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Fall 2016

 

Circling the Dome

Putting the Bite on Zika

As concern about the Zika virus is growing worldwide, the Johns Hopkins Zika Center has been launched to care for pregnant women and newborn babies, as well as men and women of all ages with the mosquito-borne and sexually transmitted virus.

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red mosquito illustration

Intensive Attention for High-Use Patients

A new pilot program is providing very intensive primary care services—integrated with behavioral health care and social services—to help keep patients with complex needs out of the ED and the hospital.

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Internist and preventive health care specialist Laura Sander examines Marcella Baker, who is enrolled in the Priority Access Primary Care pilot.

Defending Against Cyberattacks

Darren Lacey and his cybersecurity team at Johns Hopkins Medicine are working vigilantly to keep cyber intruders at bay.

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illustration of attack on a fortress

A Lasker for Semenza

Gregg Semenza, whose discoveries on how cells respond to low oxygen levels could result in treatments for illnesses ranging from cancer to diabetes, is among three researchers awarded the 2016 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award.

A professor of pediatrics here, Semenza shares the prestigious honor with co-award winners William G. Kaelin, Jr., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Peter J. Ratcliffe of Oxford University, for their “discovery of essential pathways by which human and animal cells sense and adapt to the presence of oxygen.”

Semenza is best known for his ground-breaking discovery of hypoxia inducible factor 1, or HIF-1, the protein that switches genes on and off in cells in response to low oxygen levels. The discovery, along with Semenza’s additional work clarifying the molecular mechanisms of oxygen regulation in cells, has far-reaching implications in understanding the impact of low oxygen levels in cancer, diabetes, coronary artery disease and other conditions.

By opening the field of oxygen biology to molecular analysis, Semenza’s research paves the way for development of drugs that could kill cancer cells by cutting off the supply of oxygen a tumor needs to grow, or increase the ability of HIF-1 to ensure that tissues affected by such conditions as arterial disease can survive on low oxygen levels. 

Gregg Semenza

$20 million

The approximate amount of money given by the Women’s Board of The Johns Hopkins Hospital since 1980 to the hospital and the schools of medicine and nursing from funds raised by its businesses, supporters and fundraising events.

“This year, we committed to grants to 11 clinical departments and two full scholarships—one to the school of medicine, and another to the school of nursing—totaling $750,000,” says Mona Miller, president of the Women’s Board, which counts about 50 active members.

Funded requests for fiscal year 2017 included 20 sleeper chairs for use by families and caregivers (oncology), a digital breast tomosynthesis-guided biopsy system (radiology), and an In-Touch Lite portable cart and screen for telemedicine (emergency medicine). “We all know that money is tight these days, so this allows departments to purchase something they might not otherwise be able to get,” says Miller. “That’s very gratifying.”

#4

The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s rank in the national in U.S. News and World Report annual Best Hospitals list, released in August.

In addition, 10 specialties at The Johns Hopkins Hospital are now among the top five in the nation, and 14 are in the top 10.

The hospital ranked #1 in Rheumatology; #2 in Neurology and Neurosurgery; #3 in Ear, Nose & Throat, Gastroenterology & GI Surgery, and Ophthalmology; #4 in Diabetes & Endocrinology, Geriatrics, Psychiatry and Urology; and #5 in Nephrology.