The Society of Scholars was created on the recommendation of then President Milton S. Eisenhower and approved by the university board of trustees on May 1, 1967. The society — the first of its kind in the nation — inducts former postdoctoral fellows, postdoctoral degree recipients, house staff and junior or visiting faculty who have served at least a year at Johns Hopkins and thereafter gained marked distinction elsewhere in their fields of physical, biological, medical, social or engineering sciences or in the humanities and for whom at least five years have elapsed since their last Johns Hopkins affiliation. The Committee of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, whose members are equally distributed among the academic divisions, elects a limited number of scholars from the candidates nominated by the academic divisions with postdoctoral programs.

The scholars elected in 2009 will be invested at a ceremony hosted by acting Provost Scott Zeger at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, in Homewood's Mason Hall. At that time, the new members will each receive a certificate and a medallion on a black-and-gold ribbon to be worn with academic regalia. The induction, which brings to 536 the total number of members in the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, will be followed by a dinner hosted by President Ronald J. Daniels. The new members will be recognized at Commencement on May 21.

The following listing of the new Society of Scholars members is accompanied by a short description of their accomplishments at the time of their election to the society.

 

Kenneth C. Anderson
Boston

Kenneth Anderson

Kenneth Anderson, a 1977 graduate of the School of Medicine and an intern, fellow and resident in the Department of Internal Medicine from 1977 to 1980, has developed one of the world's most successful translational research programs devoted to multiple myeloma. As the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, chief of the Division of Hematologic Neoplasia and director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, he has conducted research studies that have resulted in important new therapies for the treatment of this cancer of the plasma cell. Specifically, Anderson's research group played a major role in the development of bortezomib, possibly the most effective drug against this serious disease. Also vice chair of the Program in Transfusion Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Anderson has made significant contributions to the development of cellular therapies and minimization of the immunologic complications of blood transfusion. In 2005, he received the Robert A. Kyle Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Myeloma Foundation.

Nominators: William Nelson, the Marion I. Knott Professor and Director of the Department of Oncology, and Richard J. Jones, professor and director of the Hematologic Malignancies Program, Department of Oncology, School of Medicine

 

Karen D. Davis
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Karen Davis

Karen Davis published 14 papers based on her three-year postdoctoral fellowship research, from 1988 to 1991, in the Pain Research Laboratory at Johns Hopkins. She has gone on to an exemplary career at the University of Toronto, where she now serves as head of the Division of Brain, Imaging and Behavior-Systems Neuroscience and associate director of the Institute of Medical Science. She also holds the Canada Research Chair in Brain and Behavior. Davis' laboratory has developed innovative brain-imaging approaches, culminating in the first functional MRI images of brain networks underlying the human pain experience and the first images of the impact of deep brain stimulation for Parkinsonian tremor. Her research has increased the understanding of pain, attention and plasticity associated with neurological and psychiatric disease. Davis has also created educational programs and published the book New Techniques for Examining the Brain.

Nominator: James N. Campbell, professor of neurosurgery, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, School of Medicine

 

Merrill J. Egorin
Pittsburgh

Merrill Egorin

An intern and resident from 1973 to 1975 who also received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Johns Hopkins, Merrill Egorin worked under Victor McKusick and completed a clinical fellowship at the Baltimore Cancer Research Center. Since 1998, he has been a professor of medicine and of pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Now co-director of the Molecular Therapeutics/Drug Discovery Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Egorin has played a central role in defining the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationships of a large number of chemotherapeutic agents currently used to treat cancer. For example, his work has led to a paradigm shift in the dosing of the cancer drug carboplatin. In addition, he has pioneered the current standards regarding evaluation of a specific group of chemotherapy drugs in special populations, such as patients with organ dysfunction and the elderly.

Nominator: David S. Cooper, professor of endocrinology, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine

 

Martha S. Linet
Bethesda, Md.

Martha Linet

Considered a leading scientific expert in the epidemiology of leukemia, Martha Linet is chief of the Radiation Epidemiology Branch in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute. She has directed landmark studies of childhood leukemia that have focused on low- frequency magnetic fields and radiation exposure outcomes in the U.S. Radiologic Technologists Cohort. Linet has also led collaborative international studies representing the United States with the International Agency for Research on Cancer and liaison activities for the National Cancer Institute to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. In addition, she was a key scientific member of the advisory committee that investigated cancer risks following the Chernobyl accident. She has contributed substantially to the scientific literature, including a text on the epidemiology of leukemia. At Johns Hopkins, Linet was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Epidemiology from 1977 to 1979.

