Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, July 17, 2003 | 3:00 p.m. | 875th Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, Steven Knapp, Ron Brookmeyer, Diane Griffin, Edward Miller, Jonathan Weiner, and James Yager.

Guests: Drs. Sharon Krag, Cecile Pickart, Fernando Pineda, and Mss. Sylvia Eggleston Wehr and Donna Helm

Meeting Convened: Dean Alfred Sommer convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: The minutes of the 874th meeting on June 26, 2003 were approved.

Remarks by the Dean

Dr. Sommer acknowledged and thanked Dr. Rose for his dedicated service over the years on the Faculty Senate and the Committee on Appointments and Promotions, where he served as chair for several years.

Other Business

Request for authorization for the Dean or his designee to act on the Board’s behalf in consultation with those Board members available during the summer months

The Advisory Board voted to approve this request.

Annual Report on Research Funding Trends — Ms. Helm

Ms. Helm joined the Advisory Board. She reviewed the Sponsored Projects Report for fiscal years 1999-2003. She explained that the report did not contain a forecast for fiscal year 2004 due to the conversion of the database to a new web-based platform that did not support a retrospective analysis. The forecast report will not be run until its accuracy is certain. Ms. Helm distributed numerous graphs and tables on sponsored projects awards. Data for the School and its nine academic departments included a review of the sponsored project awards: by type of activity, sponsor type, sources of awards, competing proposal success rates compared by divisions, departmental histories, and modified total direct costs and indirect costs recoveries. The total amount of sponsored project awards decreased slightly in FY 2003 from the previous year; however, Ms. Helm noted that the report for FY 2003 does not include potential funding from 324 pending proposals totaling $43.3 million as an updated end-of-year report will be circulated in September. The group thanked Ms. Helm for her report.

Proposed MHS Program in Bioinformatics — Drs. Pineda and Zeger

The Dean introduced Dr. Fernando Pineda to the Advisory Board, who along with Dr. Zeger reviewed plans for the new proposed MHS program in bioinformatics. The proposed program will be housed in the Department of Biostatistics. It is the result of an inter-departmental and inter-divisional effort to focus on quantitative genetics as one area for coordinated academic excellence. The program targets two kinds of students: persons directly from an undergraduate program; and MD or PhD candidates or graduates who desire a concentration in bioinformatics. The thought behind the proposed program is that educational programs providing interdisciplinary education in biostatistics, computer science, molecular biology, and public health will play a crucial role in the training of the future public health leaders. In May, the Committee on Academic Standards of the School approved the program contingent on some minor revisions. Dr. Pineda gave an overview of the program; the educational objectives; curriculum; the new courses being offered and the faculty; student characteristics; similar programs, and issues in the future. Others who assisted in the planning of the proposal were Giovanni Parmigiani (co-chair), Daniele Fallin, Harold Lehmann, Jonathan Pevsner, Ingo Ruczinski, and Alan Scott. The new program is complimentary to the medical informatics program in the School of Medicine. The Advisory Board voted to approve the new MHS program in Bioinformatics. The proposal will be forwarded to the Provost’s Office and to the Maryland Commission on Higher Education.

Dr. Sommer thanked Drs. Pineda and Zeger for their work in the proposal and presentation to the Advisory Board.

Update on the Office of External Affairs — Ms Eggleston Wehr

Ms. Sylvia Eggleston Wehr joined the group to give an update on the Office of External Affairs. She distributed a booklet outlining the activities of the Office which covers the areas of Development, Alumni Affairs and Governmental Relations, and Communication and Public Affairs for the School. Her office interacts with several external groups: the Health Advisory Board; the Honorary Committee; the Dean's Alumni Advisory Council; and the University Trustees. She mentioned several major fiscal year priorities for 2004: The present Campaign for $500 million (for the period 7/1/00 to 6/30/07), the rededication of the School on April 23, 2004, and the book "In Pursuit of Health". The campaign goal for this year is $65 million. As of the June 30, 2003, the School had already received $268 million of the Campaign goal. Cash comparisons were shown for fiscal year '02 & '03. Ms. Eggleston Wehr commented that all chairs were members of the "500 Club" in the last campaign. She gave an overview of the greatest successes of the External Affairs group and mentioned some of the challenges for the future. She noted that the Office of Communications has produced many brochures for the APHA meeting in November.

In closing, Ms. Eggleston Wehr described a new initiative, Century 2000: Building Global Health Leadership. Members of Century 2000: Building Global Health Leadership will be prominently recognized for their generosity on a plaque displayed in the new upper lobby in the School. Membership will recognize gifts of $15,000 or more. She hoped the chairs, deans and faculty leaders would seriously consider membership.

Request for new tenure-track recruitment for expert in cohort studies in the Department of Epidemiology — Dr. Samet

Dr. Samet reviewed his request for a tenure track position for an expert in cohort studies in Epidemiology. With the departure of Dr. Stephen Gange, who had successfully played a leadership role in the Women's Interagency HIV Study, the Department is seeking to expand into other areas of Epidemiology that involve cohort studies design and methodology. Although the expected focus will be in infectious diseases, this position will not be confined to that area alone. It is expected that the person will not only strengthen the activities in cohort studies but general epidemiology as well. The Advisory Board members were in favor of the request.

Request for new tenure-track recruitment in the area of reproductive biology in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology — Dr. McMacken

Dr. McMacken reported on his request to recruit a tenure-track faculty member in the area of Reproductive Biology in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He commented that as evidenced in the media, the emergence of assisted reproductive technologies, concern about environmental impacts on fertility and human disease, ethical concerns, genetic manipulation and concerns about the population growth, the broad area of reproductive biology has been brought to public consciousness, and is of major public health importance. The Division of Reproductive Biology has been the focal point for relevant research and training across the University with much collaboration among faculty and students of the Schools of Public Health, Medicine, and Arts and Sciences. It is important for the Department to sustain Reproductive Biology at Hopkins. These emerging areas would not only strengthen the School's presence in the area of Reproductive Biology but also compliment and expand major areas of interest in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The Advisory Board members were in agreement with the request.

Respectfully submitted,
Diane Glover

© 2003 The Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, Maryland. All rights reserved.
Last updated 10Nov03 by dgips@jhu.edu