Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, June 30, 2005 | 3:00 p.m. | 898th Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, Ron Brookmeyer, Martha Hill, Edward Miller, Jonathan Weiner, and James Yager.

Guests: Drs. Neil Powe and Myron Weisfeldt; and Professor Stephen Teret.

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

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 896th meeting on May 19, 2005 were approved with a notation that the attendance from the meeting was missing from the minutes. Minutes of the 897th meeting on May 24, 2005 were approved.

Remarks by the Provost

Provost Knapp announced that a search will be initiated for a new Director of the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Robert Sirota has been the Director of the Peabody Institute since 1995; He has been named President of the Manhattan School of Music. Peter Landgren, a faculty member at the Peabody for over twenty years, has been named the Interim Director.

Provost Knapp also noted that there is a search for the Dean of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Barry Zirkin is a member of this search committee.

Remarks by the Dean

Dean Sommer commented that the Advisory Board meeting in July was changed from July 21st to July 14th. He announced that Dr. Donald Steinwachs will become the new Institutional Official responsible for leading the Human Research Protection Program at the School.

Report of the Faculty Senate

Dr. Diener-West reported that the Faculty Senate met once since the last Advisory Board, and discussed developing a Quality of Life Survey for School faculty. Faculty in the Departments of Health Policy and Management and Environmental Health Sciences have conducted faculty quality of life surveys. The Senate has gotten copies of these surveys and may develop one on a smaller scale that would be web-based.

Other topics for the Faculty Senate in the future will be the transitioning of the School s senior faculty and minority faculty recruitment and retention.

Other Business

Faculty Reappointments for 2005 2006
The Advisory Board vote to approve the list of faculty reappointments for 2005 2006 subject to the modifications circulated at the meeting.

Welch Center Self Study
Dr. Neil Powe, Director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research and Dr. Myron Weisfeldt, Chairman of the Department of Medicine joined the Advisory Board meeting. Dr. Powe thanked the Advisory Board for the opportunity to present an overview of the Self Study of the Welch Center to the Advisory Board. He began by giving a history of the Center, which was started in 1989 with a grant from the Rockefeller and Pew Foundations. The grant s goal was to bring together schools of medicine and schools of public health around prevention, clinical epidemiology and clinical research. It started as a small activity and has since grown into a substantial clinical research and teaching enterprise. He commented on the mission of the Center, which is to generate and disseminate knowledge required to prevent disease and promote the health of the public. He noted how important that proper training is in order to have future leaders in clinical epidemiology, disease prevention, and clinical and health services research.

He spoke about the specific aims and major activities of the Center. Yearly, there are 50 to 60 research projects amounting to $16 million in funding (direct costs). The Center is the research home for many Hopkins medical students who also obtain MPH degrees, as well as home for Hopkins medical students also obtaining a PhD degree in Epidemiology. Dr. Powe described several major research themes, including: clinical prevention and epidemiology (including genetic and molecular epidemiology); outcomes research, evidence-based medicine; cost effectiveness research; lifestyle interventions and health behaviors; primary care research and patient-physician communication; health and healthcare disparities; and aging. These themes are carried out in several disease areas including cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, endocrine disorders, mental health, and cancer. Dr. Powe went on to describe a number of the Center s research initiatives. Dr. Powe commented on the growth of the Welch Center s faculty and staff. In 2004 there were 29 primary faculty members in the Center, two-thirds with primary appointments in the School of Medicine and one-third in the School of Public Health, across a number of departments. The Center s core values include: collaboration and team building; creativity and new ideas; mentoring and development; opportunities for leadership; and patient and public health impact.

Dr. Powe next commented on the teaching activities of the Center. The faculty direct 26 courses in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health and co-direct a number of other courses. The Center has received several training grants, including the new NIH Roadmap Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Career Development K-12 Program. Dr. Powe, director of this Program, reported that its goal is to develop creative and successful clinical investigators who can lead research projects with multidisciplinary teams. The Program presently is involved in: experimental therapeutics; genetics and molecular epidemiology; evaluation of drugs, devices and surgical procedures; bioinformatics; patient outcomes, health services and disparities; social and behavioral sciences; and statistical methods. The Center is also home to the Johns Hopkins NIH Clinical Research Scholars Program for postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty interested in clinical research that involves multiple disciplines.

Dr. Powe noted what he believes are the Welch Center s key success factors: a culture of mentorship and excellence; extensive collaboration among the Welch Center Faculty; the School of Public Health being in close proximity; collaboration across the schools; strong training programs; growth in federal funding that has emphasized grant writing for career development; support for leadership; and contiguous space that facilitates the close working relationships.

He ended by speaking about the Center s future directions, opportunities, and challenges. Among the new opportunities are Clinical Research Re-engineering and increased research interactions with the Oncology Center and with the School of Nursing, as well as increased training opportunities. In response to a question, Dr. Powe responded that the most important secret to the Center s success is its collegiality; however the growth of the Center makes critical communication more of a challenge. Dean Sommer asked about how the faculty balance their work responsibilities when they have more than one office location. In response to a question about the potential for overlap between the Center activities and School activities such as the Center for Clinical Trials, Dr. Powe and others felt such overlap did not exist. Dr. Steinwachs commented that he appreciates the School s relationship with the Welch Center.

Dr. Weisfeldt reported that he finds the work of the Welch Center and its faculty to be exciting. He went on to mention many of the faculty associated with the Center. In fifteen years, the Center has come very far. He commented that the Welch Center holds a valued place in the Department of Medicine.

Dr. Sommer thanked Dr. Powe for his excellent presentation and advised that a committee to review the Welch Center would soon be formed. The Dean thanked Dr. Weisfeldt for his comments and commitment.

Proposal for a Dual Degree Program, Master of Science in Security Informatics (MSSI) and Master of Health Science in Health Policy (MHS)
Dr. Steinwachs reported on the Dual Degree Program in Security Informatics and Health Policy proposed by the Department of Health Policy and Management and the Whiting School of Engineering. This dual degree program is designed to cross-train professionals in public health policy and informatics security. The three-year program includes one year of coursework at the School of Public Health and one year of coursework at the Whiting School, followed by a nine-month field placement while the student is registered at the School of Public Health. Students will receive the two degrees independently, and the degrees may be awarded at different times during the three years.

A motion was made and seconded to accept the proposal and it was approved by the Advisory Board.

Department of Population and Family Health Sciences Strategic Plan and Request for Nine Professorial Positions
Due to the late hour, this item will be rescheduled.

The meeting was adjourned at 5 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Diane Glover

© 2005 The Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, Maryland. All rights reserved.
Last updated 07Nov05 by dgips@jhu.edu