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The
nation's first research university,
The Johns Hopkins University
opened in Baltimore in 1876.
Founding president Daniel Coit
Gilman laid out his vision for this new type of institution
in his inaugural address.
"What are we aiming at?" he asked. "The
encouragement of research ...and
the advancement of individual scholars, who by their
excellence will advance the sciences
they pursue, and the society where they dwell."
Today, his philosophy is widely accepted, but Gilman in his
day was a pioneer in
suggesting that research and teaching should occur in the
same institution, and that each
would strengthen the other. "The best teachers are
usually those who are free,
competent and willing to make original researches in the
library and the laboratory,"
Gilman said. "The best investigators are usually those
who have also the
responsibilities of instruction, gaining thus the incitement
of colleagues, the
encouragement of pupils, the observation of the
public."
The realization of Gilman's philosophy at Hopkins, and at
other institutions that later
attracted Hopkins-trained scholars, revolutionized higher
education in America, leading to
the research university system as it exists today.
Today,
Hopkins
remains a leader, in both teaching and research. The
School of Medicine is one of the
best anywhere, and the School of Public Health is
renowned for contributions
to health and preventive medicine worldwide. The other
divisions, though smaller -- by
design -- than similar schools in other institutions, include
eminent scholars and many
highly ranked departments.
From the introduction of surgical gloves to the
identification of the genetic basis of
cancers, from laying the groundwork for the science of
spectroscopy to the invention of
the all-plastic battery,
Johns
Hopkins research has contributed to the betterment of the
human condition for nearly a
century and a quarter.
Here is a
sampling of
recent discoveries at Johns Hopkins:
Student-Built Pill Dispenser Gives
Patient More Independence
Four Johns Hopkins undergraduates have constructed a
computer-guided pill dispensing
machine to enable a quadriplegic man to lead a more
independent life. Using a mouth stick, Robert Arthur
Williams can order one of up to 12 different medications
stored inside the machine. Then, when Williams taps a "slam
switch" (he has limited mobility in his right arm), the
machine dispenses a pill through a tube leading to Williams'
mouth. Working within a budget of $8,000, the students, in
the two-semester Senior Design Project course, designed and
built the device. "With this machine, I'll be able to take
medicine for pain or muscle spasms at 3 in the morning
without waking up one of my helpers," Williams said. "I'll
be able to take care of myself for longer periods of time
now."
Human Stem Cells Improve Movement in
Paralyzed Rats
Johns Hopkins researchers recently reported that
injection of human stem cells into the
fluid around the spinal cord of each of 15 paralyzed rats
clearly improved the animals' ability to control their hind
limbs -- but not at all in the way the scientists had
expected. The scientists, led by Douglas Kerr, assistant
professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine, first suspected that the rats regained some
movement because the human stem cells had repaired nerve
circuits that had been destroyed by a paralysis-inducing
virus. Instead, Kerr said, the team determined that "these
human embryonic germ cells create an environment that
protects and helps existing rat neurons -- teetering on the
brink of death -- to survive."
A Celestial Dust Cloud called 'Coalsack'
Yields a Surprise to Astronomers
Stargazers call a prominent dark black region in the
Southern Hemisphere's night sky the Coalsack. Even for
naked-eye observers, the cloud of cold gas that makes up
the Coalsack is hard to miss: it covers a part of the misty
luminescence of the Milky Way, blocking out the band of
distant stars in the disk of our galaxy. However,
a new aspect of the Coalsack may soon
have astronomers thinking of it more like a treasure
chest. A Johns Hopkins-led research team recently
unveiled evidence that the Coalsack has hot gases on its
perimeter, which means the Coalsack will likely provide
many opportunities to learn more about interactions between
regions of hot and cold gas, processes that are essential
to star formation and distribution of the elements that
make up life forms and the planets.
Injuries Cost China Over $12 Billion A
Year
Injuries from automobile crashes, drowning and other causes
cost China $12.5 billion each year in medical expenditures
and lost productivity, according to a study by
researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
They calculate the human toll annually to be 12.6 million
years of potentially productive years of life lost, which
is greater than the years lost from respiratory disease,
heart disease, cancer or infectious disease. "Injuries pose
a tremendous economic and social burden for the Chinese
people," said co-author, Timothy Baker, professor with the
school's Department of International Health. "The loss of
12 million productive working years annually is equivalent
to having 12 million workers on strike every year."
