Johns Hopkins Medicine News 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 2009 High Blood Pressure Easy to Miss in Children with Kidney Disease-11/20/09 Spot blood pressure readings in children with chronic kidney disease often fail to detect hypertension – even during doctor’s office visits — increasing a child’s risk for serious heart problems, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and other institutions. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/High-Blood-Pressure-Easy-to-Miss-in-Children-with-Kidney-Disease.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/High-Blood-Pressure-Easy-to-Miss-in-Children-with-Kidney-Disease.aspx Kenneth L. Baughman, M.D., 63, Former Johns Hopkins Faculty Physician, Remembered by Fellow Cardiologists-11/20/09 The Johns Hopkins Medicine community mourns the sudden death of cardiologist Kenneth L. Baughman, M.D., who was killed in an accident Monday while running in Orlando, Fla. He was attending the annual Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, and had attempted to cross a street when a car struck him. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_20_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_20_09.html Mother’s Depression a Risk Factor in Childhood Asthma Symptoms, Study Suggests-11/19/09 Asthma symptoms can worsen in children with depressed mothers, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center published online in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/asthma-symptoms-worse-in-children-with-depressed-mothers.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/asthma-symptoms-worse-in-children-with-depressed-mothers.aspx Sweet! Sugared Polymer a New Weapon Against Allergies and Asthma-11/19/09 Scientists at Johns Hopkins and their colleagues have developed sugar-coated polymer strands that selectively kill off cells involved in triggering aggressive allergy and asthma attacks. Their advance is a significant step toward crafting pharmaceuticals to fight these often life-endangering conditions in a new way. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_19_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_19_09.html Vitamin B Niacin Offers No Additional Benefit to Statin Therapy in Seniors Already Diagnosed with Coronary Artery Disease-11/17/09 The routine prescription of extended-release niacin, a B vitamin (1,500 milligrams daily), in combination with traditional cholesterol-lowering therapy offers no extra benefit in correcting arterial narrowing and diminishing plaque buildup in seniors who already have coronary artery disease, a new vascular imaging study from Johns Hopkins experts shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_18_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_18_09.html Breast Center Imaging and Administrative Directors Voice Opinion on Mammography Recommendations-11/17/09 Several leaders at the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center have issued a statement regarding the new mammography screening guidelines suggested by the United States Preventive Task Force Service. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1154 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1154 Need for Emergency Airway Surgery for Hard-to-Intubate Patients Reduced-11/17/09 Be prepared, that old Boy Scout motto, is being applied with great success to operating room patients whose anatomy may make it difficult for physicians to help them breathe during surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers report in a new study. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_17_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_17_09.html Rapid, Erratic Heartbeats: Exercise-Linked Ventricular Tachycardia is Not a Risk to Healthy Older Adults-11/16/09 Researchers say such fears surfaced after previous studies found that episodes of errant heart rhythms, more formally known as non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, more than double the chance of sudden death in people who have already suffered a heart attack. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_16b_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_16b_09.html Migraine Raises Risk of Most Common Form of Stroke-11/16/09 Pooling results from 21 studies, involving 622,381 men and women, researchers at Johns Hopkins have affirmed that migraine headaches are associated with more than twofold higher chances of the most common kind of stroke: those occurring when blood supply to the brain is suddenly cut off by the buildup of plaque or a blood clot. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_16a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_16a_09.html Heart Experts Say Early End to Key Study on Benefits of Niacin, a B Vitamin, in Keeping Arteries Open was Premature-11/15/09 Heart experts at Johns Hopkins are calling premature the early halt of a study by researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Washington Hospital Center on the benefits of combining extended-release niacin, a B vitamin, with cholesterol-lowering statin medications to prevent blood vessel narrowing. Cardiovascular atherosclerosis, as it is also known, is believed responsible for one in three deaths in the United States each year. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_15d_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_15d_09.html 'Scaffolding' Protein Changes in Heart Strengthen Link Between Alzheimer's Disease and Chronic Heart Failure-11/15/09 A team of U.S., Canadian and Italian scientists led by researchers at Johns Hopkins report evidence from studies in animals and humans supporting a link between Alzheimer’s disease and chronic heart failure, two of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_15c_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_15c_09.html Heart and Bone Damage from Low Vitamin D Tied to Declines in Sex Hormones-11/15/09 Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_15b_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_15b_09.html Young Athletes Need Dual Screening Tests for Heart Defects, Study Suggests-11/15/09 To best detect early signs of life-threatening heart defects in young athletes, screening programs should include both popular diagnostic tests, not just one of them, according to new research from heart experts at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_15a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_15a_09.html Back Pain Permanently Sidelines Soldiers at War-11/9/09 Military personnel evacuated out of Iraq and Afghanistan because of back pain are unlikely to return to the line of duty regardless of the treatment they receive, according to research led by a Johns Hopkins pain management specialist. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_09_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_09_09.html 1930s Drug Slows Tumor Growth-11/6/09 Drugs sometimes have beneficial side effects. A glaucoma treatment causes luscious eyelashes. A blood pressure drug also aids those with a rare genetic disease. The newest surprise discovered by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is a gonorrhea medication that might help battle cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_06_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_06_09.html Scientists Reveal How Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Differ From Embryonic Stem Cells and Tissue of Derivation-11/4/09 The same genes that are chemically altered during normal cell differentiation, as well as when normal cells become cancer cells, are also changed in stem cells that scientists derive from adult cells, according to new research from Johns Hopkins and Harvard. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_04_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/11_04_09.html Teen Girls With PID More Likely To Tell and Seek Treatment For Partners After Watching Video-11/4/09 A study at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center found that girls diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) who watched a short educational video were three times more likely to discuss their condition with their partners and to ensure partner treatment than girls diagnosed and treated without seeing the film. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Teen-Girls-With-PID-More-Likely-To-Tell-and-Seek-Treatment-For-Partners-After-Watching-Video.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Teen-Girls-With-PID-More-Likely-To-Tell-and-Seek-Treatment-For-Partners-After-Watching-Video.aspx Low Cholesterol May Shrink Risk for High-Grade Prostate Cancer-11/3/09 Men with lower cholesterol are less likely than those with higher levels to develop high-grade prostate cancer, an aggressive form of the disease with a poorer prognosis, according to results of a Johns Hopkins collaborative study. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1140 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1140 This is Your Brain on Fatty Acids-10/30/09 Saturated fats have a deservedly bad reputation, but Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a sticky lipid occurring naturally at high levels in the brain may help us memorize grandma’s recipe for cinnamon buns, as well as recall how, decades ago, she served them up steaming from the oven. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_30_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_30_09.html Sight Gone, But Not Necessarily Lost?-10/30/09 Retinas Like all tissues in the body, the eye needs a healthy blood supply to function properly. Poorly developed blood vessels can lead to visual impairment or even blindness. While many of the molecules involved in guiding the development of the intricate blood vessel architecture are known, only now are we learning how these molecules work and how they might affect sight. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_30a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_30a_09.html Of Mice and Men: Stem Cells and Ethical Uncertainties -10/29/09 The recent creation of live mice from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) not only represents a remarkable scientific achievement, but also raises important issues, according to bioethicists at the Berman Institute of Bioethics. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_29a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_29a_09.html Moonlighting' Molecules Discovered-10/29/09 Since the completion of the human genome sequence, a question has baffled researchers studying gene control: How is it that humans, being far more complex than the lowly yeast, do not proportionally contain in our genome significantly more gene-control proteins? http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_29_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_29_09.html Lessons From Flu Seasons Past: Risk of Serious Flu-Related Sickness Far Outpaces Risk of Injectable Vaccine in Pregnant Women -10/29/09 Pregnant women who catch the flu are at serious risk for flu-related complications, including death, and that risk far outweighs the risk of possible side effects from injectable vaccines containing killed virus, according to an extensive review of published research and data from previous flu seasons. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Risk-of-Serious-Flu-related-Sickness-in-Pregnant-Women-Outweighs-Risk-of-Injectable-Vaccine.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Risk-of-Serious-Flu-related-Sickness-in-Pregnant-Women-Outweighs-Risk-of-Injectable-Vaccine.aspx Lack of Insurance May Have Figured In Nearly 17,000 Childhood Deaths, Study Shows-10/29/09 Lack of health insurance might have led or contributed to nearly 17,000 deaths among hospitalized children in the United States in the span of less than two decades, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Lack-of-Insurance-May-Have-Figured-In-Nearly-17000-Childhood-Deaths.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Lack-of-Insurance-May-Have-Figured-In-Nearly-17000-Childhood-Deaths.aspx Muscle Weakness a Common Side Effect of Long Stays in Intensive Care Units-10/27/09 After decades of focusing on the management of respiratory failure, circulatory shock and severe infections that lead to extended stays in hospital intensive care units, critical care researchers are increasingly turning attention to what they believe is a treatable complication developed by many who spend days or weeks confined to an ICU bed: debilitating muscle weakness that can linger long after hospital discharge. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_27_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_27_09.html New “Schizophrenia Gene” Prompts Researchers to Test Potential Drug Target-10/26/09 Johns Hopkins scientists report having used a commercially available drug to successfully “rescue” animal brain cells that they had intentionally damaged by manipulating a newly discovered gene that links susceptibility genes for schizophrenia and autism. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_26_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_26_09.html Now Hear This-10/23/09 Deep in the ear, 95 percent of the cells that shuttle sound to the brain are big, boisterous neurons that, to date, have explained most of what scientists know about how hearing works. Whether a rare, whisper-small second set of cells also carry signals from the inner ear to the brain and have a real role in processing sound has been a matter of debate. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_22a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_22a_09.html Physicians Have Less Respect for Obese Patients, Study Suggests-10/22/09 Doctors have less respect for their obese patients than they do for patients of normal weight, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. The findings raise questions about whether negative physician attitudes about obesity could be affecting the long-term health of their heavier patients. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_22_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_22_09.html $3.7 Million NIH Grant Will Fund Study on Stem Cells Derived from ALS Patients-10/21/09 Johns Hopkins scientists have been awarded a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to learn more about the nerve and muscle-wasting disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using stem cells developed from ALS patients’ skin. The award, given over a two-year span, will be shared with three other laboratories, including one at Harvard University and two at Columbia University. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_21_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_21_09.html New Anne and Mike Armstrong Medical Education Building Dedicated-10/20/09 More than a century ago, Johns Hopkins revolutionized the teaching of medicine with a new curriculum that merged evidence-based science with patient-centered clinical care. This so-called Hopkins model became the national gold standard for modern medical education. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_20_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_20_09.html Johns Hopkins Researchers at Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting-10/19/09 Chicago, Il, October 17-21 http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_19_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_19_09.html Hispanic Children Rarely Get Top-Notch Care For Brain Tumors-10/14/09 Hispanic children diagnosed with brain tumors get high-quality treatment at hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery far less often than other children with the same condition, potentially compromising their immediate prognosis and long-term survival, according to research from Johns Hopkins published in October’s Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hispanic-Children-Rarely-Get-Top-Notch-Care-For-Brain-Tumors.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hispanic-Children-Rarely-Get-Top-Notch-Care-For-Brain-Tumors.aspx Stephanie Desmon Joins Johns Hopkins Medicine's Media Team-10/14/09 Stephanie Desmon, an award-winning medical journalist, has joined Johns Hopkins Medicine as a senior media relations representative and public information officer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_16_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_16_09.html Pediatric Otolaryngologist Receives Prestigious Award-10/14/09 TDavid E. Tunkel, M.D., director of the Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and associate professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has received the Distinguished Service Award of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS). http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Pediatric-Otolaryngologist-Receives-Prestigious-Award.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Pediatric-Otolaryngologist-Receives-Prestigious-Award.aspx New Medical Informatics Journal To Launch In December-10/14/09 Two Johns Hopkins Children’s Center researchers have assembled a 25-member editorial board of international experts to launch a quarterly online medical journal devoted to original research and commentary on the use of computer automation in the day-to-day practice of medicine. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/New-Medical-Informatics-Journal-To-Launch-In-December.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/New-Medical-Informatics-Journal-To-Launch-In-December.aspx Johns Hopkins Researchers Receive $1M ARRA Award to "Map Mobile DNA in Humans"-10/12/09 Sequencing the human genome was just one step in understanding our biology: Researchers still know very little about the function of most of our DNA. Now, a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has been awarded $1 million in stimulus funding to examine how certain mobile segments of DNA known as transposons contribute to human genetic diversity by mapping transposon locations in more than 100 people over the next two years. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_12a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_12a_09.html "Consumer Choice" Award Goes to The Johns Hopkins Hospital for the 14th Consecutive Year-10/12/09 For the 14th straight year, the National Research Corporation (NRC) has given The Johns Hopkins Hospital its Consumer Choice Award for the Baltimore region. For 2009-2010, 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/Press_releases/2009/10_12_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_12_09.html H1N1 Briefing by Local Experts on What Parents Need to Know: Take Precautions, Don't Panic and Don't Overreact-10/7/09 At an H1N1 briefing at Johns Hopkins, medical experts from The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions,the University of Maryland Medical Center, and government health officials urge parents to take prudent approach when children show signs of flu. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_07_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_07_09.html Autism: Genome-Wide Hunt Reveals New Genetic Links - 10/7/09 About 90 percent of autism spectrum disorders have suspected genetic causes but few genes have been identified so far. Now, leading an international team, Johns Hopkins researchers have identified several genetic links to autism, chief among them a variant of semaphorin 5A, whose protein product controls nerve connections in the brain. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_07a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_07a_09.html Hispanic Children Rarely Get Top-Notch Care For Brain Tumors - 10/7/09 Hispanic children diagnosed with brain tumors get high-quality treatment at hospitals that specialize in neurosurgery far less often than other children with the same condition, potentially compromising their immediate prognosis and long-term survival, according to research from Johns Hopkins published in October’s Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hispanic-Children-Rarely-Get-Top-Notch-Care-For-Brain-Tumors.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hispanic-Children-Rarely-Get-Top-Notch-Care-For-Brain-Tumors.aspx What Parents Of Fetuses With Congenital Defects Want From Their Doctors - 10/7/09 Before and after delivery, the mothers of unborn babies prenatally diagnosed with severe birth defects want doctors to walk a fine line between giving them realistic information—no matter how grim the prognosis—and giving them hope for the best possible outcome. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/What-Parents-Of-Fetuses-With-Congenital-Defects-Want.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/What-Parents-Of-Fetuses-With-Congenital-Defects-Want.aspx "Telomere" Expert Carol Greider Shares 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine- 10/5/09 Carol Greider, Ph.D., 48, one of the world’s pioneering researchers on the structure of chromosome ends known as telomeres, today was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Academy recognized her for her 1984 discovery of telomerase (ta-LAW-mer-ace), an enzyme that maintains the length and integrity of chromosome ends and is critical for the health and survival of all living cells and organisms. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_05_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_05_09.html "Mask Debate" Diverting Needed Attention from Flu-Preventive Measures that Work- 10/1/09 Infection control experts at Johns Hopkins and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control report that a contentious debate in the medical community over what type of protective masks health workers should wear to prevent the spread of H1N1 and other flu viruses is dangerously distracting the health care community from focusing on simple prevention measures that are clearly known to work. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_01_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/10_01_09.html Preventing Medical Errors: Avoid Blame Game, But Punish Habitual Offenders- 9/30/09 Patient safety experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere are taking their prescription for avoiding medical errors in hospital care one step beyond already successful “no fault, no blame” approaches, calling now for penalties for doctors and nurses who fail to comply with proven safety measures. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_30b_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_30b_09.html Johns Hopkins and USC Win $10.4 Million to Study Cancer Epigenome- 9/30/09 The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded $10.4 million to Johns Hopkins and The University of Southern Califonia (USC) to decipher epigenetic marks in the cancer genome. The joint five-year grant is expected to help scientists develop drugs and tests that target epigenetic changes in cancer cells. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_30a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_30a_09.html H1N1 (Swine Influenza) Experts at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions- 9/30/09 Johns Hopkins has a wide range of experts available for interviews and comments about H1N1 and seasonal flu, emergency preparedness, infection control, transmission in children, vaccine safety, flu treatment, public health ethics, flu in cancer patients, and public communications strategies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_30_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_30_09.html Johns Hopkins Epigenetic Center Receives $16.8 Million NIH Grant- 9/28/09 Johns Hopkins’ Center for the Epigenetics of Common Human Disease has been chosen as one of four recipients of a $45 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for Centers of Excellence to advance genomics research. The Hopkins Center will receive $16.8 million over five years. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_28_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_28_09.html NIH "Pioneer" and "Innovator" Awards Go To Johns Hopkins Scientists- 9/24/09 A Johns Hopkins scientist who proposes to manipulate forces to activate enzymes in live cells, and a second researcher who has developed a way to hunt down tuberculosis germs with real-time imaging have received a total of $4 million in special awards from the National Institutes of Health. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_24_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_24_09.html Healing Badly Damaged Lungs: Distinct Set of White Blood Cells Found to Set the Pace of Wound Repair- 9/21/09 After more than 50 experiments in mice, medical scientists at Johns Hopkins have mapped out the basic steps taken by a particular set of white blood cells in setting the pace of recovery after serious lung injury. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_21b_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_21b_09.html Mild Exercise While in the ICU Reduces Bad Effects of Prolonged Bed Rest- 9/21/09 Critical care experts at Johns Hopkins are reporting initial success in boosting recovery and combating muscle wasting among critically ill, mostly bed-bound patients using any one of a trio of mild physical therapy exercises during their stays in the intensive care unit (ICU). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_21a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_21a_09.html Johns Hopkins Launches Stem Cell Web Documentary- 9/21/09 Johns Hopkins Medicine, a co-host of the 2009 World Stem Cell Summit, is telling a comprehensive stem cell story via a new interactive Web site http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/stem_cell_research/ on which its researchers and clinicians collectively describe their explorations into stem cell biology and engineering. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_21_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_21_09.html Historic Johns Hopkins Multiple Kidney Swap Operations to be Featured on the Dr. Oz Show- 9/21/09 Robert A. Montgomery, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center and 11 Johns Hopkins patients, who were part of the first eight-way, multihospital, domino kidney transplant this summer, will be featured on the new Dr. Oz Show. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_22_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_22_09.html Cheap, Quick Bedside "Eye Movement" Exam Outperforms MRI for Diagnosing Stroke in Patients with Dizziness- 9/18/09 In a small “proof of principle” study, stroke researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Illinois have found that a simple, one-minute eye movement exam performed at the bedside worked better than an MRI to distinguish new strokes from other less serious disorders in patients complaining of dizziness, nausea and spinning sensations. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_18_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_18_09.html Antioxidant Controls Spinal Cord Development- 9/17/09 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered how one antioxidant protein controls the activity of another protein, critical for the development of spinal cord neurons. The research, publishing this week in Cell, describes a never-before known mechanism of protein control. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_17_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_17_09.html Guide on Lung Cancer in "Never-Smokers": Different Disease, Different Treatments- 9/16/09 A committee of scientists led by Johns Hopkins investigators has published a new guide to the biology, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer in never-smokers, fortifying measures for what physicians have long known is a very different disease than in smokers. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1115 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1115 Genetic Hint for Ridding the Body of Hepatitis C- 9/16/09 More than seventy percent of people who contract Hepatitis C will live with the virus that causes it for the rest of their lives and some will develop serious liver disease including cancer. However, 30 to 40 percent of those infected somehow defeat the infection and get rid of the virus with no treatment. In this week’s Advanced Online Publication atNature, Johns Hopkins researchers working as part of an international team report the discovery of the strongest genetic alteration associated with the ability to get rid of the infection. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_16_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_16_09.html Johns Hopkins Best Dressed Sale Set for October 1-4- 9/15/09 September 16, 2009- Some Baltimore traditions just keep getting bigger and better. That's certainly the case with this year's Johns Hopkins Best Dressed Sale and Boutique 2009, now in its 42nd year. Exclusive designer dresses and shoes, chic contemporary fashions, classic accessories and enduring vintage clothing will be on the racks, waiting for a favored place in the closets of bargain-conscious – but demanding – shoppers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_15_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_15_09.html Dividing Cells "Feel" Their Way Out of Warp- 9/10/09 Every moment, millions of a body’s cells flawlessly divvy up their genes and pinch perfectly in half to form two identical progeny for the replenishment of tissues and organs — even as they collide, get stuck, and squeeze through infinitesimally small spaces that distort their shapes. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_10_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_10_09.html Surgical Scrub Solution: It's Good For Patients, Too- 9/3/09 Giving critically ill hospital patients a daily bath with a mild, soapy solution of the same antibacterial agent used by surgeons to “scrub in” before an operation can dramatically cut down, by as much as 73 percent, the number of patients who develop potentially deadly bloodstream infections, according to a new study by patient safety experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and five other institutions. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_03_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/09_03_09.html Anticancer Drug Yields Positive Response in People with Advanced or Recurring Skin and Brain Cancer- 9/3/09 The Hedgehog signaling pathway is involved in a preliminary study and case report describing positive responses to an experimental anticancer drug in a majority of people with advanced or metastatic basal cell skin cancers. One patient with the most common type of pediatric brain cancer, medulloblastoma, also showed tumor shrinkage. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1108 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1108 HIV Subtype Linked to Increased Likelihood for Dementia - 8/28/09 Patients infected with a particular subtype of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are more likely to develop dementia than patients with other subtypes, a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_28_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_28_09.html Disclosing Financial Conflicts of Interest to Research Participants May Not Be Enough - 8/26/09 Disclosure of financial conflicts of interests to potential participants in research is important, but may have a limited role in managing these conflicts, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins, Duke and Wake Forest. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_26_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_26_09.html Brain Cancer Experts and Resources at Johns Hopkins - 8/26/09 Johns Hopkins’ Brain Tumor Center is one of the largest brain tumor treatment and research centers in the world. With specialists ranging from neurosurgeons, oncologists, and laboratory researchers currently developing new cutting edge treatments, Johns Hopkins can provide you with unique sources who can answer your timely questions about brain tumors. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/braincancer.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/braincancer.html Setting Priorities for Patient-Safety Efforts Will Mean Hard Choices - 8/25/09 Is it more urgent for hospitals, doctors and nurses to focus resources on preventing the thousands of falls that injure hospitalized patients each year, or to home in on preventing rare but dramatic instances of wrong-side surgery? Is it best to concentrate immediately on preventing pediatric medical errors or on preventing drug interactions in the elderly? http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_25_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_25_09.html Milk Safe, Even Encouraged, For Some After Treatment For Milk Allergy - 8/18/09 Some children with a history of severe milk allergy can safely drink milk and consume other dairy products every day, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and published in the Aug. 10 online edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Milk-Safe-Even-Encouraged-After-Treatment-For-Milk-Allergy-For_Some.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Milk-Safe-Even-Encouraged-After-Treatment-For-Milk-Allergy-For_Some.aspx Common Sleeping Disorder Ups Chances of Dying - 8/17/09 Nightly bouts of interrupted, oxygen-deprived sleep from a collapsed airway in the upper neck raises the chances of dying in middle-aged to elderly people by as much as 46 percent in the most severe cases, according to a landmark study on sleep apnea by lung experts at Johns Hopkins and six other U.S. medical centers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_17_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_17_09.html John D. Strandberg, D.V.M., Ph.D., D.A.C.V.P., 1939-2009 - 8/06/09 John D. Strandberg, Distinguished Member of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and former director of the Division of Comparative Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, passed away on Aug. 1 in St. Paul, Minn. after a long illness. He was 69. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_07_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_07_09.html Johns Hopkins Researchers Make Stem Cells From Developing Sperm - 8/06/09 The promise of stem cell therapy may lie in uncovering how adult cells revert back into a primordial, stem cell state , whose fate is yet to be determined. Now, cell scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have identified key molecular players responsible for this reversion in fruit fly sperm cells. Reporting online this week in Cell Stem Cell, researchers show that two proteins are responsible redirecting cells on the way to becoming sperm back to stem cells. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_06a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_06a_09.html Colon Cancer May Yield to Cellular Sugar Starvation - 8/06/09 Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have discovered how two cancer-promoting genes enhance a tumor’s capacity to grow and survive under conditions where normal cells die. The knowledge, they say, may offer new treatments that starve cancer cells of a key nutrient - sugar. However, the scientists caution that research does not suggest that altering dietary sugar will make any difference in the growth and development of cancer. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1095 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1095 Hopkins Scientists Find Cells Responsible for Bladder Cancer's Spread - 8/06/09 Johns Hopkins scientists have tracked down a powerful set of cells in bladder tumors that seem to be primarily responsible for the cancer’s growth and spread using a technique that takes advantage of similarities between tumor and organ growth. The findings, reported in the July Stem Cells, could help scientists develop new ways of finding and attacking similar cells in other types of cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_06_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_06_09.html Is There Long-Term Brain Damage After Bypass Surgery? More Evidence Puts the Blame on Heart Disease Itself- 8/03/09 Brain scientists and cardiac surgeons at Johns Hopkins have evidence from 227 heart bypass surgery patients that long-term memory losses and cognitive problems they experience are due to the underlying coronary artery disease itself and not ill after-effects from having used a heart-lung machine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_03_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/08_03_09.html Hopkins Psychiatrists Named "Top Therapists" By Washingtonian Magazine- 7/30/09 Four Johns Hopkins psychiatrists have been named “Top Therapists” in this month’s Washingtonian magazine. The list includes geriatric psychiatrist Peter V. Rabins, M.D., M.P.H.; eating disorders psychiatrist Angela S. Guarda, M.D.; general psychiatrist Todd S. Cox, M.D.; and child and adolescent psychiatrist Elizabeth A. Kastelic, M.D. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_31_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_31_09.html Bring on the "SUDS": Prototype, 7-Foot-Tall Sanitizer Automates Disinfection of Hard-To-Clean Hospital Equipment- 7/30/09 Johns Hopkins experts in applied physics, computer engineering, infectious diseases, emergency medicine, microbiology, pathology and surgery have unveiled a 7-foot-tall, $10,000 shower-cubicle-shaped device that automatically sanitizes in 30 minutes all sorts of hard-to-clean equipment in the highly trafficked hospital emergency department. The novel device can sanitize and disinfect equipment of all shapes and sizes, from intravenous line poles and blood pressure cuffs, to pulse oximeter wires and electrocardiogram (EKG) wires, to computer keyboards and cellphones. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_30_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_30_09.html An 'Eye Catching' Vision Discovery- 7/26/09 Nearly all species have some ability to detect light. At least three types of cells in the retina allow us to see images or distinguish between night and day. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered in fish yet another type of cell that can sense light and contribute to vision. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_26_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_26_09.html Hepatitis C Infection: Treatment Options Equally Effective, Likelihood of Success Known Early On- 7/22/09 Results of a long-awaited study of 3,070 American adults at Johns Hopkins and 118 other U.S. medical centers show that treatment with either of the two standard antiviral drug therapies is safe and offers the best way for people infected with hepatitis C to prevent liver scarring, organ failure and death. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_22_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_22_09.html Close Caregiver Relationship May Slow Alzheimer's Decline- 7/22/09 A study led by Johns Hopkins and Utah State University researchers suggests that a particularly close relationship with caregivers may give people with Alzheimer’s disease a marked edge over those without one in retaining mind and brain function over time. The beneficial effect of emotional intimacy that the researchers saw among participants was on par with some drugs used to treat the disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_22a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_22a_09.html Hopkins-Designed Animal TB “Tracker” To Speed Drug and Vaccine Studies- 7/20/09 Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a novel way to monitor in real time the behavior of the TB bacterium in mouse lungs noninvasively pinpointing the exact location of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The new monitoring system is expected to speed up what is currently a slow and cumbersome process to test the safety and efficacy of various TB drug regimens and vaccines in animals. Plans are already under way for developing a similar system to monitor TB disease in humans. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hopkins-Designed_Animal_TB_Tracker_To_Speed_Drug_and_Vaccine_Studies.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hopkins-Designed_Animal_TB_Tracker_To_Speed_Drug_and_Vaccine_Studies.aspx Daily Potassium Citrate Wards Off Kidney Stones in Seizure Patients On High-Fat Diet- 7/20/09 Children on the high-fat ketogenic diet to control epileptic seizures can prevent the excruciatingly painful kidney stones that the diet can sometimes cause if they take a daily supplement of potassium citrate the day they start the diet, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Daily_Potassium_Citrate_Wards_Off_Kidney_Stones_in_Seizure_Patients_On_High-Fat_Diet.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Daily_Potassium_Citrate_Wards_Off_Kidney_Stones_in_Seizure_Patients_On_High-Fat_Diet.aspx Johns Hopkins Co-Sponsors 2009 World Stem Cell Summit- 7/20/09 Hopkins Medicine is co-sponsoring the 2009 World Stem Cell Summit to be held in Baltimore this September. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_20_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_20_09.html Johns Hopkins Faculty Members Awarded 2009 White House Early Career Awards- 7/17/09 Pablo A. Celnik, M.D., an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Thao (Vicky) Nguyen, 32, assistant professor of mechanical engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University, are among the 100 winners of this year’s Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_17_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_17_09.html Johns Hopkins School of Medicine to Offer New Degree Program in Informatics- 7/16/09 A new, intensive, one-year master’s degree program designed to prepare graduates for informatics leadership positions in clinical, public health and scientific settings will be offered beginning in September by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) approved the new program in June. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_16a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_16a_09.html The Johns Hopkins Hospital Tops U.S. News & World Report "Honor Roll" 19th Year in a Row- 7/16/09 The Johns Hopkins Hospital has once again, for the 19th consecutive time, earned the top spot in U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of more than 4,800 American hospitals, placing first in three medical specialties and in the top 16 in 13 others. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_16_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_16_09.html Johns Hopkins Physicians to Present a Continuing Medical Education Course at St. Matthew’s University School of Medicine - 7/16/09 Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI) and St. Matthew’s University (SMU), Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, will present a wide-ranging series of continuing medical education (CME) lectures focusing on new advances in treatment of arthritis and brain tumors, and other topics for local health care professionals and medical students on July 17, 2009. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_16b_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_16b_09.html Hopkins Surgeon Earns Award for Lifetime Achievement in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment- 7/15/09 Surgeon John L. Cameron, M.D., for 19 years the surgeon in chief at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, is among the 2009 recipients of the Hope Funds Awards of Excellence in cancer research. He is being honored for decades of work refining the Whipple procedure, one of the most common surgical treatments for pancreatic cancer, work that has helped reduce postsurgery death rates from 25 percent to less than 5 percent. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_15a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_15a_09.html Researchers ID Brain-Protecting Protein- 7/15/09 Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a novel protein that can protect brain cells by interrupting a naturally occurring “stress cascade” resulting in cell death. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_15_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_15_09.html Hopkins Scientist is 2009's Outstanding Woman Veterinarian- 7/9/09 A Johns Hopkins veterinarian whose vocation is HIV research and avocation is the care of dog “athletes” has been named the 2009 Outstanding Woman Veterinarian of the Year by the Association for Women Veterinarians Foundation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_10_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_10_09.html Ethicists Urge Inclusion of Pregnant Women in Federal Child-Health Study - 7/9/09 A team of ethicists from Johns Hopkins, Duke and Georgetown universities is urging organizers of a recently begun $3 billion decades-long study of children’s health to immediately add provisions to look at the health and medical profiles of the children’s mothers during their pregnancies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_09_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_09_09.html Johns Hopkins Leads First 16-Patient, Multicenter "Domino Donor" Kidney Transplant - 7/7/09 Surgical teams at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit successfully completed the first eight-way, multihospital, domino kidney transplant. The transplant involved eight donors — 3 men and 5 women along with eight organ recipients — 3 men and 5 women. “All Johns Hopkins patients are in good condition and are recovering as anticipated,” according to Robert A. Montgomery, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_07_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_07_09.html Wrong Dose of Heart Meds Too Frequent in Children- 7/7/09 Infants and young children treated with heart drugs get the wrong dose or end up on the wrong end of medication errors more often than older children, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center to be published July 6 in Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Wrong_Dose_Of_Heart_Meds_Too_Frequent_In_Children.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Wrong_Dose_Of_Heart_Meds_Too_Frequent_In_Children.aspx Bioethicists Lead Call for Public Debates on Future Uses of Stem Cells - 7/2/09 More than 40 scientists, bioethicists, lawyers and science journal editors are calling on their colleagues, policy makers and the public to begin developing guidelines for the research and reproductive use of stem cell-derived eggs and sperm, even though such use may be a decade or more away. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_03_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_03_09.html Suburban Hospital Healthcare System Joins Johns Hopkins Medicine- 7/2/09 Ahead of schedule, officials of Suburban Hospital Healthcare System (SHHS) and The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation completed and signed documents on June 30, 2009, officially integrating the Montgomery County-based SHHS into the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_02_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/07_02_09.html Predicting the Return of Prostate Cancer: New Johns Hopkins Study Betters the Odds of Success- 7/1/09 Cancer experts at Johns Hopkins say a study tracking 774 prostate cancer patients for a median of eight years has shown that a three-way combination of measurements has the best chance yet of predicting disease metastasis. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1086 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1086 Fighting Tuberculosis with Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Shown Possible in Animal Studies- 6/29/09 Tuberculosis (TB) experts at Johns Hopkins have evidence from a four-year series of experiments in mice that anti-inflammatory drugs could eventually prove effective in treating the highly contagious lung disease, adding to current antibiotic therapies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_29_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_29_09.html Insect Venom Shots Work for Severe "Local" Sting Reactions, Too- 6/29/09 The same bee and other insect venom shots that doctors use to prevent deadly systemic reactions to insect stings can also tone down large local allergic reactions that, while not dangerous, can be painful and inconvenient, a Johns Hopkins study shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_29a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_29a_09.html Crunching the (Sometimes Surprising) Numbers on Hormone-Related Disease- 6/29/09 A dogged review of the medical literature has produced what is believed to be the nation’s first comprehensive estimate of the extent of dozens of endocrine disorders in the United States. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_29b_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_29b_09.html Johns Hopkins Researchers Edit Genes in Human Stem Cells- 6/18/09 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have successfully edited the genome of human- induced pluripotent stem cells, making possible the future development of patient-specific stem cell therapies. Reporting this week in Cell Stem Cell, the team altered a gene responsible for causing the rare blood disease paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH, establishing for the first time a useful system to learn more about the disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_18_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_18_09.html Johns Hopkins Scientists Out a Gene for Gout- 6/18/09 Having partnered last year with an international team that surveyed the genomes of 12,000 individuals to find a genetic cause for gout, Johns Hopkins scientists now have shown that the malfunctioning gene they helped uncover can lead to high concentrations of blood urate that forms crystals in joint tissue, causing inflammation and pain — the hallmark of this disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_18a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_18a_09.html HIV Antibody Tests Unreliable For Early Infections In Teens- 6/17/09 A previously healthy teenager shows up at the doctor’s office with a sore throat, fever, aches and general malaise. Routine blood tests are normal, an HIV test comes back negative, and the pediatrician sends the patient home with a diagnosis of acute viral infection. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/HIV-Antibody-Tests-Unreliable-For-Early-Infections-In-Teens.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/HIV-Antibody-Tests-Unreliable-For-Early-Infections-In-Teens.aspx Hopkins Children’s On USN&WR List of Best Children’s Hospitals- 6/17/09 Johns Hopkins Children’s Center is among the top ten children’s hospitals in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of American children’s hospitals. This year, the 2009 America's Best Children's Hospitals included an “Honor Roll” of 10 pediatric hospitals in no particular order that ranked in all 10 specialties. Hopkins Children’s is among the ten best. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hopkins_Childrens_On_USNWR_List_of_Best_Childrens_Hospitals.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Hopkins_Childrens_On_USNWR_List_of_Best_Childrens_Hospitals.aspx Roux-en-Y Weight Loss Surgery Raises Kidney Stone Risk- 6/17/09 The most popular type of gastric bypass surgery appears to nearly double the chance that a patient will develop kidney stones, despite earlier assumptions that it would not, Johns Hopkins doctors report in a new study. The overall risk, however, remains fairly small at about 8 percent. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_17_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_17_09.html Lost Molecule is Lethal for Liver Cancer Cells in Mice- 6/11/09 Scientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered a potential strategy for cancer therapy by focusing on what’s missing in tumors. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_11_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_11_09.html Johns Hopkins Neuroscientists Watch Memories Form in Real Time- 6/10/09 Our ability to form long-term memories depends on cells in the brain making strong connections with each other. Yet while it’s not well understood how those connections are made, lost or changed, the process is known to involve the movement of the AMPA receptor protein to and from those neuronal connections. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_10_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_10_09.html Johns Hopkins Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Wilmer Eye Institute Building- 6/8/09 The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins will celebrate the end of construction of the new Wilmer building at The Johns Hopkins Hospital with a one-hour ceremony and ribbon cutting, starting at 11 a.m., on Wednesday, June 10. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_08_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_08_09.html Johns Hopkins Medicine Retains Consulting Group to Help Develop Advanced Health Care Services for Government Agencies- 6/5/09 Johns Hopkins HealthCare LLC (JHHC), the managed care arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM), has signed an agreement with The Winkenwerder Company LLC for strategic consulting services, a move designed to build on and expand Johns Hopkins’ longstanding relationships with government health agencies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_05_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_05_09.html Mystery Solved: Johns Hopkins Scientists Say Tiny Protein-Activator Responsible for Brain Cell Damage in Huntington Disease- 6/4/09 Johns Hopkins brain scientists have figured out why a faulty protein accumulates in cells everywhere in the bodies of people with Huntington’s disease (HD), but only kills cells in the part of the brain that controls movement, causing negligible damage to tissues elsewhere. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_04_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/06_04_09.html Children of Adults with Anxiety Disorder May Need Help Too- 6/1/09 In what is believed to be the first U.S. study designed to prevent anxiety disorders in the children of anxious parents, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center have found that a family-based program reduced symptoms and the risk of developing an anxiety disorder among these children. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Children_of_Adults_with_Anxiety_Disorder_May_Need_Help_Too.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Children_of_Adults_with_Anxiety_Disorder_May_Need_Help_Too.aspx Film Chronicle of Cody Unser's 9-Year Struggle with Paralyzing Transverse Myelitis Premieres June 2- 5/29/09 A documentary history of long-time Johns Hopkins patient Cody Unser, the daughter and granddaughter of Indy 500 car racing greats, will premiere at a benefit June 2 at the Hershey Theater in Hershey, Pa. The event is hosted by Mario Andretti and his wife Dee Ann. Andretti is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the Formula One World Championship. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_29_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_29_09.html Johns Hopkins Transplant Surgery Team Holds Successful Fundraiser- 5/29/09 An evening of opera music featuring Metropolitan opera star Denyce Graves was held recently to raise funds to benefit organ transplant surgery research and care at Johns Hopkins. The event, titled “Let the Music Move You,” was attended by 70 guests at Graves’ home in Bethesda, Md. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_27_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_27_09.html The Johns Hopkins Hospital Named to International List of Most Ethical Organizations- 5/28/09 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 2009 list of the business world’s most ethical companies and institutions. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_28_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_28_09.html TV Industry Foundation Picks Hopkins Scientists for Cancer Research "Dream Teams"- 5/27/09 A TV industry- and celebrity-driven cancer research project has chosen scientists at Johns Hopkins for two of five multi-institutional “dream teams” financed by “Stand Up to Cancer “ grants totaling more than $6 million. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1073 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1073 Survey Suggests Higher Risk of Falls Due to Dizziness in Middle-Aged and Older Americans- 5/25/09 A full third of American adults, 69 million men and women over age 40, are up to 12 times more likely to have a serious fall because they have some form of inner-ear dysfunction that throws them off balance and makes them dizzy, according to Johns Hopkins experts. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_25_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_25_09.html Johns Hopkins Patient Safety Program Receives Healthcare Informatics Magazine's 2009 Innovator Award- 5/20/09 Johns Hopkins Medicine’s patient safety program has earned second place in Healthcare Informatics magazine’s eighth annual Innovator Awards. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_21_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_21_09.html High School Athletes Offered Free Screening for Risk of Dangerous Heart Abnormalities - 5/20/09 For the second year in a row, volunteer heart disease experts from Johns Hopkins will staff and run Maryland’s only screening program to detect early signs of life-threatening heart abnormalities, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathies, in student athletes. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_20a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_20a_09.html Heart Surgeon Denton A. Cooley to Speak at Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine Convocation - 5/19/09 Denton A. Cooley, M.D., an American pioneer in heart surgery, will be the guest speaker at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s 114th convocation on Friday, May 22, 2009 at 10:30 a.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_19_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_19_09.html Science Writers’ Symposium - 5/20/09 “Ever Wonder What Gets Your Senses Revving?” http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_20_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_20_09.html Mock CPR Drills in Kids Show Many Residents Fail In Key Skills - 5/18/09 Research from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center exposes alarming gaps in training hospital residents in “first response” emergency treatment of staged cardiorespiratory arrests in children, while at the same time offering a potent recipe for fixing the problem. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Mock_CPR_Drills_in_Kids_Show_Many-Residents-Fail-In-Key-Skills.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Mock_CPR_Drills_in_Kids_Show_Many-Residents-Fail-In-Key-Skills.aspx New Lead on Malaria Treatment - 5/15/09 Approximately 350 million to 500 million cases of malaria are diagnosed each year mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. While medications to prevent and treat malaria do exist, the demand for new treatments is on the rise, in part, because malaria parasites have developed a resistance to existing medications. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered one way to stop malaria parasite growth, and this new finding could guide the development of new malaria treatments. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_15_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_15_09.html Old Diabetes Drug Teaches Experts New Tricks - 5/14/09 Research from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center reveals that the drug most commonly used in type 2 diabetics who don’t need insulin works on a much more basic level than once thought, treating persistently elevated blood sugar — the hallmark of type 2 diabetes — by regulating the genes that control its production. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Old__Diabetes_Drug_Teaches_Experts_New_Tricks.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Old__Diabetes_Drug_Teaches_Experts_New_Tricks.aspx In Retinal Disease, Sight May Depend on Second Sites - 5/12/09 If two people have the same genetic disease, why would one person go blind in childhood but the other later in life or not at all? For a group of genetic diseases — so-called ciliary diseases that include Bardet-Biedl syndrome, Meckel-Gruber syndrome, and Joubert syndrome — the answer lies in one gene that is already linked to two of these diseases and also seems to increase the risk of progressive blindness in patients with other ciliary diseases. The findings are published online this week at Nature Genetics. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_12_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_12_09.html New Genes Implicated in High Blood Pressure- 5/10/09 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, along with an international team of collaborators, have identified common genetic changes associated with blood pressure and hypertension. The study, reporting online next week in Nature Genetics, breaks new ground in understanding blood pressure regulation and may lead to advances in hypertension therapy. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_10_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_10_09.html New Evidence Ties Gene To Alzheimer's- 5/6/09 Of dozens of candidates potentially involved in increasing a person’s risk for the most common type of Alzheimer’s disease that affects more than 5 million Americans over the age of 65, one gene that keeps grabbing Johns Hopkins researchers’ attention makes a protein called neuroglobin. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_06_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_06_09.html Johns Hopkins News Tips from the Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies- 5/5/09 News Tips from the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_05_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_05_09.html Johns Hopkins' Young Engineers Receive Industry Support- 5/4/09 Metal detectors for removing surgical screws, intensive care walkers and radiological markers for locating tumors—what will they think of next? http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_04_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_04_09.html When Cells Reach Out and Touch- 5/1/09 MicroRNAs are single-stranded snippets that, not long ago, were given short shrift as genetic junk. Now that studies have shown they regulate genes involved in normal functioning as well as diseases such as cancer, everyone wants to know: What regulates microRNAs? http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_01a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_01a_09.html Chemical Found in Medical Devices Impairs Heart Function- 5/1/09 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have found that a chemical commonly used in the production of such medical plastic devices as intravenous (IV) bags and catheters can impair heart function in rats. Reporting online this week in the American Journal of Physiology, these new findings suggest a possible new reason for some of the common side effects—loss of taste, short term memory loss--of medical procedures that require blood to be circulated through plastic tubing outside the body, such as heart bypass surgery or kidney dialysis. These new findings also have strong implications for the future of medical plastics manufacturing. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_01_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/05_01_09.html Folic Acid May Help Treat Allergies, Asthma- 4/30/09 Folic acid, or vitamin B9, essential for red blood cell health and long known to reduce the risk of spinal birth defects, may also suppress allergic reactions and lessen the severity of allergy and asthma symptoms, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Folic-Acid-May-Help-Treat-Allergies-Asthma.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Folic-Acid-May-Help-Treat-Allergies-Asthma.aspx Statement from Johns Hopkins About Swine Flu Safety- 4/28/09 As always, Johns Hopkins' first priority is the safety and care of patients, visitors, employees and students. Experts and officials at Johns Hopkins Medicine are working closely with federal, state and local public health offices during this rapidly changing public health problem. The Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) has plans for emerging infections. These plans are being implemented as needed, and JHM will take all required steps to help assure your safety. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_28_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_28_09.html Suburban Hospital Healthcare System to Join Johns Hopkins Medicine- 4/24/09 In a move to build on longstanding ties and to address growing regional interest in more efficient, integrated regional health care services for patients, officials of Suburban Hospital Healthcare System (SHHS) and The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation have formally agreed to integrate SHHS into the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_24_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_24_09.html Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Ranked #2 in Nation- 4/23/09 Once again, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has retained its top-tier ranking in U.S. News & World Report’s edition on the best graduate schools in the nation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_23_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_23_09.html Double-Lung Transplants Work Better Than Single for Long-Term Survival- 4/22/09 Having both lungs replaced instead of just one is the single most important feature determining who lives longest after having a lung transplant, more than doubling an organ recipient’s chances of extending their life by over a decade, a study by a team of transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_22_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_22_09.html Former NIH Director Elias Zerhouni Rejoins Johns Hopkins Medicine as Senior Advisor- 4/20/09 It’s a homecoming, of sorts. Elias Zerhouni, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2002 to 2008 and former Johns Hopkins Medicine executive vice dean, returns to Hopkins May 1, 2009, as a senior advisor to Johns Hopkins Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_20_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_20_09.html Evidence Grows That Maternal Immune Response During Pregnancy A Key Factor In Some Autism- 4/16/09 New studies in pregnant mice using antibodies against fetal brains made by the mothers of autistic children show that immune cells can cross the placenta and trigger neurobehavioral changes similar to autism in the mouse pups. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Evidence_Grows_That_Maternal_Immune_Response_During_Pregnancy_Key_Factor_In_Some_Autism.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Evidence_Grows_That_Maternal_Immune_Response_During_Pregnancy_Key_Factor_In_Some_Autism.aspx Autopsy Study Links Prostate Cancer to Singe Rogue Cell- 4/16/09 One cell…one initial set of genetic changes – that’s all it takes to begin a series of events that lead to metastatic cancer. Now, Johns Hopkins experts have tracked how the cancer process began in 33 men with prostate cancer who died of the disease. Culling information from autopsies, their study points to a set of genetic defects in a single cell that are different for each person’s cancer. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1057 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1057 Johns Hopkins Researchers at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology- 4/13/09 TIPS: CHIPPING AWAY AT PROTEINS, THE PROMISE OF CHEMICAL RESCUE, HOW CELLS FOLLOW THEIR "NOSE" http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_18_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_18_09.html In the ICU, Use of Benzodiazepines, Other Factors May Predict Severity of Post-Stay Depression- 4/10/09 Psychiatrists and critical care specialists at Johns Hopkins have begun to tease out what there is about a stay in an intensive care unit (ICU) that leads so many patients to report depression after they go home. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_10_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_10_09.html Johns Hopkins Honors Young Investigators- 4/9/09 Johns Hopkins School of Medicine will honor 18 young researchers who have gone above and beyond in their search for answers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/YID.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/YID.html Physician Alert: Stop Commonly Prescribing Stomach-Upset Drugs for Asthmatics without Serious Heartburn- 4/8/09 Lung experts from Johns Hopkins and elsewhere are calling on physicians to suspend the routine use of potent heartburn medications in asthmatics solely to temper recurrent attacks of wheezing, coughing and breathlessness. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_09_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_09_09.html New Common Pathway in Neurodegenerative Disease is a Possible Door to a Point of No Return- 4/8/09 A just-out study suggests that what keeps chronic nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and ALS going — until they overcome the internal protective mechanisms a body can throw at them — may largely come down to poor conversational skills. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_08_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_08_09.html New JHM Policies Tighten Rules on Industry Interactions- 4/8/09 Johns Hopkins Medicine has adopted a new policy that significantly limits interactions with industry while ensuring effective, principled and appropriate partnerships with drug and medical device makers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_07_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_07_09.html Compendium of Pancreatic Cancer Biomarkers Established as Strategic Approach to Early-Detection Research- 4/6/09 A cancer scientist from Johns Hopkins has convinced an international group of colleagues to delay their race to find new cancer biomarkers and instead begin a 7,000-hour slog through a compendium of 50,000 scientific articles already published to assemble, decode and analyze the molecules that might herald the furtive presence of pancreatic cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_06a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_06a_09.html Gusty Germs Succumb to Baby Broccoli- 4/6/09 A small, pilot study in 50 people in Japan suggests that eating two and a half ounces of broccoli sprouts daily for two months may confer some protection against a rampant stomach bug that causes gastritis, ulcers and even stomach cancer. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_06_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_06_09.html ABC Documentary "Hopkins" Wins Prestigious Peabody Award- 4/2/09 “Hopkins,” the seven-part ABC network news documentary filmed entirely at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and aired in late summer of 2008, is among the 2008 winners of the 68th Annual Peabody Awards for electronic media. Winners, chosen by the Peabody board, were named in a ceremony on April 1 by The University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_03_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_03_09.html Hopkins Ranks Among Best Hospitals in AARP Physician Survey- 4/2/09 A new survey of U.S. physicians commissioned by AARP ranks The Johns Hopkins Hospital among the “most frequently recommended” medical centers for heart disease, cancer, “mystery diagnoses,” neurosurgery and ophthalmology. Results of the survey, conducted by Consumers’ Checkbook, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization, are published in AARP magazine’s May/June issue. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_02_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_02_09.html Johns Hopkins' Young Engineers Receive Industry Support- 4/1/09 Metal detectors for removing surgical screws, intensive care walkers and radiological markers for locating tumors, what will they think of next? http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_01_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/04_01_09.html Serious Vision Problems in Urban Preschoolers Rare But Not That Rare- 4/1/09 In what is believed to be the first comprehensive eye disease study among urban pre-schoolers, Johns Hopkins investigators report that while vision problems are rare, they are more common than once thought. Also, they say, a small group of children with easily treatable visions problems go untreated, while others get treatments they don’t need. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/serious-vision-problems-in-urban-preschoolers-rare.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/serious-vision-problems-in-urban-preschoolers-rare.aspx Johns Hopkins Appoints New Clinical Director of Cardiology- 3/31/09 Physician-science investigator Edward Kasper, M.D., an expert in chronic heart failure and the heart transplantation that often results from the disease, has been named the new clinical director of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Division of Cardiology and co-director of the School’s Heart and Vascular Institute. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_31_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_31_09.html Three Johns Hopkins Researchers Named Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientists- 3/26/09 Three researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have been named early career scientists by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Xinzhong Dong, Ph.D., Joshua Mendell, M.D., Ph.D., and Sinisa Urban, Ph.D., all will remain faculty at Hopkins but also become employees of HHMI, which will provide research funding and salary for the next six years. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_26_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_26_09.html Genetic Changes Outside Nuclear DNA Suspected to Trigger More Than Half of All Cancers- 3/24/09 A buildup of chemical bonds on certain cancer-promoting genes, a process known as hypermethylation, is widely known to render cells cancerous by disrupting biological brakes on runaway growth. Now, Johns Hopkins scientists say the reverse process — demethylation — which wipes off those chemical bonds may also trigger more than half of all cancers. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1048 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1048 Safe Driving Education Should Be Part of Routine Teen Physicals, Hopkins Children’s Experts Say- 3/24/09 The “are you driving yet?” talk should become part of every pediatrician’s regular physical exam for teenagers, Hopkins Children’s experts say. Pediatrician Letitia Dzirasa, M.D., notes that car accidents kill more 15- to -20-year-olds than any disease, so teenage driving should be considered a risky behavior, in need of as much attention as unprotected sex or underage drinking. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/safe-driving-education-should-be-part-of-routine-teen-physicals.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/safe-driving-education-should-be-part-of-routine-teen-physicals.aspx Starve a Yeast, Sweeten Its Lifespan- 3/23/09 Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a new energy-making biochemical twist in determining the lifespan of yeast cells, one so valuable to longevity that it is likely to also functions in humans. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_24_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_24_09.html Hopkins Scientists ID 10 Genes Associated with a Risk Factor for Sudden Cardiac Death- 3/22/09 That an abnormality in his heart’s electrical system had managed to stay on the Q.T. — until it proved lethal — is characteristic of sudden cardiac death, which annually claims more than a quarter million Americans. A dearth of discernable symptoms and lack of detectable molecules circulating in the blood makes the prediction of sudden cardiac death largely dependent on genetic risk factors. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_22_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_22_09.html Traditional "Match Day" at Johns Hopkins March 19- 3/18/09 Although the majority of the nation’s fourth-year medical students can go online to find out which residencies are theirs, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine class of ’09 will continue the school’s annual ritual of gathering and opening official letters in the presence of classmates, professors and loved ones. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_18a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_18a_09.html 6.5 Million More Patients Might Benefit from Statins to Prevent Heart Attacks, Strokes- 3/18/09 Millions more patients could benefit from taking statins, drugs typically used to prevent heart attacks and strokes, than current prescribing guidelines suggest, Johns Hopkins doctors report in a new study. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_18_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_18_09.html Johns Hopkins Medicine International Launches New Cardiac Surgery Collaboration in Italy - 3/16/09 Two of the world’s leading experts in cardiac surgery will be in Pavia, Italy, tomorrow to attend the signing ceremony of a three-year collaboration agreement between Johns Hopkins Medicine International and San Matteo Hospital. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_16_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_16_09.html Lengthy "Daisy Chain" Transplants Possible from One Altruistic Donor Kidney - 3/11/09 A new variation in kidney paired donation (KPD) — pioneered and developed at Johns Hopkins — could theoretically generate an endless number of transplants, researchers report. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_11a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_11a_09.html Jeremy Nathans Awarded Prestigious Scolnick Prize - 3/11/09 Jeremy Nathans, M.D., Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience and ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has been awarded the sixth annual Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience by the McGovern Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Scolnick Prize is awarded each year to recognize an individual who has made outstanding advances in the field of neuroscience http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_11_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_11_09.html Diagnostic Errors: The New Focus of Patient Safety Experts - 3/11/09 Johns Hopkins patient safety experts say it’s high time for diagnostic errors to get the same attention from medical institutions and caregivers as drug-prescribing errors, wrong-site surgeries and hospital-acquired infections. Diagnostic misadventures represent a potentially much larger source of preventable health problems and deaths than many of the more popular targets of safety reform, they say in a commentary in the March 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_10a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_10a_09.html Seaweed and Fireflies Brew May Guide Stem Cell Treatment for Peripheral Artery Disease - 3/10/09 An unlikely brew of seaweed and glow-in-the-dark biochemical agents may hold the key to the safe use of transplanted stem cells to treat patients with severe peripheral arterial disease (PAD), according to a team of veterinarians, basic scientists and interventional radiologists at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_10_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_10_09.html The Difference Between Eye Cells Is... SUMO? - 3/9/09 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Washington University School of Medicine have identified a key to eye development — a protein that regulates how the light-sensing nerve cells in the retina form. While still far from the clinic, the latest results, published in the Jan. 29 issue of Neuron, could help scientists better understand how nerve cells develop. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_09_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_09_09.html "Personalized" Genome Sequencing Finds Disease-Causing Genes - 3/5/09 Scientists at the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have used "personalized genome" sequencing on an individual with a hereditary form of pancreatic cancer to locate a mutation in a gene called PALB2 that is responsible for initiating the disease. The discovery marks their first use of a genome scanning system to uncover suspect mutations in normal inherited genes. