HOPKINS MEDICINE e-NEWS (January 2006)
A round-up of news from Johns Hopkins Medicine for busy executives.

Science Watch is not well known to laymen. It’s a newsletter that keeps track of scientists and institutions with the most influential research. How? By crunching the numbers to determine those most often cited in the footnotes of studies published by other investigators. According to a new report, from 1995-2005 the top five scientists in oncology - the study of cancer - are five faculty members at our Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The newsletter’s editor went so far as to state: "The impressive number of citations these exceptional researchers have received is evidence of their profound influence on modern scientific thought." We are so proud of these "doctors of the decade" and of our center, which the newsletter calls "a research powerhouse in the field of oncology." Most important, their groundbreaking work brings us that much closer to finding new treatments and new preventive strategies for that group of diseases called cancer.

You can read more about this remarkable feat below. The cruel irony is that this news comes at the same time as news of drastic cut-backs in federal funding for the National Institutes of Health. Just when progress is being made is not the time to reduce our nation’s investment in scientific research.

Other reports below deal with special grants to help speed medical inventions to the marketplace; the start-up of a national community health journal; a grant to find out how to interest minority students in biomedical information; a study showing the effectiveness of heat wrap therapy for acute back pain; the discovery of a more effective HIV drug combination, and the resurrection of a 50-year old method for delivering chemotherapy that increases ovarian cancer survival rates. There’s also a commentary from University President Bill Brody on the importance to physicians of intuitive reasoning even in an age of high technology.

We welcome your suggestions and hope you enjoy reading these reports.

HOPKINS ALLIANCE AWARDS "BRIDGE" FUNDS TO SPUR INVENTIONS
A group of business executives assisting the School of Medicine in bringing inventions to market awards its first two $50,000 grants to faculty members working on an innovative method for diagnosing bacterial infections and on a new MRI-compatible air motor.

FEDERAL GRANT TARGETS BIOMEDICAL INFORMATION CAREERS
The School of Medicine’s William H. Welch Medical Library is developing and testing effective ways to introduce minority students to careers in biomedical information, thanks to a $639,746 grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

HOPKINS NAMES MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS LEADER
Dalal J. Haldeman, an experienced health care industry executive and specialist in marketing, public relations and business development at the Cleveland Clinic, takes over as the new Vice President for Marketing and Communications next month.

CANCER CENTER RESEARCHERS NAMED "DOCTORS OF THE DECADE"
Five investigators at Hopkins’ Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center sweep the top rankings of scientific journal citations in oncology over the past decade, solidifying the center’s reputation as a "research powerhouse," according to Science Watch.

HEAT WRAPS REDUCE ACUTE BACK PAIN FOR WORKERS
The use of continuous low-level heat wrap therapy dramatically reduces acute low back pain and related disability and improves occupational performance of workers in physically demanding jobs, a Hopkins study finds.

COMBINATION HIV DRUG MORE EFFECTIVE THAN CURRENT TREATMENT
An international team of AIDS researchers at Johns Hopkins finds a once-daily combination of three antiretroviral drugs works better than another three-drug combination long considered the gold standard.

OLD DELIVERY METHOD INCREASES OVARIAN CANCER SURVIVAL RATE
A 50-year-old method for delivering chemotherapy directly into the abdomen is making a comeback as investigators find it increases survival by more than a year in some women with advanced ovarian cancer.

THE SOFT SIDE OF MEDICINE
In this era of high-tech medicine, clinical students and residents need to sharpen their powers of observation and reasoning, University President Bill Brody writes. Intuitive reasoning can be a very potent - and accurate - tool.

The Johns Hopkins Medicine Communications Office is pleased to announce its new health podcast, a lively discussion of the week's medical news. This free program features Rick Lange, chief of clinical cardiology, and Elizabeth Tracey, director of the Hopkins Health NewsFeed.  To learn more about subscribing to our new, free health podcast, visit:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaII/Podcastsinstructions.html

To listen to the last few podcasts:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaII/Podcasts.html

Johns Hopkins Medicine science and medical news is now available through an RSS service:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaII/RSSinstructions.html

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