Eight Johns Hopkins physicians have been elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP) and two have been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Presentation of the new members took place at a joint meeting of the two organizations on April 15 through 17 in Chicago. In addition, one Hopkins physician was awarded the AAP’s highest medal, and another was named vice president of the ASCI.

The American Association of Physicians is a nonprofit, professional organization whose goals include the pursuit of medical knowledge and the advancement through experimentation and discovery of basic and clinical science and their application to clinical medicine. Each year, individuals who have attained excellence in achieving these goals are nominated for membership by the AAP’s council. Their election gives them the opportunity to share their scientific discoveries and contributions with their colleagues at the annual meeting.

The American Society for Clinical Investigation is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected medical honor societies. Its mission is to support the scientific efforts, educational needs and clinical aspirations of physician-scientists to improve human health. The 3,000-member organization elects up to 80 new members each year for their significant research accomplishments.

Recipient of the American Association of Physicians’ highest honor, the Kober Medal, given for outstanding contributions to medicine or medical science:

--Peter Agre, M.D., is director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, a professor of biological chemistry and a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor. His research has focused on the molecular aspects of human diseases, including hemolytic anemias, blood group antigens and malaria. Agre was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize for his discovery of what he called the aquaporin proteins, which form the channels that enable water to flow in and out of cells. The discovery was recognized as “of great importance for understanding many diseases of the kidneys, heart, muscles and nervous system.” As president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Agre led science in diplomacy missions to Cuba, North Korea and Myanmar. His honors include election to the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. Agre’s Kober Medal was presented to him by Paul B. Rothman, dean of the medical faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Elected to the American Association of Physicians:

--William R. Bishai, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases and serves as co-director for the Johns Hopkins University Center for Tuberculosis Research. Bishai’s interests include tuberculosis pathogenesis, animal models of pulmonary infections and bacterial respiratory tract infections. He has served extensively on international conference planning committees, study sections, editorial boards and review panels, including three years on the World Health Organization’s Stop TB Partnership Coordinating Board.

--Richard E. Chaisson, M.D., is a professor of medicine, epidemiology and international health. He directs the Center for AIDS Research and the Center for Tuberculosis Research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. His research interests focus on tuberculosis and HIV infection, including global epidemiology, clinical trials, diagnostics and public health interventions. He was principal investigator and director of the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS/TB Epidemic (CREATE), an international research consortium funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to assess the impact of novel strategies for controlling HIV-related TB at the population level. He maintains active collaborative research and training programs in Brazil, South Africa, Malawi and India.

--Josef Coresh, M.D., is the George W. Comstock Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and a professor of medicine and biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He directs the George W. Comstock Center for Public Health Research and Prevention, which includes 35 staff members who collect data for multiple studies and investigators across the university. He also directs the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Program. He has been honored by the National Kidney Foundation with the Garabed Eknoyan Award for contributions to kidney disease research and by the American Heart Association with the Epidemiology and Prevention Mentoring Award. He has led investigations on the prevalence and consequences of chronic kidney disease that have been instrumental in national and international clinical practice guidelines related the definition and staging of chronic kidney disease.

--Diane Griffin, M.D., is the University Distinguished Service Professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, where she was the department chair from 1994 to 2015. She holds joint appointments in the departments of Neurology and Medicine. In 2004, Griffin was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in the discipline of microbial biology. She is also the vice president of the National Academy of Sciences. Her research examines how the body responds to viral infection. She has placed particular emphasis on the central nervous system, researching the effects of Sindbis virus and the measles virus on the brain.

--Elizabeth M. Jaffee, M.D., deputy director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, is an international leader in the development of immune-based therapies for pancreatic and breast cancers. She is a professor of pathology and oncology, and she co-directs the Cancer Immunology and Gastrointestinal Cancers programs. She established and directed the Kimmel Cancer Center’s Cell Processing and Gene Therapy cGMP Facility. She is the first recipient of the Dana and Albert “Cubby” Broccoli Professorship in Oncology and is the co-director of the Skip Viragh Center for Pancreas Cancer Clinical Research and Patient Care. Jaffee’s research is focused on the development of novel vaccine approaches that overcome immune tolerance to cancers, and she holds six vaccine patents. She recently was selected to co-chair the Blue Ribbon Panel that will inform the scientific direction and goals at the National Cancer Institute of Vice President Joe Biden’s national cancer moonshot initiative.

--Peter J. Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., is senior vice president for patient safety and quality for Johns Hopkins Medicine and the director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. He is a world-renowned patient safety champion. His scientific work leveraging checklists to reduce catheter-related bloodstream infections has saved thousands of lives and earned him high-profile accolades, including being named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine (2008). He also is an adviser to the World Health Organization’s World Alliance for Patient Safety and regularly addresses Congress on patient safety issues.

--Robert F. Siliciano, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of medicine, molecular biology and genetics, and pharmacology and molecular sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a member of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 1995, his laboratory provided the first demonstration that latently infected memory CD4+ T cells were present in patients with HIV-1 infection. He showed that latently infected cells persist even in patients on prolonged antiretroviral therapy (ART). These studies indicated that eradication of HIV-1 infection with ART alone would never be possible, a finding that led to a fundamental change in the treatment strategy for HIV-1 infection. This latent reservoir is now recognized as the major barrier to curing HIV-1 infection and is the subject of an intense international research effort. Siliciano’s laboratory has gone on to characterize the reservoir and to explore strategies for eradicating it. 

--Suzanne L. Topalian, M.D., is a professor of surgery and oncology for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, director of the Melanoma Program, and associate director of the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Topalian is a physician-scientist whose studies of human anti-tumor immunity have provided a foundation for the clinical development of cancer vaccines, adoptive T cell transfer and immune-modulating monoclonal antibodies. Her work has opened new avenues of scientific investigation in cancer immunology and immunotherapy, and has established this treatment approach as a pillar of oncology. 

Elected vice president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation:

--Kieren Marr, M.D., is a professor of medicine and oncology, medical director of the Transplant and Oncology Infectious Diseases Program, and associate vice chair for Innovation and Commercialization at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her translational and clinical research has led to pivotal observations on the immunopathogenesis of aspergillosis, optimization of diagnostics and strategies to prevent and treat invasive fungal infections. In 2013, her research led to the establishment of a Johns Hopkins University startup company, MycoMed Technologies, which is focused on developing devices and drugs to prevent fungal infections in medically immunosuppressed people. In 2015, she was named one of the World’s Most Influential Contemporary Researchers by Thomson Reuters, based on citation data compiled across 21 scientific fields.

Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation:

--Elia J. Duh, M.D., a professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, specializes in diseases of the retina, including diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. In addition to his clinical practice, Duh researches the molecular mechanisms underlying diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration, particularly the process of ocular neovascularization. 

--Gregory D. Kirk, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., is a professor of epidemiology, medicine and oncology, and the vice chair for clinical and translational research for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research focuses on understanding the long-term consequences of HIV and on improving treatment outcomes for HIV and related diseases in marginalized populations. He leads an interdisciplinary group of epidemiologists, clinicians, biostatisticians, and behavioral and laboratory scientists involved in a diverse research portfolio.