Newsbriefs Medical News ----------------------------- Cervical cancer linked to sexually transmitted viruses ----------------------------- Hopkins researchers have made an important connection between sexually transmitted viruses--known as human papillomaviruses--and cervical cancer. The findings of the multicenter, multinational study, directed by Michele Manos, a visiting scholar at the School of Public Health, were published in last week's Journal of the National Cancer Institute. This study--linking HPV to 93 percent of the 1,000 tumors examined from 22 countries--is the first to show that these viruses are the leading cause of cervical cancers worldwide. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women around the world and the most common and fatal in developing countries. About a half-million new cases are reported each year, 80 percent of them in developing countries. ------------------------------- Oncology Center launches telemedicine project ------------------------------- The Hopkins Oncology Center has signed an agreement to use telecommunications technology to provide clinical consultations, medical education and research opportunities to physicians at the Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore and affiliated hospitals in Southeast Asia. The video conferencing system, known as telemedicine, will allow Hopkins physicians to conduct consultations with their Asian colleagues without having to send patients to Baltimore, said David Ettinger, clinical director of the Oncology Center. Clinicians will be able to see and talk to one another and view x-rays and other radiological images on television-like monitors. -------------------------------- Minority scientists train this summer at Hopkins -------------------------------- More minority undergraduate students will get a jump on research careers in the biomedical sciences with the expansion of a summer internship program at the School of Medicine. Under the Minority Summer Internship Program, 14 young men and women will work, study and undertake research projects in faculty members' laboratories in areas such as cellular and molecular medicine, biomedical engineering, neurology, genetics and immunology. The 10-week program, which began May 29, aims to expand the pool of qualified minority applicants to graduate programs. The program has existed on an informal basis for several years but has expanded this year with financial support from the School of Medicine. The program also receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Leadership Alliance. Several interns are supported directly on research grants from the National Institutes of Health. News at Homewood ---------------------------- New exchange program established with Ecuador ---------------------------- Amparo Menendez-Carrion has a history with Hopkins. In 1975, she received a master's degree from the School of Advanced International Studies. In 1985, she earned a doctorate there. This year, she formalized an agreement between the university and the Facultad Latinoamerica de Ciencias Sociales in Ecuador; she is the school's director. Last month, Menendez-Carrion and Provost Joseph Cooper signed an agreement making official an arrangement between their two institutions. Under the agreement, the schools will share cultural and scientific research; faculty and students will also be exchanged. Both SAIS and the Sociology Department will implement the exchanges. Cooper said the agreement answers several concerns raised by the Committee for the 21st Century; internationalism, cooperation among schools, interdivisionalism and the need to make technological information available. ----------------------------- MSEL announces winners of book collecting contest ----------------------------- Winners have been announced in the second Milton S. Eisenhower Library's Friends Advisory Council Book Collecting Contest. Lung S. Yam, a senior majoring in biology, won first prize in the undergraduate category for his collection, titled "From the Qin Dynasty to Tienanmen: Two Thousand Years of Struggle for Intellectual Freedom." In the graduate category, philosophy student Graham Finlay won first prize for his collection, titled "Dante." There was a tie for second place in the graduate category; mathematics student Lowell Abrams won for his collection, "Analysis and Application of Jewish Law from Classical Times to the Present," and philosophy student Natalie Brender won for hers, titled "Virginia Woolf: Her Life and Works." First-place winners received $300; $150 was awarded to second-place winners. ---------------------------- Marriott Corp. takes over Homewood food services ---------------------------- The Marriott Corp. took over management of Homewood Dining Services, including Levering Market, on May 30, providing some changes, such as chicken by Strutters, salad sold by the ounce and a hot line serving a more international selection of food. A Pizza Hut will come to the market in September. During the summer, Levering Market will be open Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with the grill and hot line closing at 6 p.m. The market will be closed on July 4 and will close at 2:30 p.m. from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1. ----------------------------- E-Level to provide relief from heat this summer ----------------------------- E-Level, the bar/game room/coffeeshop located in Levering Hall on the Homewood campus, will remain open to all Hopkins personnel through the summer from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 3 to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday. To arrange happy hour events, call Gary Van Zinderan at (410) 516-8209. ------------------------------- 'Cycle Across Maryland' will roll to stop at Homewood ------------------------------- Maryland's diverse scenery and a sense of achievement await bicyclists participating in the upcoming annual First National Bank Cycle Across Maryland Tour '95. The cross-state tour begins July 23 in Oakland and ends with a celebration at the Homewood campus July 29. During the trip, cyclists may discover that the triumph of finishing the 300-mile ride is even sweeter when completed with a thousand equally determined others, said Pat Bernstein, CAM executive director. "Every tour has its share of new romances, several that have resulted in marriages," she added. "But most of all, so many deep, wonderful friendships develop out of the tour." Proceeds raised from the tour will fund free bike helmets for elementary schoolchildren and the CAM Teen Challenge, a self-esteem program for at-risk teenagers which matches students with adult cyclists who train them for the tour. The CAM Tour '95 registration fee is $175 until July 10 and $200 until the day of the event. Registration forms and more information are available at all First National Bank locations or by calling 1-800-842-BANK. The Johns Hopkins Office of Special Events is looking for volunteers to help out at the July 29 celebration party. If you'd like to volunteer, call Special Events at (410) 516-7157.