Nominator: David D. Celentano, professor and interim chair, Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health

 

Victor J. Marder
Los Angeles

Victor Marder

Victor Marder received undergraduate, master's and medical degrees from Johns Hopkins and was an intern in the Department of Medicine from 1959 to 1960. He has since led a distinguished academic career with leadership positions at Temple University, the University of Rochester and most recently UCLA, where he is a clinical professor of medicine, pediatrics and neurology in the David Geffen School of Medicine and director of the Vascular Medicine Service at the Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital. Marder's research, both basic and translational, has focused on blood coagulation. He conducted pioneering studies on the interaction of fibrinogen with the fibrinolytic agent plasmin, and his translational studies led to a new therapy for use in venous thromboembolic disease, heart attack and stroke. Marder's numerous recognitions for his scientific accomplishments include a distinguished career award from the International Society of Hemostasis and Thrombosis.

Nominator: Jerry L. Spivak, professor of medicine and oncology, School of Medicine

 

Joel Moss
Bethesda, Md.

Joel Moss

Currently deputy chief of the Translational Medicine Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, Joel Moss was an intern and resident in the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine from 1972 to 1974. Since then, he has consistently engaged in pioneering research and is now an acknowledged leader in the field of biochemistry. His initial studies focused on cholera toxin, the protein responsible for fluid and electrolyte losses characteristic of cholera, and he added to the understanding of how that protein operates. More recently, Moss has been involved in research on deadly lung diseases, including a rare disorder known by the acronym LAM. He holds several patents and has published a number of texts, one of which is a volume that describes the structure and function of bacterial toxins. In recognition of his accomplishments, Moss has received the Passano Foundation Young Investigator Award, the AFCR Young Investigator Award and the LAM Foundation Award.

Nominator: M. Daniel Lane, Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine

 

Bernd Nowack
St. Gallen, Switzerland

Bernd Nowack

Bernd Nowack is internationally recognized for his imaginative contributions toward understanding the interactions of natural and synthetic chemicals with particulate matter. His work with detergent builders and other synthetic chelating agents has aided European Union reappraisals of their safety. While at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems, he pioneered methods for documenting chemical assimilation by plant roots. Presently, Nowack leads the Materials, Products and the Environment Group at the Swiss Institute for Materials Science and Technology. There he is developing innovative approaches toward predicting transformations and the ultimate impact of engineered nanoparticles in environmental media. He has been a key organizer of influential international conferences and workshops on environmental chemistry, nanoparticle science and technology, and biogeochemistry. At Johns Hopkins, Nowack was a postdoctoral fel-low in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering from 1997 to 1998.

Nominator: Alan T. Stone, professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering

 

Thomas A. Pearson
Rochester, N.Y.

Thomas Pearson

Thomas Pearson received his medical degree, master's degree in public health and doctoral degree in cardiovascular epidemiology from Johns Hopkins, where he also completed residencies in preventive medicine and internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology. Today, he is widely recognized as a leader in public health research and, specifically, in the epidemiology and prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Pearson is the Albert D. Kaiser Professor in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine and senior associate dean for clinical research at the University of Rochester. With a long-standing interest in international trends in cardiovascular disease and stroke, Pearson was one of the first to identify the spread of coronary diseases in developing countries. His research at the patient, health care system, community and public policy levels has helped develop guidelines in preventive cardiovascular disease and has contributed significantly to the incorporation of new knowledge and approaches to the education of the public and various health care groups.

Nominator: Leon Gordis, professor, Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health

 

Jennifer A. Pietenpol
Nashville, Tenn.

Jennifer Pietenpol

A fellow in the Oncology Center at Johns Hopkins from 1991 to 1994, Jennifer Pietenpol is now the B.F. Boyd Jr. Professor of Molecular Oncology and professor of biochemistry, cancer biology and otolaryngology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She has made major contributions to our understanding of the p53 signaling network. The p53 gene is altered in numerous forms of cancer- -including those of the breast, colon, lung, brain, pancreas and stomach — and is the most frequently altered cancer gene yet identified. Pietenpol has helped discover how p53 and related genes work to make cells grow abnormally and, in particular, how they divide so quickly and die so slowly. Her research seeks not only to define these mechanisms but also to use this information to advance patient care. Pietenpol plays a major role in charting the directions of cancer research in the United States as director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and as a presidentially appointed member of the national Cancer Advisory Board.

Nominators: Nancy Davidson, Breast Cancer Research Professor in Oncology, and Bert Vogelstein, Clayton Professor of Oncology and Pathology, School of Medicine

 

James Piscatori
Canberra, Australia

James Piscatori,

James Piscatori is a leading interpreter of international political Islam of the fundamentalist variety. His work explores the transnationalism of Islam, moving attention away from its place within individual societies and highlighting the ties between Muslim history, sociology and politics. Originally working in Islam in international law, Piscatori developed interests in Islamic fundamentalism during his stint as an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies from 1986 to 1989, well before the events of Sept. 11, 2001, turned the world's attention to the phenomenon. Piscatori was a fellow in the Center for Islamic Studies at Oxford University before assuming his current position as deputy director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University.