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1042 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1042 Joint Commission International Accredits Johns Hopkins-Affiliated Clemenceau Medical Center in Lebanon - 3/3/09 The Clemenceau Medical Center (CMC) in Beirut, Lebanon, has been awarded the official accreditation of the Joint Commission International (JCI). CMC is one of only two medical centers in Lebanon to hold JCI accreditation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_03_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/03_03_09.html Johns Hopkins Safety Team Works to Eliminate Bloodstream Infections in the Nation and the World - 2/25/09 A widely heralded Johns Hopkins safety initiative to reduce bloodstream infections in intensive care units (ICUs) was implemented in 30 states starting Feb. 1 and could save an estimated $3 billion dollars and 30,000 lives annually. In addition, the program has been launched in Spain and will begin in the United Kingdom starting in April. Pilot programs are also under discussion with health care leaders in Peru and Chile. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_25_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_25_09.html Prostate Specific Antigen Testing May be Unnecessary for Some Older Men - 2/20/09 Certain men age 75 to 80 are unlikely to benefit from routine prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing, according to a Johns Hopkins study published in the April 2009 issue of The Journal of Urology. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_20_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_20_09.html Two Gene Mutations Linked to Most Common Brain Cancers - 2/19/09 Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and Duke University Medical Center have linked mutations in two genes, IDH1 and IDH2, to nearly three-quarters of several of the most common types of brain cancers known as gliomas. Among the findings: people with certain tumors that carry these genetic alterations appear to survive at least twice as long as those without them. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1033 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/index.cfm/cID/1684/mpage/item.cfm/itemID/1033 Clot-Buster Boosts Survival, Decreases Disability for Deadly Subset of Stroke - 2/19/09 New results from a multicenter study led by Johns Hopkins show that patients who got an experimental clot-busting treatment for a particularly lethal form of stroke were not only dramatically more likely to survive but also continued to shed lingering disabilities six months later. The findings, announced at the International Stroke Conference in San Diego on Feb. 19, are likely to build support for the use of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in patients with intracranial hemorrhage, a treatment-resistant form of stroke marked by brain bleeding. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_19_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_19_09.html Researchers Explore New Driver of Transplant Rejection: Platelets - 2/17/09 Platelets, tiny and relatively uncharted tenants of the bloodstream known mostly for their role in blood clotting, turn out to also rally sustained immune system inflammatory responses that play a critical role in organ transplant rejection, according to a new report from Johns Hopkins scientists. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_17_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_17_09.html Johns Hopkins Leads First 12-Patient, Multicenter “Domino Donor” Kidney Transplant - 2/17/09 Surgical teams at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis and Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City successfully completed Saturday the first six-way, multihospital, domino kidney transplant. All six donors — one man and five women, and six organ recipients – four men and two woman — are in good condition, according to Robert Montgomery, M.D., Ph.D., chief transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_16_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_16_09.html What's Feeding Cancer Cells? - 2/15/09 Cancer cells need a lot of nutrients to multiply and survive. While much is understood about how cancer cells use blood sugar to make energy, not much is known about how they get other nutrients. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered how the Myc cancer-promoting gene uses microRNAs to control the use of glutamine, a major energy source. The results, which shed light on a new angle of cancer that might help scientists figure out a way to stop the disease, appear Feb. 15 online at Nature. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_15_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_15_09.html The Genome's Traveling Salesmen: Tips on Newsmakers at AAAS - 2/14/09 Transposons — the traveling salesmen of the genome composed of DNA sequences with no fixed address — are the focus of a symposium at the annual meeting of the AAAS led by experts from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_14_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_14_09.html New Johns Hopkins Imaging Center to Widen Windows on the Brain - 2/9/09 It’s a classic academic mismatch: Researchers aren’t able to make use of seminal improvements in technology—often from colleagues just across the street—either because they don’t know about them or because gaining familiarity makes unrealistic demands on their time. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_09_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_09_09.html Volunteer Work in Grade Schools Produce Persistent Health Benefit for Older Black Women - 2/9/09 A Johns Hopkins study reveals that older black women who spend time with young children in the classroom are not only more active than similar women who don’t volunteer, but seem to stay active. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_09a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_09a_09.html Drug Therapy Reduces HIV Transmission in Couples Regardless of Condom Use or Safe-Sex Practices - 2/9/09 Antiretroviral drug therapy in an HIV-positive man or women can alone help prevent the transmission of HIV to an uninfected partner, regardless of counseling, the patient’s use of condoms or other safe-sex practices, AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins report. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_09b_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_09b_09.html Viral-Load Testing: A Better Way to Predict Anti-HIV, Drug-Treatment Failures in Africa- 2/8/09 Johns Hopkins and Ugandan scientists say counting the number of HIV viruses in the blood rather than relying solely on counting the number of circulating HIV-fighting CD4 immune system cells is a far better way to uncover early signs that antiretroviral drugs are losing their punch, and to signal the need to get patients on more potent treatments to keep the disease in check. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_08_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_08_09.html Johns Hopkins Offers Free Software Tool for Large-Scale Disaster “Surge” Planning - 2/4/09 A team of Johns Hopkins experts is offering a free, Web-based tool it developed that calculates and predicts in advance the impact on individual hospitals of a flu epidemic, bioterrorist attack, flood or plane crash, accounting for such elements as numbers of victims, germ-carrying wind patterns, available medical resources, bacterial incubation periods and bomb size. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_04_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_04_09.html Johns Hopkins Researchers Discover New Schizophrenia Gene- 2/3/09 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine are one gene closer to understanding schizophrenia and related disorders. Reporting in the Jan. 9 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, the team describes how a variation in the neuregulin 3 gene influences delusions associated with schizophrenia. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_03_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_03_09.html Hopkins Transplant Surgeons Remove Healthy Kidney Through Donor's Vagina- 2/2/09 In what is believed to be a first-ever procedure, surgeons at Johns Hopkins have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor’s vagina. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_02_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_02_09.html Johns Hopkins Appoints New Director of Cardiology- 2/2/09 Physician-scientist Gordon Tomaselli, M.D., an expert on sudden cardiac death and heart rhythm disturbances, has been named the new director of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Division of Cardiology and co-director of the School’s Heart and Vascular Institute. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_02a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_02a_09.html Study Confirms Persistence of Diversity Problems in Academic Medicine- 1/30/09 A survey study believed to be one of the first efforts to put hard numbers around long-held beliefs about diversity in medical school faculties has affirmed that awareness and sensitivity to racial and ethnic diversity are believed by most faculty to be poor and even poorer among faculty who are members of underrepresented minorities. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_30a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_30a_09.html Teaching an Old Drug New Tricks- 1/30/09 A century-old drug that failed in its original intent to treat tuberculosis but has worked well as an antileprosy medicine now holds new promise as a potential therapy for multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_30_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_30_09.html Johns Hopkins Medicine International Appoints New CEO at Al Corniche - 1/29/09 Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI), the international arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine, has appointed Ronald S. Lavater chief executive officer of Al Corniche Hospital (Abu Dhabi, UAE), which handles more than 12,000 births and 216,000 outpatient visits a year. Al Corniche Hospital is a Joint Commission International (JCI)-accredited health care facility owned by the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_29_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_29_09.html Lung Transplants: Doing More is Better and Safer, a Johns Hopkins Study Suggests- 1/27/09 Transplant surgeons at Johns Hopkins have evidence that hospitals performing at least 20 lung transplant procedures a year, on average, have the best overall patient survival rates and lowest number of deaths from the complex surgery. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_27_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_27_09.html Statewide Study Confirms "Paperless" Hospitals are Better for Patients- 1/26/09 Results from a large-scale Johns Hopkins study of more than 40 hospitals and 160,000 patients show that when health information technologies replace paper forms and handwritten notes, both hospitals and patients benefit strongly. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_26_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_26_09.html How Chemotherapy Drugs Block Blood Vessel Growth, Slow Cancer Spread- 1/22/09 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered how a whole class of commonly used chemotherapy drugs can block cancer growth. Their findings, reported online this week at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition, suggest that a subgroup of cancer patients might particularly benefit from these drugs. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_22_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_22_09.html Surviving Dance Club Music (Noise) with Hearing Intact- 1/20/09 By tweaking a system in the ear that limits how much sound is heard, a global team of researchers has discovered one alteration that shows that the ability of the ear to turn itself down contributes to protecting against permanent hearing loss. The report appears this week in PLoS Biology. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_20_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_20_09.html Kidney Transplant Survival can be Long-Term for People with HIV- 1/19/09 A Johns Hopkins study finds that HIV-positive kidney transplant recipients could have the same one-year survival rates for themselves and their donor organs as those without HIV, provided certain risk factors for transplant failure are recognized and tightly managed. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_19_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_19_09.html Large DNA Stretches, Not Single Genes, Shut Off As Cells Mature- 1/18/09 Experiments at Johns Hopkins have found that the gradual maturing of embryonic cells into cells as varied as brain, liver and immune system cells is apparently due to the shut off of several genes at once rather than in individual smatterings as previous studies have implied. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_18a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_18a_09.html Gene Switch Sites Found Mainly on "Shores," Not Just "Islands" of the Human Genome- 1/18/09 Scientists who study how human chemistry can permanently turn off genes have typically focused on small islands of DNA believed to contain most of the chemical alterations involved in those switches. But after an epic tour of so-called DNA methylation sites across the human genome in normal and cancer cells, Johns Hopkins scientists have found that the vast majority of the sites aren’t grouped in those islands at all, but on nearby regions that they’ve named “shores.” http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_18_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_18_09.html Johns Hopkins Medicine International Signs Management Agreement with Panama’s Hospital Punta Pacífica- 1/14/09 Johns Hopkins Medicine International (JHI)—the Baltimore, Maryland, USA-based international arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine—and Hospital Punta Pacífica (HPP) in Panama City, Panama, have entered into a seven-year agreement that gives JHI complete managerial oversight of the 75-bed hospital. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_14_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_14_09.html Older Women Less Likely than Men to be Listed for Kidney Transplants- 1/12/09 A Johns Hopkins transplant surgeon has found strong evidence that women over 45 are significantly less likely to be placed on a kidney transplant list than their equivalent male counterparts, even though women who receive a transplant stand an equal chance of survival. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_12_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_12_09.html Growth of New Brain Cells Requires 'Epigenetic' Switch- 1/8/09 New cells are born every day in the brain’s hippocampus, but what controls this birth has remained a mystery. Reporting in the January 1 issue of Science, neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that the birth of new cells, which depends on brain activity, also depends on a protein that is involved in changing epigenetic marks in the cell’s genetic material. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_08_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_08_09.html Lost in Translation- 1/7/09 The enzyme machine that translates a cell’s DNA code into the proteins of life is nothing if not an editorial perfectionist. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_07_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_07_09.html Four, Three, Two, One... Pterosaurs Have Lift Off!- 1/6/09 Pterosaurs have long suffered an identity crisis. Pop culture heedlessly — and wrongly — lumps these extinct flying lizards in with dinosaurs. Even paleontologists assumed that because the creatures flew, they were birdlike in many ways, such as using only two legs to take flight. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_06_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_06_09.html New Hope for Cancer Comes Straight from the Heart- 1/5/09 Digitalis-based drugs like digoxin have been used for centuries to treat patients with irregular heart rhythms and heart failure and are still in use today. In the Dec. 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine now report that this same class of drugs may hold new promise as a treatment for cancer. This finding emerged through a search for existing drugs that might slow or stop cancer progression. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_05a_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_05a_09.html Viagra's Other Talents: To Help a 'Signaling' Protein Shield the Heart from High Blood Pressure Damage- 1/5/09 Johns Hopkins and other researchers report what is believed to be the first direct evidence in lab animals that the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil amplifies the effects of a heart-protective protein. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_05_09.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/01_05_09.html Viagra's Other Talents: To Help a 'Signaling' Protein Shield the Heart from High Blood Pressure Damage- 1/5/09 Babies born to HIV-positive mothers and given the antiretroviral drug nevirapine through the first six weeks of life to prevent infection via breast-feeding are at high risk for developing drug-resistant HIV if they get infected anyway, a team of researchers report. But the investigators highlight the proven superiority of the six-week regimen in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission in breast-fed infants. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Prolonged-Nevirapine-in-Breast-Fed-Babies-Prevents-HIV-Infection-But-Leads-To-Drug-Resistant-HIV.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Prolonged-Nevirapine-in-Breast-Fed-Babies-Prevents-HIV-Infection-But-Leads-To-Drug-Resistant-HIV.aspx Bright Lights, Not-So-Big Pupils- 12/31/08 A team of Johns Hopkins neuroscientists has worked out how some newly discovered light sensors in the eye detect light and communicate with the brain. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_31a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_31a_08.html Why Prostate Cancer Patients Fail Hormone Deprivation Therapy- 12/31/08 The hormone deprivation therapy that prostate cancer patients often take gives them only a temporary fix, with tumors usually regaining their hold within a couple of years. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered critical differences in the hormone receptors on prostate cancer cells in patients who no longer respond to this therapy. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_31_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_31_08.html Johns Hopkins Scientists Pull Protein's Tail to Curtail Cancer- 12/30/08 When researchers look inside human cancer cells for the whereabouts of an important tumor-suppressor, they often catch the protein playing hooky, lolling around in cellular broth instead of muscling its way out to the cells’ membranes and foiling cancer growth. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_30_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_30_08.html Little Progress Made in Patient Safety in Spite of Institute of Medicine Call to Action- 12/23/08 Despite increased emphasis on patient safety, little progress has been made in making hospitals safer, says Johns Hopkins critical care specialist Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., in an article in the Dec. 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_23_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_23_08.html JHM Information on Uncompensated Care- 12/21/08 The information on this page is provided by Johns Hopkins Medicine in response to an article on hospitals and uncompensated care published in The Baltimore Sun’s December 21, 2008 edition. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaII/uncompensated_care_info/index.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaII/uncompensated_care_info/index.html Five Johns Hopkins University Researchers Named 2008 AAAS Fellows- 12/18/08 Five Johns Hopkins University researchers have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science by their peers. Jonathan Bagger, Ted Dawson, Barbara Landau, Jun Liu and Jeremy Nathans are among 486 new fellows around the world. Election as a fellow honors their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home08/dec08/aaas.html http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home08/dec08/aaas.html Mouse Studies Suggest "Toxic" Carbon Monoxide May Prevent Brain Damage After Stroke- 12/15/08 Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that brain damage was reduced by as much as 62.2 percent in mice who inhale low amounts of carbon monoxide after an induced stroke. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_15_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_15_08.html Johns Hopkins Immunologists Awarded $10M NIH Grant- 12/15/08 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have been awarded a $10.3 million grant—the largest basic immunology grant ever received by Hopkins—from the National Institutes of Health to dissect the human immune system. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_16_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_16_08.html Clues About Controlling Cholesterol Rise from Yeast Studies- 12/2/08 Having discovered how a lowly, single-celled fungus regulates its version of cholesterol, Johns Hopkins researchers are gaining new insight about the target and action of cholesterol-lowering drugs taken daily by millions of people to stave off heart attacks and strokes. Their work appears in the December issue of Cell Metabolism. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_02_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_02_08.html Study Unmasks How Ovarian Tumors Evade Immune System- 12/1/08 Scientists at Johns Hopkins have determined how the characteristic shedding of fatty substances, or lipids, by ovarian tumors allows the cancer to evade the body’s immune system, leaving the disease to spread unchecked. Ovarian cancer is considered to be one of the most aggressive malignancies, killing more than 70 percent of diagnosed women within five years, including an estimated 15,000 this year. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_01_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/12_01_08.html Fruit Fly Discovery Generates Buzz About Brain-Damaging Disorder in Children- 11/26/08 Johns Hopkins researchers have used fruit flies to gain new insights into a brain-damaging disorder afflicting children. Their work?suggests a possible therapy for the disease, for which there is currently no treatment. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_26_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_26_08.html Johns Hopkins World AIDS Day Events- 11/26/08 Faculty, staff and patients at The Johns Hopkins Hospital will mark World AIDS Day with several events designed to highlight the need for continued community leadership in Baltimore to deal with the city’s soaring HIV rate. More than 16,000 Baltimoreans are infected with HIV, earning the city the dubious distinction of having the nation’s second highest rate of infection. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_26a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_26a_08.html Study Supports Value of Advanced CT Scans to Check for Clogged Arteries - 11/26/08 In a development that researchers say is likely to quell concerns about the value of costly computed tomography (CT) scans to diagnose coronary artery blockages, an international team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins reports solid evidence that the newer, more powerful 64-CT scans can easily and correctly identify people with major blood vessel disease and is nearly as accurate as invasive coronary angiography. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_26b_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_26b_08.html Inhaled Corticosteroids Raise Pneumonia Risk for Lung Disease Sufferers- 11/25/08 Lung disease experts at Johns Hopkins are calling for physicians to show much greater caution in prescribing inhaled corticosteroid drugs for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after finding evidence that the widely used anti-inflammatory medications increase the risk of pneumonia by a full third. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_25_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_25_08.html Potassium Loss from Blood Pressure Drugs May Explain Higher Risk of Adult Diabetes- 11/24/08 Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that a drop in blood potassium levels caused by diuretics commonly prescribed for high blood pressure could be the reason why people on those drugs are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The drugs helpfully accelerate loss of fluids, but also deplete important chemicals, including potassium, so that those who take them are generally advised to eat bananas and other potassium-rich foods to counteract the effect. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_24_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_24_08.html $9.8 Million Grant to Map "Epigenome" of Schizophrenia- 11/21/08 Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and four other academic medical centers have been awarded a $9.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health to pin down inherited changes that occur outside a cell’s DNA sequence in people with schizophrenia. Unlike changes or mutations in the DNA sequence itself, epigenetic marks or alterations can be affected by a lifetime of exposure to the environment in which cells operate. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_21_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_21_08.html Johns Hopkins Researcher Shares Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award- 11/17/08 The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is awarding the Young Investigator Award to co-recipient Hongjun Song, Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, for his work in understanding how adult neural stem cells mature into nerve cells and integrate into the existing neuronal circuitry. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_17_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_17_08.html More is Better: Evidence Mounts that there is Safety in Numbers for Community Hospitals Performing Emergency Angioplasty- 11/12/08 Heart experts at Johns Hopkins have evidence that life-saving coronary angioplasty at community hospitals is safer when physicians and hospital staff have more experience with the procedure. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_12a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_12a_08.html Scientists Map Steps to Block Key Enzyme Acction in Heart Failure- 11/11/08 Taking a cue from the way drugs like Viagra put the biological brakes on a key enzyme involved in heart failure, scientists at Johns Hopkins have mapped out a key chemical step involved in blocking the enzyme. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_11_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_11_08.html Estrogen, Testosterone May Affect Atherosclerosis- 11/11/08 Naturally produced sex hormones may influence the risk and progression of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, Johns Hopkins researchers report in a recent study. The findings may help explain the increased risk men have of developing heart disease, which runs about twofold higher than women’s heart disease risk worldwide. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_11a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_11a_08.html Quintet of Proteins Forms New, Early-Warning Blood Test Before Heart Attack Strikes - 11/9/08 A team of Johns Hopkins biochemists has identified a mixed bag of five key proteins out of thousands secreted into blood draining from the heart’s blood vessels that may together or in certain quantities form the basis of a far more accurate early warning test than currently in use of impending heart attack in people with severely reduced blood flow, or ischemia. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_09_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_09_08.html Best of the Best in Cardiovascular Research Honored with Blumenthal Prizes - 11/5/08 Outstanding researchers in cardiovascular medicine will be honored in The Johns Hopkins Hospital Houck Lobby at 4 p.m., Wednesday, Nov.5, as part of the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute’s annual awards ceremony named to commemorate the late Hopkins physician Stanley L. Blumenthal, B.A. ’39 and M.D. ’43. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_05_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/11_05_08.html Memo to ER Docs: Send Young Victims of Violence for One-on-one Counseling - 11/3/08 A study of 113 children and teens physically victimized by peers concludes that one-on-one mentoring about how to safely avoid conflict and diffuse threats makes them far less likely to become victims again if guidance is initiated in the immediate aftermath of the attack. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5554 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5554 Diagnosis of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Predicts High Risk and High Rate of Further Infection in Teenagers - 11/3/08 A study among Baltimore inner-city teenage girls treated for pelvic inflammatory disease shows they are highly vulnerable to subsequent sexually transmitted infections (STI) — sometimes within a few weeks or months of their treatment. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5552 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5552 Drinking Milk to Ease Milk Allergy? - 10/29/08 Giving children with milk allergies increasingly higher doses of milk over time may ease, and even help them completely overcome, their allergic reactions, according to the results of a study led by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and conducted jointly with Duke University. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/drinking-milk-to-ease-milk-allergy.aspx http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/drinking-milk-to-ease-milk-allergy.aspx REM Study Shows Brain Functions Same Way Awake or Asleep - 10/28/08 Johns Hopkins researchers have found strong evidence supporting the view that the sleeping mind functions the same as the waking mind, a discovery that could significantly alter basic understanding of the normal and abnormal brain. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_28_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_28_08.html Pioneering Pediatric Epidemiologist Janet Hardy, M.D., Dies At 92 - 10/28/08 Janet Hardy, professor emerita of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins and an eminent pediatric epidemiologist whose pioneering work spanning six decades continues to influence modern-day neonatology and fetal medicine, died Oct. 23 at the age of 92 in Glen Arm, Md. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5544 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5544 Collegiate Inventors Competition Recognizes Johns Hopkins Medical Student - 10/24/08 A Johns Hopkins medical student was chosen as one of 12 finalists to compete for a sizeable cash award and the prestige of being named the nation’s best collegiate inventor. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_24_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_24_08.html If Your Systolic Stinks, "Rotten Egg" Gas May Be Why - 10/23/08 Anyone with a nose knows the rotten-egg odor of hydrogen sulfide, a gas generated by bacteria living in the human colon. Now an international team of scientists has discovered that cells inside the blood vessels of mice — as well as in people, no doubt — naturally make the gassy stuff, and that it controls blood pressure. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_23_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_23_08.html Sudden Cardiac Death Number One Risk for Patients on Dialysis - 10/22/08 In a 10-year study of more than a thousand kidney failure patients, sudden cardiac death emerged as the number one cause of death for patients on dialysis, according to a Johns Hopkins researcher. The study, already published online and appearing in the Nov. 2 issue of Kidney International, identified systemic inflammatory response and malnutrition as key risk factors for the fatal heart attacks. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_22_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_22_08.html More Than $2M in Gifts Go To Johns Hopkins Patient Safety - 10/21/08 The Johns Hopkins Quality and Safety Research Group (QSRG), led by award-winning patient safety researcher Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., has received gifts worth more than $2 million to expand efforts to further reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections in hospital intensive care units. The philanthropic support comes through a matching fund gift from an anonymous donor and the Sandler Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_21_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_21_08.html Johns Hopkins Researchers Detect Sweet Cacophony While Listening to Cellular Cross-Talk - 10/20/08 Johns Hopkins scientists were dubious in the early 1980s when they stumbled on small sugar molecules lurking in the centers of cells; not only were they not supposed to be there, but they certainly weren't supposed to be repeatedly attaching to and detaching from proteins, effectively switching them on and off. The conventional wisdom was that the job of turning proteins on and off -- and thus determining their actions -- fell to phosphates, in a common and easy-to-detect chemical step in which phosphates fasten to and unfasten from proteins; a process called phosphorylation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_20_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_20_08.html Swamping Bad Cells with Good in ALS Animal Models Helps Sustain Breathing, New Johns Hopkins Study Shows - 10/19/08 In a disease like ALS - one that's always fatal and that has a long history of research-resistant biology - finding a proof of principle in animal models is significant. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_19_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_19_08.html Presidential Campaign Health Politics Forum at Johns Hopkins - 10/15/08 The Department of Medicine will host a forum featuring official surrogates of Senators John McCain and Barack Obama at a special Grand Rounds. The format will include presentations representing each candidate’s position on health care issues and policies, including NIH funding for scientific research and ensuring fairness as it relates to indigent care and access. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_16_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_16_08.html Three JHU Researchers Elected to Institute of Medicine- 10/15/08 Three Johns Hopkins University researchers have been elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. Harry C. Dietz, M.D., Lisa A. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., and Nancy Kass, D.S., are among 65 new members nationwide. Election to this prestigious body affirms their remarkable contributions to medical science, health care and public health, as well as to the education of generations of physicians. It is one of the highest honors for those in the biomedical profession. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_15_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_15_08.html Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS/Tuberculosis Epidemic Gets $32 Million Boost from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation- 10/14/08 An international effort led by physician scientists at Johns Hopkins to control the global spread of HIV-related tuberculosis and treat the dual epidemics in hardest-hit countries has received $32 million in additional funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_14_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_14_08.html Former Head of Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Wins Institute of Medicine's 2008 Sarnat Award in Mental Health- 10/13/08 The Institute of Medicine has awarded the 2008 Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Award in Mental Health to Paul R. McHugh, M.D., the University Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and professor of mental health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_13_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_13_08.html Mouse Studies Suggest Daily Dose of Ginkgo May Prevent Brain Cell Damage After a Stroke- 10/9/08 Working with genetically engineered mice, researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that daily doses of a standardized extract from the leaves of the ginkgo tree can prevent or reduce brain damage after an induced stroke. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_09_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_09_08.html Children with Cystic Fibrosis Not Well Covered By Guidelines for Vitamin D Needs - 10/8/08 Existing recommendations for treating vitamin D deficiency in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) are too low to cover the serious need, leaving most at high risk for bone loss and rickets, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5448 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5448 Get Moving: Johns Hopkins Research Shows Early Mobility Better than Bed Rest for ICU Patients - 10/7/08 A critical care specialist at Johns Hopkins who has reviewed recent studies of intensive care unit (ICU) patients and data from The Johns Hopkins Hospital concludes that the routine use of deep sedation and bed rest in ICU patients may be causing unnecessary and long-term physical impairment and poor quality of life after hospital discharge. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_08_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_08_08.html Johns Hopkins Surgical Leader Elected to Head American College of Surgeons - 10/7/08 John L. Cameron, M.D., Alfred Blalock Distinguished Service Professor of Surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and for 19 years chief of surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, will be installed as the 89th president of the American College of Surgeons on Oct. 12 during its annual meeting in San Francisco. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_07_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_07_08.html Diagnosing and Treating Infections: Top Challenge for Neurologists - 10/6/08 In what is believed to be the first formal “census” of neurological diseases and their impact, Johns Hopkins researchers have found that brain and nervous system infections are more difficult to diagnose and treat and have a remarkably higher rate of morbidity and mortality compared to other neurological problems. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_06_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_06_08.html Steroid Treatment Offers No Benefit In Preemies, Hopkins Children’s Study Suggests - 10/6/08 Results of a multicenter study led by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center challenge the longstanding practice of treating premature babies with hydrocortisone, a steroid believed to fight inflammation and prevent lung disease. The researchers found that such treatment offers little or no benefit and that low cortisol levels are not even necessarily harmful. High cortisol levels, on the other hand, appeared to increase the risk of dangerous bleeding in the brain and require that babies be monitored aggressively to ward off life-threatening complications, according to the study published in the October issue of Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5418 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5418 Burst Appendix or Stomach Flu? Hopkins Children’s Experts Say Doctors and Parents Can Sort Out Symptoms with a Checklist - 10/6/08 A young child arrives at the emergency room after several days of abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and is sent home with a diagnosis of viral gastritis and treatment for the symptoms. The child seems better for a while, only to return to the ER with worse symptoms and a ruptured appendix, a life-threatening complication of appendicitis. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5388 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5388 Discovery of Natural Compounds That Could Slow Blood Vessel Growth - 10/3/08 Using computer models and live cell experiments, biomedical engineers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered more than 100 human protein fragments that can slow or stop the growth of cells that make up new blood vessels. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_03_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_03_08.html Johns Hopkins Part of Group to Receive $3 Million Federal Grant to Reduce Bloodstream Infections - 10/1/08 The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has awarded nearly $3 million for a contract aimed at reducing central line-associated bloodstream infections in hospital intensive care units to a consortium made up of Johns Hopkins and the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_01b_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_01b_08.html Hopkins "Telomere" Expert Carol Greider Shares Germany's Largest Science Prize - 10/1/08 Carol Greider, Ph.D., Daniel Nathans Professor and director of molecular biology and genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will share the 100,000 euro 2009 Paul Erlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize with Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco for their “discovery of telomeres and telomerase and the elucidation of their significance for cell division and cell aging.” http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_01a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_01a_08.html Will Patients Stick to Physical Therapy? Questionnaire Can Help Doctors Predict - 10/1/08 Patients' responses to a simple questionnaire can reliably predict whether they will adhere to physical therapy after spine surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers suggest in a new study. The findings could help physicians identify patients who might benefit from additional preoperative preparation to ensure they attend therapy sessions and follow through with prescribed exercise, a factor that can greatly affect their long-term recovery. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_01_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/10_01_08.html Johns Hopkins Media Team Welcomes New Employee - 9/30/08 Natalia Bolotina, Ph.D., has joined the media relations team within Johns Hopkins Marketing and Communications division as the primary media representative for Johns Hopkins International, the global arm of Johns Hopkins Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_30_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_30_08.html United States Department of Labor Honors Johns Hopkins Health System With Opportunity Award - 9/30/08 The Johns Hopkins Health System is pleased to announce that it will receive a national equal opportunity employment award from the U.S. Department of Labor. This “Opportunity Award” will be presented at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, October 16, 2008. It is the first time in the history of the award that a hospital will receive it. http://www.hopkinsbayview.org/news/080930laboraward.html http://www.hopkinsbayview.org/news/080930laboraward.html Johns Hopkins Best Dressed Sale Set for October 2-5- 9/29/08 Some Baltimore traditions just keep getting bigger and better. That's certainly the case with this year's Johns Hopkins Best Dressed Sale and Boutique 2008, now in it’s 41st year. Exclusive designer dresses and shoes, chic contemporary fashions, classic accessories and enduring vintage clothing will be on the racks, waiting for a favored place in the closets of bargain-conscious - but demanding - shoppers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_28_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_28_08.html Caffeine Experts at Johns Hopkins Call for Warning Labels for Energy Drinks - 9/24/08 Johns Hopkins scientists who have spent decades researching the effects of caffeine report that a slew of caffeinated energy drinks now on the market should carry prominent labels that note caffeine doses and warn of potential health risks for consumers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_24_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_24_08.html In Women, Oversize Waistlines are a Potent Risk Factor for Heart Disease - 9/23/08 A heart expert at Johns Hopkins is calling for all women with a waistline measuring more than 35 inches to get an annual check-up and detailed risk assessment for heart problems because excess abdominal fat, even in the mildly obese and overweight, leads more than a third of women to underestimate their lifetime risk of having a heart attack, stroke or chest pain (angina.) http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_23_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_23_08.html Two Johns Hopkins Professors Receive "Genius" Grants - 9/23/08 Two Johns Hopkins University professors — a physician who champions scientifically rigorous, common- sense approaches to improving patient safety and an astrophysicist who was a leader in the discovery of the universe's "dark energy" — were named today as winners of MacArthur Fellowships, the so-called "genius grants." http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/univ08/sep08/macarthur.html http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/univ08/sep08/macarthur.html Hibernation Studies, Tiny Medical Tools Lead to Major Grants - 9/22/08 Two Johns Hopkins researchers—a physician whose squirrel hibernation studies may lead to new treatments for muscle-wasting diseases, and an engineer who is building medical tools smaller than a speck of dust—have received prestigious 2008 New Innovator Awards, the National Institutes of Health announced today. http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home08/sep08/innovators.html http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home08/sep08/innovators.html Genetic Fishing Expedition Yields Surprising Catch Important to Mammals - 9/19/08 Johns Hopkins investigators report the discovery of master controllers of a gene critical to human and all mammalian development by trawling, implausibly enough, through anonymous genetic sequences using tiny zebrafish embryos. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_19a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_19a_08.html People With Type 2 Diabetes Can Put Fatty Livers On A Diet with Moderate Exercise - 9/19/08 Weekly bouts of moderate aerobic exercise on a bike or treadmill, or a brisk walk, combined with some weightlifting, may cut down levels of fat in the liver by up to 40 percent in people with type 2 diabetes, a study by physical fitness experts at Johns Hopkins shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_19_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_19_08.html Johns Hopkins Receives Second Consecutive Conte Grant for Study of Synaptic "Brain Talk" - 9/17/08 Brain scientists studying the molecular mechanisms of memory have earned a $1.5 million grant and the second consecutive designation for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as a Silvio A. Conte Center for Neuroscience Research by the National Institute of Mental Health. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_17_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_17_08.html Johns Hopkins Researchers Suppress "Hunger Hormone" - 9/16/08 Johns Hopkins scientists report success in significantly suppressing levels of the “hunger hormone” ghrelin in pigs using a minimally invasive means of chemically vaporizing the main vessel carrying blood to the top section, or fundus, of the stomach. An estimated 90 percent of the body’s ghrelin originates in the fundus, which can’t make the hormone without a good blood supply. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_16_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_16_08.html Prostate Cancer Genes Behave Like Those in Embryo - 9/16/08 Gene activity in prostate cancer is reminiscent of that in the developing fetal prostate, providing further evidence that all cancers are not equal, Johns Hopkins researchers report. The finding could help scientists investigate how to manipulate the genetic program to fight a disease whose biology remains poorly understood despite more than half a century of investigation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_16a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_16a_08.html Parents Of Dying Newborns Need Clearer Explanation Of Options Parent-doctor discussions about whether to maintain or withdraw life support from terminally ill or severely premature newborns are so plagued by miscommunication and misunderstanding that they might as well be in different languages, according to a small but potentially instructive new study from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center reported in the September issue of Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5322 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5322 Johns Hopkins Neuroscientists Discover a Critical Early Step of Memory Formation Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine report in the July issue of Neuron how nerve cells in the brain ensure that Arc, a protein critical for memory formation, is made instantly after nerve stimulation. Paradoxically, its manufacture involves two other proteins - including one linked to mental retardation - that typically prevent proteins from being made. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_12_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_12_08.html Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute presents “Biotech 2008 Neuroscience Investors Conference: Investing in Brain Research” More than 20 world-renowned scientists and industry leaders presenting the current state of neurobiology research and discussing challenges of speeding drug discovery for brain diseases to an audience of more than 200 research scientists, leaders in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, business development executives, venture capitalists, investment bankers, and consulting and legal service providers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_11_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_11_08.html Johns Hopkins Researchers Recognized for Contributions to Understanding Vision Research Jeremy Nathans, M.D., Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics and ophthalmology, and King-Wai Yau, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience and ophthalmology, have been awarded the 2008 António Champalimaud Vision Award by the Champalimaud Foundation in Portugal for their “ground-breaking discoveries in the laboratory that enhance our knowledge and understanding of vision.” http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_10_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_10_08.html Hopkins Imaging Scientist Earns New NIH "Eureka" Grant for Exceptional, Unconventional Research Jeff W.M. Bulte, Ph.D., professor of radiology, biomedical engineering and chemical and biomolecular engineering in the Johns Hopkins Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, is one of 38 U.S. scientists to win one of the National Institutes of Health new EUREKA (for Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration) grants. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_03a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_03a_08.html Johns Hopkins Awarded $10 Million NIH Roadmap Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have been awarded a $10 million "Roadmap" grant by the National Institute of Mental Health branch of the National Institutes of Health to establish the new Ion Channel Center and work with researchers around the country to identify molecular probes that can bind and regulate the tiny protein channels that allow small nutrients into and out of cells. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_03_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_03_08.html Most Vaccine-Allergic Children Can Still Be Safely Vaccinated, Hopkins Experts Say With close monitoring and a few standard precautions, nearly all children with known or suspected vaccine allergies can be safely immunized, according to a team of vaccine safety experts led by the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Writing in the September issue of Pediatrics, the multicenter research team offers pediatricians a step-by-step tool for quickly identifying children with allergic reactions to vaccines, and a much-needed guide, they say, to safely immunize those who are allergic. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5262 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5262 Hopkins Researchers Piece Together Gene "Network" Linked to Schizophrenia Reporting this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have uncovered for the first time molecular circuitry associated with schizophrenia that links three previously known, yet unrelated proteins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_02_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/09_02_08.html Treadmill Exercise Retrains Brain and Body of Stroke Victims People who walk on a treadmill even years after stroke damage can significantly improve their health and mobility, changes that reflect actual "rewiring" of their brains, according to research spearheaded at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_29a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_29a_08.html Study Points to One Cause of Higher Rates of Transplanted Kidney Rejection in Blacks A Johns Hopkins research team reports it may have an explanation for at least some of the higher organ rejection rates seen among black - as compared to white - kidney transplant recipients. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_28a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_28a_08.html Johns Hopkins Radiologist Receives Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award Steve Cho, M.D., assistant professor in the division of nuclear medicine at the Johns Hopkins Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, is one of 19 scientists to earn a 2008 Young Investigator Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation. The awards, designed to encourage careers in prostate disease research, carries a stipend of $75,000 a year for three years, with matching amounts from an investigator's institution. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_29_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_29_08.html Johns Hopkins Healthcare Earns URAC Accreditation Johns Hopkins HealthCare LLC (JHHC) has earned accreditation from the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC), a Washington, D.C.-based organization that establishes standards for the health care industry covering network management, provider credentialing, utilization management, quality improvement and consumer protection. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_28_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_28_08.html Experimental Therapy May Lead to Macular Degeneration, Researchers Caution Having discovered a genetic trigger for age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss in people over 50, researchers report that an experimental state-of-the-art therapy for treating eye disease could adversely affect the vision of some patients with the "wrong" genetic makeup. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_27_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_27_08.html High Cholesterol Levels Drop Naturally In Children on High-Fat Anti-Seizure Diet Elevated cholesterol levels return to normal or near normal levels over time in four out of 10 children with uncontrollable epilepsy treated with the high-fat ketogenic diet, according to results of a Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study reported in the Journal of Child Neurology. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5232 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5232 Johns Hopkins and Mexican Society of Neurosurgery Holds Joint Conference in Puerto Vallarta Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Mexican Society of Neurosurgery co-hosted a day-long conference on brain tumor management in Mexico this month, an unusual joint venture the planners hope will be a model for continuing medical education programs covering a wide range of medical specialties in that country. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_20_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_20_08.html Johns Hopkins Scientists Discover What Drives the Development of a Fatal Form of Malaria Platelets - those tiny, unassuming cells that cause blood to clot and scabs to form when you cut yourself - play an important early role in promoting cerebral malaria, an often lethal complication that occurs mostly in children. Affecting as many as half a billion people in tropical and subtropical regions, malaria is one of the oldest recorded diseases and the parasite responsible for it, Plasmodium, among the most studied pathogens of all time. Still, cerebral malaria, which results from a combination of blood vessel and immune system dysfunction, is not well understood. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_18_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_18_08.html Rare Case in a Baltimore Couple Explains Why Some Infected with HIV Remain Symptom Free for Years Without Antiretroviral Drugs AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins say they have compelling evidence that some people with HIV who for years and even decades show extremely low levels of the virus in their blood never progress to full-blown AIDS and remain symptom free even without treatment, probably do so because of the strength of their immune systems, not any defects in the strain of HIV that infected them in the first place. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_12_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_12_08.html Low Vitamin D Levels Pose Large Threat to Health Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the most conclusive evidence to date that inadequate levels of vitamin D, obtained from milk, fortified cereals and exposure to sunlight, lead to substantially increased risk of death. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_11_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_11_08.html HIV Expert Says One Step Down, Two More To Go In Quest To Cure AIDS A Johns Hopkins expert in HIV and how the AIDS virus hides in the body says antiretroviral drugs have stopped HIV from replicating, the first of three key steps needed to rid people of the virus. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_06_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/08_06_08.html New Uses for Old-Line Diabetes Monitoring Test: Screening and Diagnosis A blood test currently used as the gold standard for monitoring people already under care for diabetes may have far wider use in identifying millions with undetected diabetes, a team led by a Johns Hopkins physician suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_31_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_31_08.html Like Eavesdropping at a Party: Johns Hopkins Scientists Discover How a Tiny Protein Senses All the Communications in a Cell Cells rely on calcium as a universal means of communication. For example, a sudden rush of calcium can trigger nerve cells to convey thoughts in the brain or cause a heart cell to beat. A longstanding mystery has been how cells and molecules manage to appropriately sense and respond to the variety of calcium fluctuations within cells. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_31a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_31a_08.html Note to People with Scarred and Stiffened Lungs: Monitor Your Sleep Before Severe Fatigue Sets In Family, friends and neighbors remember Lisa Sandler Spaeth as an active mother of two in Potomac, Md., with a lot on the go, juggling her son’s baseball games and her daughter’s horseback-riding lessons with numerous committee obligations, organizing women’s activities at her local synagogue. Add to this Spaeth’s thriving home business turned wholesale supplier - making custom hair accessories for children - which she founded with her mother. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_29_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_29_08.html Summer Heat Too Hot for You? What is Comfortable? Extreme heat or cold is not only uncomfortable, it can be deadly-causing proteins to unravel and malfunction. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_29a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_29a_08.html Hopkins Scientists to Direct Research Into Long Spaceflights The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) has reappointed two scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to help lead nationwide research teams focused on the mental and cardiovascular risks associated with long-term spaceflight. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_28_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_28_08.html Transplantation of Kidneys from Black Cardiac-Death Donors Provide Black Recipients with the Best Long-Term Survival Contrary to prevailing assumptions, Johns Hopkins researchers have shown that kidneys recovered from black donors who died from cardiac death offer the best survival rate for black recipients of a deceased-donor kidney. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_23a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_23a_08.html Victor A. McKusick, M.D., "Father of Medical Genetics," 1921-2008 Victor Almon McKusick, M.D., University Professor of Medical Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, one of the two distinguished Johns Hopkins geneticists for whom the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine was named, and a towering international figure in genetics research, diagnosis and treatment, died Tuesday, July 22 at home. He was 86. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_23_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_23_08.html "Stuffy Nose Mouse": A Promise to Help Treat 31 Million with Sinusitis Mice with inflamed nasal tissue being tested at a Johns Hopkins laboratory may be unable to tell if something smells bad or good, but their sensory deficit is nothing to turn up a nose at. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_22b_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_22b_08.html Human Stem Cell Research: Stepping It Up a Notch Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that the Notch protein helps human embryonic stem cells “decide” their own fate, a finding which may eventually be useful in programming cells for the development of stem cell therapies. Their results are reported in the May 2008 issue of Cell Stem Cell. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_22a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_22a_08.html The Johns Hopkins Hospital Earns National Recognition for Nursing Excellence The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) has awarded The Johns Hopkins Hospital its prestigious Magnet Recognition status for excellence in nursing services. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_22_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_22_08.html JAMA Revisits Classic Hopkins Blue Baby Study A Johns Hopkins study published 63 years ago will make an encore appearance in the July 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) as part of a year-long retrospective celebrating JAMA's 125th anniversary by revisiting papers that changed the course of modern-day medicine. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5030 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5030 The Johns Hopkins Hospital Tops U.S. News & World Report "Honor Roll" 18th Year in a Row The Johns Hopkins Hospital has once again, for the 18th consecutive time, earned the top spot in U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings of American hospitals, placing first in three medical specialties and very high in 12 others. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_11_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_11_08.html Note to Pediatricians: Taper Meds in Kids with Stable Asthma A study of how pediatricians prescribe asthma medications suggests that while most would readily increase a child’s medication if needed, many are reluctant to taper off drug use when less might be best. A report on the study, led by Johns Hopkins Children’s Center researchers, appears in the July issue of Pediatrics. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5000 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=5000 Spiritual Effects of Hallucinogens Persist, Johns Hopkins Researchers Report In a follow-up to research showing that psilocybin, a substance contained in "sacred mushrooms," produces substantial spiritual effects, a Johns Hopkins team reports that those beneficial effects appear to last more than a year. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_01_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/07_01_08.html Drug Treatment for Marfan Syndrome Looks Promising, Johns Hopkins Researchers Say A small study in 18 patients assessing the effectiveness of the drug losartan for treating Marfan syndrome in children has yielded encouraging results. Reporting in the June 26 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Johns Hopkins researchers showed that losartan-a compound used for years to treat high blood pressure-slowed the enlargement of the aorta, the most life-threatening defect associated with Marfan syndrome. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_25_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_25_08.html Johns Hopkins Experts Available to Discuss Cardiac Arrythmia The state Medical Examiner's Office cited cardiac arrhythmia, or abnormal heart rhythm, as the cause of sudden death of 19 year-old U.S. Naval Academy student Kristen Dickmann. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_27_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_27_08.html $5 Million NIH Grant to Fund New Sickle Cell Disease Center Johns Hopkins Children’s Center has received a nearly $5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to establish a basic and translational research center that will consolidate research, treatment and care of adult and pediatric patients under one roof and speed up the translation of scientific discovery from bench to bedside. In addition, the center will offer counseling and education services to patients and their families. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=4990 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=4990 Depression and Diabetes: Fellow Travelers, Researchers Say Researchers have long known that type-2 diabetes and depression often go hand in hand. However, it's been unclear which condition develops first in patients who end up with both. Now, a new study led by Johns Hopkins doctors suggests that this chicken-and-egg problem has a dual answer: Patients with depression have an increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes, and patients with type-2 diabetes have an increased risk of developing depression. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_18_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_18_08.html Effective Treatment for Sickle Cell Underused By Doctors Uncertainties about proper use and possible long-term effects of hydroxyurea in the treatment of sickle cell anemia may be wrongly influencing doctors to avoid prescribing it to those in serious need, according to results of a literature review by specialists at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_17_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_17_08.html Stay or Go? Researchers Discover Controller of Cell Movement A zebra's stripes, a seashell's spirals, a butterfly's wings: these are all examples of patterns in nature. The formation of patterns is a puzzle for mathematicians and biologists alike. How does the delicate design of a butterfly's wings come from a single fertilized egg? How does pattern emerge out of no pattern? http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_16_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_16_08.html New Index Explains Why Some Drugs Work Better than others Against HIV A team of AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins has found a simple mathematical equation that accurately explains how well each of 25 anti-HIV drugs in five commonly used drug groups suppresses the virus and keeps the disease in check. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_15_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_15_08.html How Montezuma Gets His Revenge Every year, about 500 million people worldwide are infected with the parasite that causes dysentery, a global medical burden that among infectious diseases is second only to malaria. In a new study appearing in the June 15 issue of Genes and Development, Johns Hopkins researchers may have found a way to ease this burden by discovering a new enzyme that http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_14_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_14_08.html THE SHAPE-SHIFTING MECHANICS OF CELLS Cell biologists at Johns Hopkins have discovered how tiny molecular motors within cells work together with other structural players to coordinate critical cell shape changes that accompany cell division. The work appears in the April 8 issue of Current Biology. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_12_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_12_08.html “HICY” DRUG REGIMEN REVERSES MS SYMPTOMS IN SELECTED PATIENTS A short-term, very-high dose regimen of the immune-suppressing drug cyclophosphamide seems to slow progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) in most of a small group of patients studied and may even restore neurological function lost to the disease, Johns Hopkins researchers report. The findings in nine people, most of whom had failed all other treatments, suggest new ways to treat a disease that tends to progress relentlessly. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_10_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/06_10_08.html JOHNS HOPKINS RESEARCHERS DEVELOP HUMAN STEM CELL LINE CONTAINING SICKLE CELL ANEMIA MUTATION Researchers at Johns Hopkins have established a human cell-based system for studying sickle cell anemia by reprogramming somatic cells to an embryonic stem cell like state. Publishing online in Stem Cells on May 29, the team describes a faster and more efficient method of reprogramming cells that might speed the development of stem cell therapies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_29_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_29_08.html BYPASS NOT TO BLAME FOR HEART PATIENTS’ MENTAL DECLINE Heart patients often experience lasting problems with memory, language, and other cognitive skills after bypass surgery. However, these problems aren’t caused by the surgery itself or the pump used to replace heart function during surgery, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. The findings may lead to better approaches to prevent cognitive decline regardless of which treatment heart disease patients receive. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_19_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_19_08.html YOUNG ATHLETES TO BE SCREENED FOR RISK OF SUDDEN HEART DEATH Volunteer heart experts at Johns Hopkins have embarked on what is believed to be the largest single-day event to date to screen young athletes in the United States for early signs of life-threatening defects in the body’s blood-pumping organ. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_15a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_15a_08.html TREATING SAFETY RESEARCH LIKE OTHER CLINICAL STUDIES SLOWS PROGRESS Progress in patient safety research could slow to a crawl unless regulators work out a host of ethical issues, Johns Hopkins researchers assert in an upcoming opinion piece. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_13a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_13a_08.html DRUG THERAPY FOR PKU REVERSES HEART DAMAGE A pricy drug used to treat a rare but well-known genetic disorder may hold wider promise as a treatment for millions of Americans with potentially lethal enlarged hearts, due mainly to high blood pressure, a study from Johns Hopkins shows. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_13_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_13_08.html TOO HOT TO HANDLE! SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY HEAT SENSING REGULATOR Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins are a step closer to understanding pain sensitivity - specifically why it’s variable instead of constant - having identified a gene that regulates a heat-activated molecular sensor. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_12_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_12_08.html HOPKINS RESEARCHERS DISCOVER NEW LINK TO SCHIZOPHRENIA Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered that mice lacking an enzyme that contributes to Alzheimer disease exhibit a number of schizophrenia-like behaviors. The finding raises the possibility that this enzyme may participate in the development of schizophrenia and related psychiatric disorders and therefore may provide a new target for developing therapies. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_08_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/05_08_08.html IMMUNE SYSTEM KICK-STARTED IN MOIST NASAL LINING IN SINUSITIS, ASTHMA AND COLDS Scientists at Johns Hopkins have outlined a new path for potential therapies to combat inflammation associated with sinusitis and asthma based on a new understanding of the body’s earliest immune response in the nose and sinus cavities. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_29_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_29_08.html TIGHT BLOOD PRESSURE CONTROL NOT ENOUGH TO TEMPER KIDNEY DISEASE IN AFRICAN AMERICANS Even when their blood pressure is kept strictly under control with the best available medicine, African-American patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) continue to lose their kidney function over time, research led by a Johns Hopkins team shows. The finding suggests that treating CKD in this population may be vastly more complex than researchers had previously thought, with blood pressure control being only one piece of the therapeutic puzzle. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_28_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_28_08.html HOPKINS DOCTOR URGES EARLY DIAGNOSIS TO AVOID CANCER’S “FORGOTTEN KILLER” On average, two Marylanders each day are diagnosed with potentially fatal oral cancers that are often curable if identified and treated early. The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Office of Oral Health reports that the state ranks in the country’s top 10 for number of deaths caused by oral cancers. Nationally, statistics show that the death rate from these cancers is higher than those of cervical cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, testicular cancer, and thyroid and malignant melanoma. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_21_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_21_08.html HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH REVEALS EARLIEST STEP IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Researchers at Johns Hopkins have uncovered the molecular underpinnings of one of the earliest steps in human development using human embryonic stem cells. Their identification of a critical signal mediated by the protein BMP-4 that drives the differentiation of stem cells into what will become the placenta, will be published in the April issue of Cell Stem Cell. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_09_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_09_08.html BLOOD VESSELS: THE PIED PIPER FOR GROWING NERVE CELLS Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that blood vessels in the head can guide growing facial nerve cells with blood pressure controlling proteins. The findings, which suggest that blood vessels throughout the body might have the same power of persuasion over many nerves, are published this week in Nature. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_10_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/04_10_08.html LARGE MULTI-CENTER STUDY SUGGESTS NEW GENETIC MARKERS FOR CROHN’S DISEASE What is believed to be the largest study of its kind for the genetic roots of inflammatory bowel diseases has suggested new links to Crohn’s Disease as well as further evidence that some people of Jewish descent are more likely to develop it. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_26_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_26_08.html GOOD LUCK INDEED: 53 MILLION-YEAR-OLD RABBIT’S FOOT BONES FOUND One day last spring, fossil hunter and anatomy professor Kenneth Rose, Ph.D. was displaying the bones of a jackrabbit’s foot as part of a seminar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine when something about the shape of the bones looked oddly familiar. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_19_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_19_08.html SABOTAGE OF INFLAMMATION CHEMISTRY IN INJURED KIDNEY MAY TRIGGER WIDER ORGAN FAILURE Kidney damage often sets off a slew of complications in patients, spreading organ failure like wildfire throughout their bodies. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins say they have evidence in mice that this deadly progression-at least to the lungs-may be due to genetic alterations in kidney-based genes that sabotage inflammation control and send toxic signals to healthy organs. The signals convince these organs to react as if they, too, are damaged. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_13_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_13_08.html RESEARCHERS ID BEHAVIORAL RISK FACTORS FOR HEAD AND NECK CANCERS Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have teased out two distinct sets of risk factors for head and neck cancers, suggesting that there are two completely different kinds of the disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_11b_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_11b_08.html GENETIC RESEARCH UNVEILS COMMON ORIGINS FOR DISTINCT CLINICAL DIAGNOSES Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that two clinically different inherited syndromes are in fact variations of the same disorder. Reporting in the April issue of Nature Genetics, the team suggests that at least for this class of disorders, the total number and “strength” of genetic alterations an individual carries throughout the genome can generate a range of symptoms wide enough to appear like different conditions. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_09_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_09_08.html PACEMAKER TUNE-UP WORKS CHEMICAL WONDERS ON DAMAGED HEARTS IN DOGS Using pacemakers to electrically retune a heart damaged by long bouts of a wobbling heartbeat, where one heart muscle wall is beating sooner than the other, leads to fast improvements in the tissue levels of more than a dozen proteins key to the organ’s health, scientists at Johns Hopkins report in experiments in dogs. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_05_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_05_08.html RISK OF SURGERY FOR LUNG CANCER LOWER AT TEACHING HOSPITALS Patients cared for by hospitals with residents in training have a 17 percent less chance of dying after lung cancer surgery compared with patients undergoing surgery at non-teaching hospitals, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study published in the March issue of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_04_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/03_04_08.html THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON JAZZ: RESEARCHERS USE MRI TO STUDY SPONTANEITY, CREATIVITY A pair of Johns Hopkins and government scientists have discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, their brains turn off areas linked to self-censoring and inhibition, and turn on those that let self-expression flow. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/02_26_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/02_26_08.html “LAB ON A CHIP” MIMICS BRAIN CHEMISTRY Johns Hopkins researchers from the Whiting School of Engineering and the School of Medicine have devised a micro-scale tool - a lab on a chip - designed to mimic the chemical complexities of the brain. The system should help scientists better understand how nerve cells in the brain work together to form the nervous system. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/02_12_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/02_12_08.html Mock CPR "Codes" Expose Weaknesses In Hospital Emergency Response For Children Staging mock cardiac and respiratory arrests – “code” situations in hospital parlance – easily expose common failures in rapid response with CPR and other life-saving care for children and also set up powerful incentives to sharpen emergency skills and move fast to use them, suggests a study from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=405 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=405 JOHNS HOPKINS RESEARCHER LEADS INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO CREATE “PROTEINPEDIA” A researcher at the Johns Hopkins Institute of Genetic Medicine has led the effort to compile to date the largest free resource of experimental information about human proteins. Reporting in the February issue of Nature Biotechnology, the research team describes how all researchers around the world can access this data and speed their own research. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/02_07_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/02_07_08.html BREAST-FEEDING NOW SAFER FOR INFANTS OF HIV-INFECTED MOTHERS An antiretroviral drug already in widespread use in the developing world to prevent the transmission of HIV from infected mothers to their newborns during childbirth has also been found to substantially cut the risk of subsequent HIV transmission during breast-feeding. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/02_04_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/02_04_08.html SECONDHAND SMOKE EXPOSURE WORSENS CYSTIC FIBROSIS Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered the first genetic evidence that secondhand smoke can worsen lung disease. The report in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association describes one gene variation that can weaken lung function as well as shorten the lifespan of those affected by cystic fibrosis and also are exposed to secondhand smoke. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_29b_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_29b_08.html HEART TRANSPLANTS: DO MORE OR DO NONE, JOHNS HOPKINS STUDY SUGGESTS Heart surgeons at Johns Hopkins have evidence to support further tightening rather than easing of standards used to designate hospitals that are best at performing heart transplants. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_29_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_29_08.html DOWNSIZED HEART AIDS BYPASS SURGERY An estimated one in 20 patients undergoing a common operation to boost blood supply to the heart and to ward off repeat heart attacks may do better if their surgeons also remold the heart to a near normal size, by cutting and suturing together stretched muscle and scar tissue resulting from the initial attack, according to cardiac surgeons at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_29a_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_29a_08.html MODIFIED ATKINS DIET CAN CUT EPILEPTIC SEIZURES IN ADULTS A modified version of a popular high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet can significantly cut the number of seizures in adults with epilepsy, a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. The Atkins-like diet, which has shown promise for seizure control in children, may offer a new lifeline for patients when drugs and other treatments fail or cause complications. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_28_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_28_08.html MARIJUANA WITHDRAWAL AS BAD AS WITHDRAWAL FROM CIGARETTES Research by a group of scientists studying the effects of heavy marijuana use suggests that withdrawal from the use of marijuana is similar to what is experienced by people when they quit smoking cigarettes. Abstinence from each of these drugs appears to cause several common symptoms, such as irritability, anger and trouble sleeping - based on self reporting in a recent study of 12 heavy users of both marijuana and cigarettes. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_24_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_24_08.html HOPKINS TEAM IDENTIFIES AUTISM SUSCEPTIBILITY GENE Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a common genetic alteration that appears to be associated with autism only when inherited by sons from their mother. The CNTNAP2 gene, also identified by two other groups publishing jointly in the January issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics, is one of the strongest common genetic links to autism susceptibility found to date. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_22_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_22_08.html PROTEIN CLASS DISPLAYS STRONG ANTICANCER ACTION Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a previously unsuspected mechanism of cell death that may afford a new way to find and develop stronger yet less-harmful anticancer drugs. Specifically, they have found that a cellular stress-response protein prevents cells from dying by interacting with a particular signaling protein and mediating its response to some conventional anticancer drugs. The results appear in last week’s Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_21_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_21_08.html KIDNEY CYSTS: NOT ALL CREATED EQUAL Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered a window in kidney growth that affects the onset of polycystic kidney disease and can mean, in mice, the difference between developing severe cystic disease early in adolescence or late in adulthood. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_17_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_17_08.html TOXOPLASMA INFECTION INCREASES RISK OF SCHIZOPHRENIA, STUDY SUGGESTS Findings from what is believed to be the largest comparison of blood samples collected from healthy individuals and people with schizophrenia suggest that infection with the common Toxoplasma gondii parasite, carried by cats and farm animals, may increase the risk of schizophrenia. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=403 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=403 RUBBER GLOVES: “BORN” - AND NOW BANISHED - AT JOHNS HOPKINS William Stewart Halsted, The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s first surgeon in chief, is widely credited as the first to develop and introduce rubber surgical gloves in the United States. That was in 1894, five years after the institution opened. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_15_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_15_08.html TRUST BETWEEN DOCTORS AND PATIENTS IS CULPRIT IN EFFORTS TO CROSS RACIAL DIVIDE IN MEDICAL RESEARCH More than three decades after the shutdown of the notorious Tuskegee study, a team of Johns Hopkins physicians has found that Tuskegee’s legacy of blacks’ mistrust of physicians and deep-seated fear of harm from medical research persists and is largely to blame for keeping much-needed African Americans from taking part in clinical trials. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_14_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_14_08.html WAYS TO IMPROVE INFORMED CONSENT ARE TESTABLE, STUDY SAYS New ways to make sure people are adequately informed about the risks and benefits of taking part in a clinical trial can be field-tested for effectiveness as rigorously as new medical treatments themselves, a study led by a Johns Hopkins bioethicist suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_11_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_11_08.html RNA SHOWN TO SILENCE CANCER SUPPRESSOR GENE One way cancer arises is when tumor suppressor genes that normally keep cell growth in check are mysteriously turned off. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that at least one tumor suppressor gene is in fact turned off by a “noncoding” single stranded RNA nucleic acid similar to its double-stranded DNA cousin. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_09_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_09_08.html WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS: HOPKINS RESEARCHERS PAINT PICTURE OF CANCER-PROMOTING CULPRIT They say that a picture can be worth a thousand words. This especially is true for describing the structures of molecules that function to promote cancer. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have built a three-dimensional picture of an enzyme often mutated in many types of cancers. The results, published Dec. 14 in Science, suggest how the most common mutations in this enzyme might lead to cancer progression. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_04_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_04_08.html GENE DOSE AFFECTS TUMOR GROWTH Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Ohio State University have found that the number of copies of a particular gene can affect the severity of colon cancer in a mouse model. Publishing in the Jan. 3 issue of Nature, the research team describes how trisomy 21, or Down syndrome in humans, can repress tumor growth. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_03_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_03_08.html PROTEIN A POSSIBLE KEY TO ALLERGY AND ASTHMA CONTROL Activating a protein found on some immune cells seems to halt the cells’ typical job of spewing out substances that launch allergic reactions, a study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. The findings could eventually lead to new treatments for allergic reactions ranging from annoying bouts of hay fever to deadly asthma attacks. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_02_08.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2008/01_02_08.html OBESE PATIENTS WAIT LONGER FOR KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS, RESEARCH SUGGESTS New research from Johns Hopkins specialists suggests that obese kidney disease patients face not only the usual long odds of a tissue match and organ rejection, but also are significantly less likely than normal-weight people to receive a kidney transplant at all. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_19_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_19_07.html PAIN TREATMENT IN THE FIELD: GOOD FOR SOLDIERS’ COMFORT AND BETTER FOR REBUILDING TROOP STRENGTH Noncombat-related acute and recurrent chronic pain are the leading causes of soldier attrition in modern war, with the return-to-duty rate as low as 2 percent when these soldiers are treated outside the theaters of operation. However, that rate jumps to 95 percent when troops and officers are treated and managed for pain in the field of instead of being sent elsewhere for therapy, according to a new study from a Johns Hopkins anesthesiologist. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_17_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_17_07.html Milk and Egg Allergies Harder To Outgrow, Hopkins Study Shows Considered “transitional” a generation ago, milk and egg allergies now appear to be more persistent and harder to outgrow, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=402 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=402 OLDER ANTIBIOTIC GAINS NEW RESPECT AS POTENT TREATMENT FOR TUBERCULOSIS It has no current market, not even a prescription price. Its makers stopped commercial production years ago, because demand was so low. But an antibiotic long abandoned as a weak, low-dose treatment for tuberculosis (TB) may have found renewed purpose, this time as a potent, high-dose fighter against the most common and actively contagious form of the lung disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_17a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_17a_07.html MORE “FUNCTIONAL” DNA IN GENOME THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT Surrounding the small islands of genes within the human genome is a vast sea of mysterious DNA. While most of this non-coding DNA is junk, some of it is used to help genes turn on and off. As reported online this week in Genome Research, Hopkins researchers have now found that this latter portion, which is known as regulatory DNA and contributes to inherited diseases like Parkinson’s or mental disorders, may be more abundant than we realize. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_11_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_11_07.html KEEPING AT-RISK CELLS FROM DEVELOPING CANCER Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that cancers arising from epigenetic changes - in this case the inappropriate activation of a normally silent gene - develop by becoming addicted to certain growth factors. Reporting online in next week’s Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, the team shows that blocking this “addiction” can greatly prevent cancer growth. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_10a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_10a_07.html SILENCING SMALL BUT MIGHTY CANCER INHIBITORS Researchers from Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered another reason why one of the most commonly activated proteins in cancer is in fact so dangerous. As reported in Nature Genetics this week, the Myc protein can stop the production of at least 13 microRNAs, small pieces of nucleic acid that help control which genes are turned on and off. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_10_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_10_07.html “EPIGENETIC” MARKS A CLUE TO MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN A team of Johns Hopkins scientists has catalogued chemical tags attached to more than 800 genes from 76 human brain samples and collected the first evidence of how these special, inherited epigenetic “marks” might account for different brain functions. The results appear in the December issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_04_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/12_04_07.html JOHNS HOPKINS INSTALLS FIRST 320-SLICE CT SCANNER IN NORTH AMERICA The first 320-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner in North America, the most powerful X-ray imaging machine in its class, has been installed and is in operation at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_26_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_26_07.html OBESITY-LINKED HIGH BLOOD VOLUMES RENDER PSA PROSTATE CANCER TEST LESS EFFECTIVE, STUDY SUGGESTS The extra blood volume produced in the obese may so dilute levels of a telltale protein produced by prostates that the popular PSA test may be significantly less effective for diagnosing prostate cancer in men carrying extra pounds, a new study in The Journal of the American Medical Association suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_21_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_21_07.html PATIENT SAFETY EXPERTS ADVANCE INTERNAL HOSPITAL SAFETY RATING SYSTEM In a bid to clean up misleading institutional safety comparisons and go further to fix safety problems, Johns Hopkins experts are proposing standard guidelines to be used as hospital safety rating tools. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_06a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_06a_07.html LUNGS PRESSURE NEEDN’T THREATEN HEART TRANSPLANT SURVIVAL Heart surgeons at Johns Hopkins say people who need heart transplants can largely avoid transplant failure due to elevated blood pressure in their lungs with the help of proper drug treatment. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_06_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_06_07.html HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE OR IRREGULAR HEARTBEAT LINKED TO ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE PROGRESSION Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may progress more rapidly in people with high blood pressure or a form of irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study published in the Nov. 6, 2007, issue of Neurology. The findings suggest that treating these conditions may also slow memory loss in people with AD. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_05b_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_05b_07.html RESULTS OF DEFINITIVE STUDY ARE IN: LIVES ARE SAVED WHEN DEFIBRILLATORS ARE PLACED IN LARGE PUBLIC SPACES Heart experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere have evidence that at least 522 lives can be saved annually in the United States and Canada by the widespread placement of automated external defibrillators, the paddle-fitted, electrical devices used to shock and revive people whose hearts have suddenly stopped beating. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_05a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_05a_07.html HIGH-TECH CT SCANS: NOT A BAD CHOICE TO TEST FOR CLOGGED ARTERIES A study by an international team of cardiac imaging specialists, led by researchers at Johns Hopkins, concludes that sophisticated computed tomography (CT) scans of the heart and its surrounding arteries are almost as reliable and accurate as more invasive procedures to check for blockages. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_05_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_05_07.html AGING HEART CHANGES SHAPE, SHRINKS AND LOSES PUMPING FUNCTION TOO Researchers at Johns Hopkins have evidence to explain why the supposedly natural act of aging is by itself a very potent risk factor for life-threatening heart failure. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_04_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_04_07.html Urban Kids With Asthma Need More Frequent Check-ups, Hopkins Study Suggests Because even mild asthma among young inner-city children appears to be more unpredictable than ever, four or more check-ups a year after diagnosis is a wise move as a hedge against dangerous flare-ups of wheezing and trips to the emergency room, according to a study from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=397 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=397 HEART ATTACKS/PNEUMONIA FALLS SHORT OF NATIONAL GOALS Emergency departments across the nation are failing to meet national goals in treating many heart attack and pneumonia patients, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers published in the October issue of Academic Emergency Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_31b_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_31b_07.html MIROWSKI FAMILY FOUNDATION GIVES $1.5 MILLON TO JOHNS HOPKINS HEART INSTITUTE The Johns Hopkins Heart Institute today announced a $1.5 million gift from the Mirowski Family Foundation for cardiovascular research. The Michel Mirowski, M.D. Discovery Fund, named in honor of Mirowski and his wife, Anna, will support researchers pursuing novel ideas not yet eligible for traditional sources of funding. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_01_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/11_01_07.html OH BROTHER: FAMILY TIES DETERMINE WHO GETS HEART DISEASE The genetic family ties that bind brothers and sisters also link their risk for developing clogged arteries and having potentially fatal heart attacks, scientists at Johns Hopkins report. And according to researchers, brothers bear the brunt of the burden. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_30_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_30_07.html EARS RINGING? JOHNS HOPKINS SCIENTISTS I.D. THE BRAIN’S OWN CLARION Brain scientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered how cells in the developing ear make their own noise, long before the ear is able to detect sound around them. The finding, reported in this week’s Nature, helps to explain how the developing auditory system generates brain activity in the absence of sound. It also may explain why people sometimes experience tinnitus and hear sounds that seem to come from nowhere. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_31_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_31_07.html HOPKINS RESEARCHER AWARDED GRANT TO PURSUE POTENTIAL DOWN SYNDROME TREATMENT The Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation has awarded a $250,000 grant to Roger H. Reeves, Ph.D., a professor of physiology and member of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins. Reeves and his research team will extend their current studies on a potential drug to see if its positive effects can improve brain development in mouse models of Down syndrome. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_31a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_31a_07.html BROCCOLI SPROUT-DERIVED EXTRACT PROTECTS AGAINST ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION A team of Johns Hopkins scientists reports in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that humans can be protected against the damaging effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation - the most abundant cancer-causing agent in our environment - by topical application of an extract of broccoli sprouts. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_22b_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_22b_07.html CAN YOU FEEL THE HEAT? YOUR CILIA CAN Johns Hopkins researchers and colleagues have found a previously unrecognized role for tiny hair-like cell structures known as cilia: They help form our sense of touch. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_22c_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_22c_07.html HOPKINS RESEARCHERS RELEASE GENOME DATA ON AUTISM Researchers at Johns Hopkins’ McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine today are releasing newly generated genetic data to help speed autism research. The Hopkins data, coordinated with a similar data release from the Autism Consortium, aims to help uncover the underlying hereditary factors and speed the understanding of autism by encouraging scientific collaboration. These data provide the most detailed look to date at the genetic variation patterns in families with autism http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_22a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_22a_07.html INFORMING POOR IN INDIA BOOSTS PUBLIC SERVICE USE Simply informing the poor about government-provided health, educational, and social services they are entitled to could empower them to take greater advantage of free or low-cost public services, a study in India suggests. The finding, reported in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, could be an overlooked, relatively easy way to boost health and well-being in developing countries around the world. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_22_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_22_07.html SIMPLE EYE SCAN OPENS WINDOW TO MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS A five-minute eye exam might prove to be an inexpensive and effective way to gauge and track the debilitating neurological disease multiple sclerosis, potentially complementing costly magnetic resonance imaging to detect brain shrinkage - a characteristic of the disease’s progression. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_15_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_15_07.html GENOME UPDATE DEFINES LANDSCAPE OF BREAST AND COLON CANCERS One year after completing the first large-scale report sequencing breast and colon cancer genes, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have studied the vast majority of protein-coding genes which now suggest a landscape dominated by genes that each are mutated in relatively few cancers. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_11_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_11_07.html WHAT EMOTIONAL MEMORIES ARE MADE OF Both extensive psychological research and personal experiences confirm that events that happen during heightened states of emotion such as fear, anger and joy are far more memorable than less dramatic occurrences. In a report this week in Cell, Johns Hopkins researchers and their collaborators at Cold Spring Harbor and New York University have identified the likely biological basis for this: a hormone released during emotional arousal “primes” nerve cells to remember events by increasing their chemical sensitivity at sites where nerves rewire to form new memory circuits. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_04_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_04_07.html CILIA: SMALL ORGANELLES, BIG DECISIONS Johns Hopkins researchers say they have figured out how human and all animal cells tune in to a key signal, one that literally transmits the instructions that shape their final bodies. It turns out the cells assemble their own little radio antenna on their surfaces to help them relay the proper signal to the developmental proteins “listening” on the inside of the cell. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_03a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_03a_07.html MINI STROKES LINKED TO URIC ACID LEVELS Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that high-normal uric acid (UA) levels may cause barely detectable mini strokes that potentially contribute to mental decline in aging adults. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_01a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_01a_07.html STANDARD TREATMENT FOR PROSTATE CANCER MAY ENCOURAGE SPREAD OF DISEASE A popular prostate cancer treatment called androgen deprivation therapy may encourage prostate cancer cells to produce a protein that makes them more likely to spread throughout the body, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_01_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/10_01_07.html “GENES AND ENVIRONMENT” GRANT FUNDS CLOSE LOOK AT NATURE-NURTURE OVERLAP IN COMMON DISEASES Johns Hopkins’ McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine is one of two gene-hunting facilities in the nation to win a new $11.7 million four-year federal grant to rigorously sort out how such environmental factors as diet, exercise, stress and addictions interact with people’s individual genetic makeup to affect their risk for disorders as wide-ranging as cancer, diabetes, tooth decay and heart disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_25a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_25a_07.html MOUSE MODEL FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA HAS GENETIC ON-OFF SWITCH Scientists at Johns Hopkins have developed a mouse model for schizophrenia in which a mutated gene linked to schizophrenia can be turned on or off at will. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_10a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_10a_07.html HOW VITAMIN C STOPS THE BIG “C” Nearly 30 years after Nobel laureate Linus Pauling famously and controversially suggested that vitamin C supplements can prevent cancer, a team of Johns Hopkins scientists have shown that in mice at least, vitamin C - and potentially other antioxidants - can indeed inhibit the growth of some tumors ? just not in the manner suggested by years of investigation. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_10_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_10_07.html NORMAL ROLE FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA RISK GENE IDENTIFIED How the gene that has been pegged as a major risk factor for schizophrenia and other mood disorders that affect millions of Americans contributes to these diseases remains unclear. However, the results of a new study by Hopkins researchers and their colleagues, appearing in Cell this week, provide a big clue by showing what this gene does in normal adult brains. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_07_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_07_07.html “QI” PROJECTS MAY - OR MAY NOT - IMPROVE PATIENT SAFETY AND OUTCOMES Mandatory classes that aim to improve the quality of medical care seem to successfully teach doctors new concepts but don’t necessarily improve patient outcomes, suggests a thorough review of articles that examine quality improvement (QI) curricula. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_05_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/09_05_07.html Blood-Flow Detector Software Shows Promise In Preventing Brain Damage Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Cambridge University in England have designed an automated means of continuously tracking potentially dangerous changes in blood flow to the brain in real time, a system that shows promise for preventing brain damage and death in children with head injuries. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=394 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=394 “MIGHTY MICE” MADE MIGHTIER The Johns Hopkins scientist who first showed that the absence of the protein myostatin leads to oversized muscles in mice and men has now found a second protein, follistatin, whose overproduction in mice lacking myostatin doubles the muscle-building effect. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_29_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_29_07.html FOLATE MYSTERY FINALLY SOLVED ---- Some biochemical processes, especially those in bacteria, have been so well studied it’s assumed that no discoveries are left to be made. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_24_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_24_07.html ELECTRICAL IMPLANT STEADIES BALANCE DISORDER IN ANIMALS ---- Tests in chinchillas show promise for treating long-term unsteadiness and blurry vision. Hearing and balance experts at Johns Hopkins report successful testing in animals of an electrical device that partly restores a damaged or impaired sense of balance. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_06a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_06a_07.html NEW TECHNIQUE TO "SEE" AND PROTECT TRANSPLANTS SUCCESSFUL IN DIABETIC ANIMAL MODEL --Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found a way to overcome a major stumbling block to developing successful insulin-cell transplants for people with type I diabetes. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_06_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_06_07.html HOPKINS TEAM DEVELOPS FIRST MOUSE MODEL OF SCHIZOPHRENIA --Johns Hopkins researchers have genetically engineered the first mouse that models both the anatomical and behavioral defects of schizophrenia, a complex and debilitating brain disorder that affects over 2 million Americans. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_02a_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_02a_07.html MEDICAL RESIDENTS SCORE POORLY IN DIAGNOSING AND MANAGING TUBERCULOSIS --When quizzed about their knowledge in diagnosing tuberculosis and deciding on the best treatment, medical residents in Baltimore and Philadelphia get almost half the answers wrong, according to a survey by TB disease experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_02_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/08_02_07.html Does This Child Have Appendicitis? Watch Out for Key Signs --A 5-year-old with abdominal pain, nausea and fever may have appendicitis or any of a number of other problems. But how does the child’s doctor decide whether to schedule an emergency appendectomy to surgically remove a presumably inflamed appendix — a procedure that carries its own risks like any surgery — or wait and observe what could be a ticking time bomb that could rupture and kill the patient in a matter of hours? http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=392 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=392 BALTIMORE INNER-CITY HOMES UNSAFE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, HOPKINS STUDY FINDS --Infants and young children living in Baltimore's inner-city homes are at risk for serious perils, including fires, falls and poisoning, according to a small but revealing study from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=391 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=391 OLDER IS BETTER: TOP-10 COMPARISON OF DIABETES DRUGS GIVE METFORMIN TOP GRADE --A type 2 diabetes drug taken orally and in widespread use for more than a decade has been found to have distinct advantages over nine other, mostly newer medications used to control the chronic disease, according to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/07_24_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/07_24_07.html NEW MECHANISM FOUND FOR MEMORY STORAGE IN BRAIN --persistent changes in "slow" nerve currents may also link memory and addiction. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/07_18_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/07_18_07.html NEUTRAL EVOLUTION HAS HELPED SHAPE OUR GENOME -- Johns Hopkins researchers have added to the growing mound of evidence that many of the genetic bits and pieces that drive evolutionary changes do not confer any advantages or disadvantages to humans or other animals. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/07_17_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/07_17_07.html WARNING:FOOD ALLERGY BLOOD TESTS SOMETIMES UNRELIABLE -- Doctors urge caution in diagnosis based on test results http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=389 http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=389 IMMUNE SYSTEM “ESCAPE HATCH” GIVES CANCER CELLS TRACTION -- Discovery explains why anticancer vaccines mostly fail http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/07_16_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/07_16_07.html Drug Warnings Prompts Treatment Changes for Those Infected with Hepatitis B and HIV Study identified risks for co-infected patients about taking entecavir. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/06_20_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/06_20_07.html NOW PLAYING: COLON CANCER PROTEINS SHOW PROMISE FOR BLOOD TEST Searching for less invasive screening tests for cancer, Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered proteins present in blood that accurately identify colon cancer and precancerous polyps. http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/news/archive_details.cfm?documentid=897 http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/news/archive_details.cfm?documentid=897 NOW PLAYING: CELL MIGRATION LIVE! Johns Hopkins researchers have found a way to directly observe cell migration -- in real time and in living tissue. In a report in the June 5 issue of Developmental Cell, the scientists say their advance could lead to strategies for controlling both normal growth and the spread of cancer, processes that depend on the programmed, organized movement of cells across space http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/06_08_07.html http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/06_08_07.html How Sneaky HIV Escapes Cells Like hobos on a train, HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, uses a pre-existing transport system to leave one infected cell and infect new ones, Hopkins scientists have discovered. Their findings, published in the June issue of Plos Biology, counter the prevailing belief that HIV and other retroviruses can only leave and enter cells by virus-specific mechanisms. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/06_04_07.html MATH THAT POWERS SPAM FILTERS USED TO UNDERSTAND HOW BRAIN LEARNS TO MOVE OUR MUSCLES A team of biomedical engineers has developed a computer model that makes use of more or less predictable “guesstimates” of human muscle movements to explain how the brain draws on both what it recently learned and what it’s known for some time to anticipate what it needs to develop new motor skills. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/06_01_07.html COMMON CANCER GENE SENDS DEATH ORDER TO TINY KILLER Scientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered one way the p53 gene does what it's known for-stopping the colon cancer cells. Their report will be published in the June 8 issue of Molecular Cell. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/05_31_07.html AN "ELEGANT" IDEA PROVES ITS WORTH 25 YEARS LATER The simple notion of copying the bodys own natural waste disposal chemistry to mop up potentially toxic nitrogen has saved an estimated 80 percent of patients with urea cycle disorders --- most of them children - according to a report in this weeks New England Journal of Medicine summarizing a quarter century of experience with the treatment. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/05_30_07.html CANCER CELLS “REPROGRAM” ENERGY NEEDS TO GROW AND SPREAD, STUDY SUGGESTS Studying a rare inherited syndrome, researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that cancer cells can reprogram themselves to turn down their own energy-making machinery and use less oxygen, and that these changes might help cancer cells survive and spread. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/05_07a_07.html BRAIN’S WHITE MATTER: MORE “TALKATIVE” THAN ONCE THOUGHT Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered to their surprise that nerves in the mammalian brain’s white matter do more than just ferry information between different brain regions, but in fact process information the way gray matter cells do. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/05_07_07.html Strokes: Not Just for Old People Throughout May — stroke awareness month — Johns Hopkins Children’s Center neurologists are sounding the alarm for parents about a common myth: that children don’t suffer strokes. In fact, nearly 3,200 children have so-called brain attacks each year, and half of them end up with permanent neurological damage, according to Lori Jordan, M.D. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=384 WHEN SMELL CELLS FAIL THEY CALL IN STEM CELL RESERVES Hopkins researchers have identified a backup supply of stem cells that can repair the most severe damage to the nerves responsible for our sense of smell. These reservists normally lie around and do nothing, but when neighboring cells die, the scientists say, the stem cells jump into action. A report on the discovery will appear online next week in Nature Neuroscience. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_29_07.html ANTIFUNGAL DRUG STOPS BLOOD VESSEL GROWTH Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered to their surprise that a drug commonly used to treat toenail fungus can also block angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels commonly seen in cancers. The drug, itraconazole, already is FDA approved for human use, which may fast-track its availability as an antiangiogenesis drug. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_26a_07.html ANTIDANDRUFF COMPOUND MAY HELP FIGHT EPILEPSY Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that the same ingredient used in dandruff shampoos to fight the burning, itching and flaking on your head also can calm overexcited nerve cells inside your head, making it a potential treatment for seizures. Results of the study can be found online in Nature Chemical Biology. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_26b_07.html HOPKINS RESEARCHERS FIND A BETTER BLOOD TEST FOR PROSTATE CANCER New studies of a blood protein recently identified at Johns Hopkins, early prostate cancer antigen-2 (EPCA-2), may change the way men are screened for prostate cancer - a disease that kills tens of thousands of men every year. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_26_07.html SHORT CHROMOSOMES PUT CANCER CELLS IN FORCED REST A Johns Hopkins team has stopped in its tracks a form of blood cancer in mice by engineering and inactivating an enzyme, telomerase, thereby shortening the ends of chromosomes, called telomeres. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_25_07.html SPEEDING “FINGERTIP” DISCOVERY-TWENTY YEARS OF PROTEIN INFO IN ONE PLACE Researchers at Johns Hopkins took advantage of a new technique that reads the makeup of proteins to identify nearly all chemical changes nature makes by adding phosphate to proteins manufactured in human cells. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_23_07.html JOHNS HOPKINS BEGINS AGGRESSIVE SCREENING FOR “SUPERBUGS” IN CHILDREN Infection control and critical care experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital have ordered testing for the two most common hospital superbugs for every child admitted to its pediatric intensive care unit. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_16_07.html MOST-AT-RISK NURSING HOME RESIDENTS TO BE TESTED FOR “SUPERBUGS” A Johns Hopkins study of adult patients admitted to The Johns Hopkins Hospital showed that patients who resided in nursing homes or other kinds of long-term care facilities at any time within the last six months were far more likely than other adult patients to carry or be infected with a drug-resistant superbug http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_16a_07.html JOHNS HOPKINS DEVELOPS PANCREAS CANCER RISK MODEL People with a family history of pancreas cancer now have a way to accurately predict their chance of carrying a gene for hereditary pancreas cancer and their lifetime risk of developing the disease. Developed by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers, the novel computer software tool is designed to help genetic counselors and physicians decide who would most benefit from early screening. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_16b_07.html “FUSION” PROTEIN FOUND BY JOHNS HOPKINS RESEARCHERS Working with fruit flies, scientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered a protein required for two neighboring cells to fuse and become one “super cell.” http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_10_07.html Power Lawn Mower Injuries Crop up with Change of Season Spring is here, the sky is blue, the grass is green and it’s time to give that lawn a trim. But beware: Lawn mower injuries are a seasonal threat to children and the leading cause of amputations in adolescents, say specialists from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Maryland’s designated pediatric trauma center where the most severe injuries are treated. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=381 PneuStep: MRI-SAFE MOTOR MAKES ROBOTIC BIOPSIES POSSIBLE Engineers at the Johns Hopkins Urology Robotics Lab report the invention of a motor without metal or electricity that can safely power remote-controlled robotic medical devices used for cancer biopsies and therapies guided by magnetic resonance imaging. The motor that drives the devices can be so precisely controlled by computer that movements are steadier and more precise than a human hand. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_06_07.html NEED OXYGEN? CELLS KNOW HOW TO SPEND AND SAVE Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered how cells fine-tune their oxygen use to make do with whatever amount is available at the moment. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_05b_07.html STATINS LINKED TO LOWER RISK OF INFECTION Researchers at Johns Hopkins may have discovered an unintended benefit in the drugs millions of Americans take to lower their cholesterol: The medications, all statins, seem to lower the risk of a potentially lethal blood infection known as sepsis in patients on kidney dialysis. The study is published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/04_05a_07.html Myths About Manhood Keep Teen Boys from Sexual Health Care Research led by specialists at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center has found that teenage boys who hold some traditional beliefs about what it means to be a “real man” can undermine their sexual health and good preventive care in general. Their report, in the April edition of Pediatrics, is the result of a nationwide study believed to be the first linking teens’ beliefs about manhood to their use of health care services. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=380 JOHNS HOPKINS RECEIVES ADDITIONAL $12.6 MILLION FROM DONALD W. REYNOLDS FOUNDATION TO STUDY SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and its Donald W. Reynolds Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center have been awarded $12.6 million in additional funding from its original namesake, the Las Vegas-based Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, to continue studies into the causes of sudden cardiac death. More than 300,000 Americans die each year when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood, triggered by an electrical disturbance in the heart. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_28_07.html HEART PUMPING VARIATIONS REVEALED AMONG AFRICAN AND CHINESE AMERICANS Generally healthy African Americans may be at higher risk of heart failure because of racial variations in heart muscle’s pumping ability, a Johns Hopkins study suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_26c_07.html WHO GETS HEART FAILURE? RACE TAKES BACK SEAT TO DIABETES AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE Diabetes and high blood pressure, two conditions rooted in genetics and environmental surroundings, play a much greater role than race alone in determining who is mostly likely to develop heart failure, according to the latest study from cardiologists at Johns Hopkins. Each year, nearly 300,000 Americans die from heart failure. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_27_07.html JOHNS HOPKINS HOUSING AND TESTING ONLY 256-SLICE CT SCANNER IN NORTH AMERICA Johns Hopkins Medicine has installed for three months of initial safety and clinical testing a 256-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner, believed to be the world’s most advanced CT imaging software and machinery. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_26b_07.html “SHRUG OFF” SHOULDER SURGERY MYTH, STUDY SUGGESTS Contrary to widespread belief, total surgical replacement of arthritic shoulder joints carries no greater risk of complications than replacement of other major joints, a Johns Hopkins study suggests. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_26_07.html Hopkins Researcher Develop Novel X-Ray System for Tracking the Delivery and Distribution of Stem Cells In a first of its kind study, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have developed a new technique that transports therapeutic stem cells in a multilayer microcapsule that not only protects the cells from being attacked by the body's immune system but also enables them to be seen on X-ray. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_25_07.html MAKING MICE WITH ENHANCED COLOR VISION Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and their colleagues have found that mice simply expressing a human light receptor in addition to their own can acquire new color vision, a sign that the brain can adapt far more rapidly to new sensory information than anticipated. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_22_07.html NEW TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED FOR TRACKING CELLS IN THE BODY Scientists’ inability to follow the whereabouts of cells injected into the human body has long been a major drawback in developing effective medical therapies. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed a promising new technique for noninvasively tracking where living cells go after they are put into the body. The new technique, which uses genetically encoded cells producing a natural contrast that can be viewed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), appears much more effective than present methods used to detect injected biomaterials. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_20_07.html JOHNS HOPKINS JOINS SEVEN OTHER INSTITUTIONS TO WARN CONGRESS ABOUT DANGERS OF FLAT FUNDING OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH Johns Hopkins University and a consortium of seven other leading U.S. scientific and medical institutions today warned Congress that persistent flat funding of biomedical research could thwart advances in treatments for such diseases as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, and erode U.S. dominance in science. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_19_07.html Kidney Disease In Children: Common but Treatable "Kidney disease occurs more often than we think, but it is also more treatable than we used to think, especially when caught early,” says Barbara Fivush, M.D., director of nephrology at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. “Children and adolescents should be monitored carefully because kidney disease that seems to suddenly strike young adults often has its roots in childhood.” http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=378 COMPUTER PROGRAM HELPS HOSPITALS PREPARE FOR MASS CASUALTIES Johns Hopkins emergency medicine specialists have developed a tool to help hospitals prepare for disasters with the potential to overwhelm services. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/03_06a_07.html WIDELY USED HEPATITIS B DRUG SPURS HIV DRUG RESISTANCE A Johns Hopkins study has proven false established medical practice that an antiretroviral drug widely used to treat hepatitis B liver infections was safe to use on its own in patients co-infected with HIV. Their findings demonstrate that treatment with entecavir leads to cross-resistance to other antiviral drugs used to treat the AIDS virus. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/02_28_07.html GENE HUNTERS CLOSE IN ON LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE In the first genome-wide search for the genetic roots of the most common form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Johns Hopkins scientists have newly identified 34 unique variations in the human genetic code among 276 unrelated subjects with ALS. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/02_20b_07.html STUDY LINKS ATTEMPTED SUICIDE WITH GENETIC EVIDENCE IDENTIFIED IN PREVIOUS SUICIDE RESEARCH A Johns Hopkins-led study has found evidence that a genetic tendency toward suicide has been linked to a particular area of the genome on chromosome 2 that has been implicated in two additional recent studies of attempted suicide. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/02_19_07.html PRIMITIVE YEAST YIELDS SECRETS OF HUMAN CHOLESTEROL AND DRUG METABOLISM By first probing the way primitive yeast make cholesterol, a team of scientists has discovered a long-sought protein whose human counterpart controls cholesterol production and potentially drug metabolism. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/02_16_07.html MEDICAL SCHOOL’S MASS SPEC EXPERTS AID SEARCH FOR LIFE ON MARS Biomedical scientists at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have won a $750,000 NASA grant to design the prototype for a mini mass spectrometer that fits on a Mars Rover and can analyze the chemicals of life as it crawls over the Red Planet’s dust. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/02_14_07.html CALL MADE FOR CHANGES IN WOMEN’S HEART DISEASE RISK-FACTOR LIST Johns Hopkins cardiologists are calling for an expansion of the criteria widely used by physicians to detect and assess a postmenopausal woman’s chances of developing cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death among women in the United States. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/02_13a_07.html Winter Colds, Over-Wrapping Raise the Risk of SIDS, Doctors Warn Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) – the leading cause of death in infants under 1 year of age – can happen at any time. But parents and caregivers should be extra careful during the cold winter months, when the flu and other infections and the urge to bundle up babies extra warmly increase the risk of SIDS, say experts from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/pages/news/pressdetails.cfm?newsid=373 HUMAN STEM CELL TRANSPLANTS REPAIR RAT SPINAL CORDS Human nerve stem cells transplanted into rats’ damaged spinal cords have survived, grown and in some cases connected with the rats’ own spinal cord cells in a Johns Hopkins laboratory, overturning the long-held notion that spinal cords won’t allow nerve repair. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/02_13_07.html HOPKINS SCIENTISTS UNCOVER CAUSE OF ANTIPSYCHOTIC DRUG WEIGHT GAIN Johns Hopkins brain scientists have hit on how and why some powerful drugs used for treating mental illnesses cause patients to gain so much weight that they often develop life-threatening complications such as diabetes and heart disease. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/02_12_07.html SEVERE FORM OF “ENLARGED PROSTATE” DISEASE DISCOVERED Millions of middle-aged and older men experience the symptoms of an enlarged prostate multiple times during the day and night. What they may not know is that the disease known as BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia), marked by urgency and frequent urination, is not one but at least a pair of disorders, and that one of the pair ― tied to a newly identified gene ― has far more serious implications. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2007/02_05_07.html JOHNS HOPKINS RSS FEED HAS MOVED PLEASE UPDATE YOUR NEWS AGGREGATORS TO POINT TO: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/RSS/HopkinsRSS.xml http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/RSS/HopkinsRSS.xml HTTP/1.1 200 OK Connection: close Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:56:58 GMT Server: Microsoft-IIS/6.0 X-Powered-By: ASP.NET Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Information About Your Inpatient Stay at The Johns Hopkins Hospital