some chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients taking the drug Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Early_Tests_Show_Vaccine_Appears_to_Mop_Up_Leukemia_Cells http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Early_Tests_Show_Vaccine_Appears_to_Mop_Up_Leukemia_Cells Lessons learned from the first 13 children at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center to become critically ill from the H1N1 virus show that although all patients survived, serious complications developed quickly, unpredictably, with great variations from patient to patient and with serious need for vigilant monitoring and quick treatment adjustments. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/early_lessons_from_the_h1n1_pandemic_critical_illness_in_children_unpredictable_but_survivable http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/early_lessons_from_the_h1n1_pandemic_critical_illness_in_children_unpredictable_but_survivable A team of Johns Hopkins and other researchers have found in animal experiments that an antidepressant developed over 40 years ago can blunt and even reverse the muscle enlargement and weakened pumping function associated with heart failure. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Old_Antidepressant_Offers_Promise_In_Treating_Heart_Failure http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Old_Antidepressant_Offers_Promise_In_Treating_Heart_Failure Scientists have long eyed mutations in a gene known as DISC1 as a possible contributor to schizophrenia and mood disorders, including depression and bipolar disorder. Now, new research led by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that perturbing this gene during prenatal periods, postnatal periods or both may have different effects in mice, leading to separate types of brain alterations and behaviors with resemblance to schizophrenia or mood disorders. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/before_or_after_birth_gene_linked_to_mental_health_has_different_effects http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/before_or_after_birth_gene_linked_to_mental_health_has_different_effects A drug that’s in a family of anti-anxiety agents has potential to slow the muscle weakening that comes with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), scientists report after completing a Phase II clinical trial—an early, small-scale test to show if the drug works and continues to be safe. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/New_ALS_Drug_Slips_Through_Telling_Phase_II_Clinical_Trials http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/New_ALS_Drug_Slips_Through_Telling_Phase_II_Clinical_Trials Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk factor for type 2 diabetes, but new research from Johns Hopkins suggests that quitting the habit may actually raise diabetes risk in the short term. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Smoking_Cessation_May_Actually_Increase_Risk_of_Developing_Type_2_Diabetes http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/Smoking_Cessation_May_Actually_Increase_Risk_of_Developing_Type_2_Diabetes