Unemployment, Access to Guns Can Set the
Stage for Deadly Domestic Violence
Access to guns, threats to kill and
most of all, unemployment, are the biggest predictors of
the murder of women in abusive relationships, concludes
a recent nationwide study led by Jacquelyn Campbell, a
professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of
Nursing. The study found that a combination of factors,
rather than a single factor, increases the likelihood that
a woman will be murdered by her partner. Researchers
interviewed family members and acquaintances of 220 women
who were killed, along with 343 women who reported physical
abuse. According to Campbell, the study suggest that steps
such as increasing shelter services for battered women,
increasing employment opportunities, and restricting
abusers' access to guns can potentially reduce rates of
femicide. She says health care professionals also play a
critical role in identifying women at high risk.
New 'Safe Buildings' System Could
Neutralize Biological Threats
A system to destroy airborne biological
agents as they move through a building's heating and air
conditioning ducts has been developed by The Johns
Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The new
technology, which destroys pathogens as they pass through a
building's ventilation system, has passed proof-of-concept
tests that involved retrofitting the system into existing
heating/ventilation/air conditioning systems. The system
works without any special filtering that might impede
airflow. "We have shown excellent neutralization of
simulants for bacteria, viruses and spores," says Project
Manager Richard S. Potember of APL's Research and
Technology Development Center. "Current testing involves
seeing how the technology functions in full-size commercial
HVAC systems, and the results are good." Prime candidates
for the system are hospitals, "sick" buildings, cruise
ships, airplanes and other vulnerable settings.
Electronic Voting System Could Open an
Election to Tampering
The software believed to be at the heart
of an electronic voting system being marketed for use in
elections across the nation has weaknesses that could
easily allow someone to cast multiple votes for one
candidate, computer security researchers at The Johns
Hopkins University have determined. The computer code,
which was posted on a public Web site, is believed to be
for Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems' electronic voting
equipment, which allow ballots to be cast via a 15-inch
touch-screen monitor. After analyzing tens of thousands of
lines of programming code, three researchers from the
Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkins believe
they've uncovered vulnerabilities in the system that could
be exploited by an individual or group intent on tampering
with election results.
Children May Outgrow Dangerous Peanut
Allergies
Parents whose children are allergic to peanuts may be
relieved to know that it's possible their children could
outgrow their allergy over time. In a study of 80 children
ages 4 to 14 with well-documented peanut allergies,
researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center and another
institution found that
some children completely lost their
potentially serious or life-threatening allergy to peanuts,
and that among those who did, there was a low risk of
allergy recurrence. "Although we once thought peanut
allergy was a lifelong problem, we now believe certain
children, namely those with low levels of allergy
antibodies, may outgrow it," said Robert Wood, a pediatric
allergist and immunologist at the Children's Center.
"Because of these findings, and the tremendous burden
peanut allergies can cause for children and their families,
I recommend that children with peanut allergy be retested
on a regular basis, every one or two years."
Researchers Solve Ballistic Mystery in Ceramic
Armor
Ballistics experts in recent years have puzzled over a troubling
loss of impact resistance in an extremely hard and lightweight
ceramic material called boron carbide, sometimes used in
protective armor. The material does an excellent job of blocking
low-energy projectiles such as handgun bullets, but it shatters
too easily when struck by more powerful ammunition. Researchers
from Johns Hopkins' Whiting School of Engineering and the U.S.
Army Research Laboratory say they have figured out why this
occurs. By observing the atomic structure of boron carbide
fragments retrieved from a military ballistic test facility, the
team discovered that
higher-energy impacts cause tiny bands of boron
carbide to change into a more fragile glassy form. The
researchers hope they have opened a door toward development of a
new form of the material that will do a better job of keeping
soldiers and police officers safe.
Depression in African-American Men May Be
Barrier to High Blood Pressure Control
A Johns Hopkins School of Nursing study concludes that
depression may sabotage efforts to
control high blood pressure in urban, African-American men.
The researchers found no direct link between depression and high
blood pressure, but the depressed men were five times more likely
to abuse alcohol, leading to behaviors that counteract efforts to
control blood pressure. The level of depression correlated
significantly with poor adherence to high blood pressure
treatment, according to Miyong Kim, associate professor at the
School of Nursing. She adds that the results demonstrate a need
for interventions that address depression as an essential
component of care for hypertensive patients.
Gauging the Risk of Air Crash: Pilot
Experience is Key
An airplane pilot's experience is a better indication of crash
risk than his or her age, Johns Hopkins researchers say. They
found in a study of 3,306 commuter plane pilots that those with
more than 5,000 hours of flight experience had less than half the
risk of a crash than less experienced counterparts. "Federal
aviation regulations prohibit airline pilots from flying beyond
the age of 60, but the relationship between pilot age and safety
had never been rigorously assessed," said Guohua Li, professor of
emergency medicine and of health policy and management. Susan P.