Nominator: I. William Zartman, professor emeritus and director, Conflict Management Program, SAIS

 

Ralph E. Pudritz
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Ralph Pudritz

As a postdoctoral fellow working with Colin Norman in the Center for Astrophysical Sciences at Johns Hopkins from 1984 to 1986, Ralph Pudritz wrote papers on outflows from protostars that are still widely cited classics. His career has continued on a brilliant path. He is a world-renowned expert on star formation, astrophysical jets and outflow, and the properties of molecular clouds. He chaired the 2000 Canadian Decadal Survey for Astronomy, the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken in Canadian astrophysics. Its recommendations ultimately made Canada an active partner for new observatories, such as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Thirty Meter Telescope. In 2004, Pudritz founded the Origins Institute at McMaster University, which he directs today. The institute focuses on research in transdisciplinary fundamental science, and it is now a significant research center for astrobiology. With numerous major papers and books to his credit, Pudritz gives presentations frequently on star and planet formation and, more recently, astrobiology.

Nominator: Colin A. Norman, professor, Center for Astrophysical Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

 

Anne L. Taylor
New York

Anne Taylor

Anne Taylor is an established researcher whose extensive body of work has focused on cardiovascular diseases in minorities and women. She has also been instrumental in the transfer of knowledge about cardiovascular disease prevention from the realm of research to the community. From 2001 to 2005, Taylor chaired the steering committee for the African-American Heart Failure Trial, which was a landmark research effort that tested the effectiveness of a heart failure medication in a specific ethnic population. The results of the study have contributed significantly to human health and to the opportunity to understand further the influence of ethnicity on disease and life-saving achievement strategies. A research fellow in the Johns Hopkins Department of Cardiology from 1981 to 1982, Taylor is the vice dean for academic affairs and professor of medicine in cardiology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She has been recognized with many awards and honors and is further distinguished because of her demonstrated administrative ability in a variety of settings.

Nominator: Myron L. Weisfeldt, the William Osler Professor of Medicine and chairman, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine

 

Donald L. Trump
Buffalo, N.Y.

Donald Trump

A 1970 graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Donald Trump completed an internship and residency training in medicine and a fellowship in oncology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1970 to 1974, served as chief resident in internal medicine from 1974 to 1975 and was a member of the cancer center faculty from 1977 to 1981. Trump's distinguished academic career includes leadership roles at several premier cancer centers as well as his current position as president and CEO of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y. Trump is a national and international authority in the treatment of prostate cancer and other genitourinary cancers. In particular, he has made major contributions to the field of new anticancer drug development and has added significantly to our understanding of the role of vitamin D in the pathogenesis and treatment of cancer.

Nominators: William Nelson, the Marion I. Knott Professor and Director of the Department of Oncology, and Ross C. Donehower, the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor in Clinical Investigation of Cancer, Department of Oncology, School of Medicine

 

Lai-Xi Wang
Baltimore

Lai-Xi Wang

Lai-Xi Wang is an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Institute of Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. His research has provided important new insights for HIV vaccine design and propelled him to the forefront of the anti-HIV field. Specifically, he has explored carbohydrate antigens as a target for an HIV vaccine by synthesizing novel oligosaccharides (saccharide polymers) to mimic the antigens on the viral envelope. Wang has also developed a highly efficient method for making glycoproteins that carry defined oligosaccharides, a process that opens a new avenue for rapid access to various glycoproteins that are essential for probing the structure and function of this class of important biological molecules. In recognition of his achievements, Wang received the 2004 Young Investigator Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry from the American Chemical Society. Wang was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins in the Department of Biology from 1993 to 1997.

Nominator: Yuan C. Lee, professor, Department of Biology, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

 

Arnold-Peter C. Weiss
Providence, R.I.

Arnold-Peter Weiss

Arnold-Peter Weiss received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Johns Hopkins and was an intern and resident in the departments of General Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery from 1985 to 1990. Today, he is known throughout the world as an accomplished hand surgeon, excellent educator and ingenious innovator. Weiss specializes in hand and wrist reconstruction with a special interest in finger- and wrist-joint replacement surgery. He holds eight patents for novel surgery techniques and equipment, including a new carpal tunnel release procedure and joint replacement implants. Weiss is associate dean of medicine and dean of admissions at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School. He has been honored with the America's Top Doctors, Best Doctors in America and America's Top Surgeons awards. He has also been a distinguished leader in many orthopedic organizations, such as the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. He is editor of the two-volume text Hand Surgery.

Nominator: Frank J. Frassica, the Robert A. Robinson Professor and chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine

 

How the Society of Scholars came about

To learn more about the genesis of the Society of Scholars — and background on postdoctoral fellows at Johns Hopkins — see "Hopkins History: Milton Eisenhower, postdocs and the Society of Scholars," in this issue.

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