The Johns Hopkins NIMH Center is comprised of an interdisciplinary research team who has pooled their talents to study the nature of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Their aim is to translate discoveries of the pathophysiological mechanisms into novel therapeutics for HAND.Our objectives are to integrate aspects of ongoing research in HAND and SIV encephalitis; to develop high-throughput and screening assays for identifying novel therapeutic compounds; to use proteomics and lipidomics approaches to indentifying surrogate markers of disease activity; to disseminate information and education about HAND through existing and new educational systems, including the JHU AIDS Education Training Center and the JHU Center for Global Clinical Education and to facilitate the entry of new investigators into neuro-AIDS research, and to catalyze new areas of research, particularly where relevant for drug discovery or the development of validated surrogate markers.

Research in the Jeremy Sugarman Lab focuses on biomedical ethics—particularly, the application of empirical methods and evidence-based standards to the evaluation and analysis of bioethical issues. Our contributions to medical ethics and health policy include work on the ethics of informed consent, umbilical cord blood banking, stem cell research, international HIV prevention research, global health and research oversight.

In the computational neuroscience Laboratory, we construct quantitative models of biological nervous systems that are firmly based on their neurophysiology, neuroanatomy and behavior, and that are developed in close interaction with experimentalists. Our main interest is neuronal function at the system level, reflecting the interaction of subsystems to generate useful behavior. Modeling is particularly important for understanding this and other system-level functions, since it requires the interaction of several pathways and neural functions. One of the functions we study is selective attention--that is, the capability of higher animals to scan sensory input for the most important information and to discard all other. Models of the neuronal basis of visual selective attention are constructed by simulating them on digital computers and comparing the results with data obtained from the visual and somatosensory systems of primates. We pay particular attention to the mechanisms involving the implementation of neural mechanisms that make use of the temporal structure of neuronal firing, rather than just the average firing rate.

The Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health is dedicated to training clinicians, researchers and public health experts to study and address the impact that hearing loss has on older adults and public health. We aim to make measured local, national and global impacts through a macro level (e.g., public policy legislation), micro level (e.g., programs to deliver hearing care to individuals in a particular community), and everywhere in between (e.g., influential research publications, etc.) to adhere to our center’s overall mission and vision of effectively optimizing the health and function of an aging society and become the premier global resource for ground-breaking research and training on hearing loss and public health.

The Johns Hopkins Laboratory of Computational Intensive Care Medicine (LCICM) has been established to gain knowledge on the mechanisms of critical illness and injury, with the aim of identifying novel methods to treat patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Members of the lab apply mathematical and statistical models, artificial intelligence, and domain expertise to unravel patterns in data from sources such as electronic health records, high-frequency physiological recordings, and medical imaging. These patterns are resolved into health signatures that can be leveraged for classification and prediction. The overarching goal is to enhance the precision, efficacy, and outcomes of care delivered to critically ill patients.

The Cardiology Bioengineering Laboratory, located in the Johns Hopkins Hospital, focuses on the applications of advanced imaging techniques for arrhythmia management. The primary limitation of current fluoroscopy-guided techniques for ablation of cardiac arrhythmia is the inability to visualize soft tissues and 3-dimensional anatomic relationships. Implementation of alternative advanced modalities has the potential to improve complex ablation procedures by guiding catheter placement, visualizing abnormal scar tissue, reducing procedural time devoted to mapping, and eliminating patient and operator exposure to radiation. Active projects include • Physiological differences between isolated hearts in ventricular fibrillation and pulseless electrical activity • Successful ablation sites in ischemic ventricular tachycardia in a porcine model and the correlation to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) • MRI-guided radiofrequency ablation of canine atrial fibrillation, and diagnosis and intervention for arrhythmias • Physiological and metabolic effects of interruptions in chest compressions during cardiopulmonary resuscitation Henry Halperin, MD, is co-director of the Johns Hopkins Imaging Institute of Excellence and a professor of medicine, radiology and biomedical engineering. Menekhem M. Zviman, PhD is the laboratory manager.

Dr. Clare Rock is an assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Associate hospital Epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Faculty Member at Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Her research interest focuses the prevention of pathogen transmission in the hospital environment. This includes novel strategies of improving patient room cleaning and disinfection, including human factors engineering approaches, and conducting robust clinical trials to examine effectiveness of ""no touch"" novel technologies such as UV-C light. She has particular interest in carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae transmission in the hospital environment, including outbreak management, and transmission and epidemiology of Clostridium difficile. Her other area of interest is diagnostic stewardship, and the behavioral, cultural and human factors aspects of implementation of initiatives to enhance appropriate use of diagnostic tests. She leads a national initiative, as part of the High Value Practice Academic Alliance, examining strategies for appropriate testing for Clostridium difficile. This is a wider implementation of work that Dr. Rock conducted with The Johns Hopkins Health System facilities. Dr. Rock has multiple sources of grant funding including from the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and industry. Dr. Rock is Vice Chair of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Research Network, and serves on the SHEA research committee. Dr. Rock earned her M.B.B.Ch. at the University College Dublin School of Medicine, National University of Ireland, and her MS masters of clinical science of research at the University of Maryland, where she received the MS scholar award for epidemiology.

Research in the Craig Pollack Lab focuses on cancer prevention and control, particularly prostate cancer. Our work aims to understand how the organization environment of health care affects the type and quality of care that patients receive. Other work investigates the broader social context of health and health care— specifically housing, financial hardship and socioeconomic status.

Dr. Sperati’s group focuses on complement mediated kidney disorders, glomerular disease, and renal arterial disease secondary to fibromuscular dysplasia. His team has a particular interest in thrombotic microangiopathies involving the complement system.

The Green Group is the biomaterials and drug delivery laboratory in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Our broad research interests are in cellular engineering and in nanobiotechnology. We are particularly interested in biomaterials, controlled drug delivery, stem cells, gene therapy, and immunobioengineering. We are working on the chemistry/biology/engineering interface to answer fundamental scientific questions and create innovative technologies and therapeutics that can directly benefit human health.