Baker, professor of health policy and management at Johns
Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health, added, "Our study
indicates that chronologic age by itself has little bearing on
safety performance. What really matters are age-related changes,
such as health status and flight experience."
Mission to Pluto Moves Ahead
The solar system's farthest known planetary outpost is closer to
getting its first visitor. NASA recently gave Johns Hopkins'
Applied Physics Laboratory, Southwest Research Institute and
their partners the go-ahead to
start full development of the first mission to
Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. The New Horizons spacecraft is
scheduled to launch in January 2006, swing past Jupiter for a
gravity boost and scientific studies in 2007, and reach Pluto and
its moon, Charon, as early as summer 2015. After a 6-month
encounter with Pluto-Charon -- during which New Horizons will
characterize Pluto's and Charon's global geology and
geomorphology, map their surface compositions and temperatures,
and examine Pluto's complex atmosphere -- the spacecraft will
head deeper in to the Kuiper Belt to study one or more of the icy
mini-worlds in that vast region, at least a billion miles beyond
Neptune's orbit.
Drug Design Expert Sets His Group's Sights on
SARS
Three days after the genome for the virus that causes SARS was
released, biologists at Johns Hopkins identified a protein made
by the virus that may provide a good target for drug
development. Work is currently under way to produce the
protein in recombinant form in sufficient amounts for drug design
studies to begin. The researchers found a protease, a protein
essential to viral reproduction, encoded in the genome of the
SARS virus, one of a class of viruses known as coronaviruses.
Proteases usually act as a kind of scissors, cutting viral
proteins into their active forms and enabling new viral particles
to form and infect other cells. "Not all viral proteases are the
same. They have different structures and mechanisms of action,"
cautions Ernesto Freire, Henry Walters Professor of Biology in
the university's Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. "It is
necessary to characterize very precisely the SARS-associated
coronavirus protease to validate its value as a drug development
target."
Student-Invented Device Eases Installation of
Child Safety Seats
Three Johns Hopkins University undergraduates have invented a low-tech tool that makes it much easier to
properly install child safety seats in automobiles, ensuring
a snug fit and maximum protection for the child. The device,
dubbed "Main Squeeze," is intended to simplify the difficult task
of compressing a child safety seat against a car's permanent seat
during installation. Incorrectly installed, a loose car seat can
shift during an accident and leave an infant or toddler exposed
to unnecessary risk of injury. The tool was designed and
assembled over the past school year by three mechanical
engineering majors enrolled in the Whiting School of
Engineering's Senior Design Course.
FDA Gives Chemo-Wafers the Go-Ahead for Brain
Tumors
The FDA recently gave its much-awaited approval to localized
chemotherapy as a "first crack" at malignant brain tumors. The
method relies on a
dime-size polymer wafer -- laced with the
chemotherapeutic agent BCNU -- that releases the drug onto
malignant cells. "When you apply therapy directly where it's
needed, you minimize whole-body side effects that would otherwise
keep you from using something so potent," said Johns Hopkins
neurosurgeon Henry Brem, who developed the technique. "We've seen
that quality of life improves when we can combine the implants
with surgery," added Alessandro Olivi, head of neurosurgical
oncology.
Wind's Energy Transfer to Ocean Waves
Quantified for First Time
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University and the University of
California-Irvine have finally been able to field-test theories
about
how wind transfers energy to ocean waves, a
topic of debate since the 19th century that had previously proved
impossible to settle experimentally. The new results may help
lead the way to the resolution of a longstanding problem in
scientists' understanding of how energy and momentum are
exchanged between the atmosphere and the oceans. "Until now,
we've had lots of theories [on wind-to-wave energy transfer], but
no experimental confirmation because it's been so hard to make
the theory and the experiment talk to each other," says Tihomir
Hristov, an associate research scientist in the Department of
Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins and lead author on
the new paper.
Joy Yang's Powerful Flecks of
Lint
In 1995, as a postdoctoral fellow at M.I.T., Joy Yang made a
fascinating discovery. She deleted a protein called alpha 4
integrin from mouse embryos and discovered that the embryos
developed hemorrhaged hearts and died before reaching maturity.
Death came, she determined, because the embryos were lacking the
topmost layer of the heart, the epicardium, and therefore
couldn't grow coronary vessels to circulate life-supporting
blood.
Why, Yang wondered, is alpha 4 integrin
necessary to develop an epicardium? To find out, in 1996,
when she joined Johns Hopkins' Department of Cell Biology, she
went right on studying the same mouse-embryo protein. Now she's
come up with another discovery -- it turns out that the alpha 4
integrin helps the cells destined to form the epicardium and
coronary vessels attach to the surface of the heart.
Vehicle Traffic Associated with Increased
Carcinogen Levels
Assessing a community's cancer risk could be as simple as
counting the number of trucks and cars that pass through the
neighborhood. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School
of Public Health have identified a
significant association
between vehicle traffic and curbside concentrations of several
carcinogens. The findings may be especially relevant for
urban communities where people live close to high-volume
roadways. "Mobile source emissions present a unique public health
threat," said Timothy Buckley, professor with the school's
Department of Environmental Health Sciences. "This study provides
a unique, real world assessment of the relationship between
traffic volume, vehicle class, the weather and curbside
concentration of carcinogens."
Virtual Observatory Prototype Produces
Surprise Discovery: A New Brown Dwarf Star
A new approach to finding undiscovered objects buried in immense
astronomical databases has produced an early and unexpected
payoff:
a new instance of a hard-to-find type of
star known as a brown dwarf. Scientists working to create the
National Virtual Observatory, an online portal for astronomical
research unifying dozens of large astronomical databases, said
the star emerged from a computerized search of information on
millions of astronomical objects. "This was just supposed to be a
feasibility demo. We just wanted it to find all the brown dwarfs
that others could find, to show that this was a valid approach,"
said Alex Szalay, director of the NVO project and Alumni
Centennial Professor of Astronomy at Johns Hopkins. "This was the
first time we turned the NVO devices on, and they immediately
yielded a new discovery from data that's been publicly available
for at least a year and a half."
Robots Can Help Diagnose Kidney
Disease
Robotics are not new to needle biopsy procedures. Using a joy
stick to deftly manipulate a robotic arm under X-ray guidance,
surgeons have been able to obtain tissue specimens they often
miss in conventional biopsy techniques. That works fine for fixed
organs like the prostate or spine, but target a tiny tumor deep
inside a moving organ like the kidney and it's like trying to
thread a needle, blindfolded. "You image the kidney and say, 'Put
the needle here,'" says Johns Hopkins endourologist Thomas
Jarrett, "and by the time the robotic arm carries out the task,
the organ may have moved." No more.
By linking a
robotic device developed at Hopkins with real-time CT
imaging, Jarrett and other surgeons are able to do a biopsy
on the smallest lesions in a moving organ. That's because the
device, called PAKY, or percutaneous access to the kidney, is
able to lock on a moving target, much like a laser-guided
missile.
Special
Reports:
The Cutting Edge
In an operating room at Johns Hopkins Hospital, about 30
medical students in green scrubs and white lab coats
practice tying knots -- perfecting their suturing
techniques. In a smaller operating room across the hall, a
urologist is practicing tying knots as well. But the
monofilament nylon he's looping and pulling is several feet
away from his hands. As he works, the surgeon is looking at
a 3-D camera image of the operative field, where mechanical
silver hands are gently threading a suture. In this
operating theater, a robotic assistant is "closing" on the
patient. Both scenarios are part of the
training mission at the Johns Hopkins-U.S. Surgical
Minimally Invasive Surgical Training Center, which
provides lab sessions for inexperienced surgeons, as well
as tutorials in cutting-edge medical technology such as
robotic-assisted surgery. The promise of robotic-assisted
surgery and the exacting tradition of hand-sewn sutures
come together under one roof in a new surgical training
center on Blalock 12. An in-depth look at this center
unfolds in this article from Johns Hopkins
Magazine.
Smoke Out!
In rural India, people still believe in the magic of
tobacco. Villagers think tobacco can rid them of
toothaches, sweeten bad breath or soothe their bowels. In
Tirana, Albania, "Marlboro girls" in short skirts stroll
the streets handing out free packs of cigarettes. In Japan,
the government must by law promote development of its
tobacco industry. In Lima, Moscow, Kampala, and Kansas
City, advertising links cigarette smoking with vitality,
sexiness, slimness, and even health.
Myths, misconceptions, and lies about tobacco
abound in a world where 1.1 billion people smoke.
Global debates over public smoking, advertising bans, and
tobacco taxes are clouded by industry influence, politics,
and cultural beliefs. Yet the science on the health effects
of tobacco has never been more clear: Smoking kills. To
address this dilemma, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health founded the Johns Hopkins Institute for
Global Tobacco Control in May 1998. The center's strategies
and the formidable challenges it faces are spelled out in
this cover story from Johns Hopkins Public
Health.
Learn more about
what Johns Hopkins researchers are working on
at the following selected sites:
Health and Medicine
Social Sciences, Humanities and the
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Natural Sciences, Engineering and
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