"Cheers" is a monthly listing of honors and awards received by faculty, staff and students plus recent appointments and promotions. Contributions must be submitted in writing and be accompanied by a phone number.

Arts and Sciences

Richard Katz, professor in the Department of Political Science, has beeen awarded the George H. Hallett Prize, which is given each year by the American Political Science Association for the best book published at least 10 years ago in the comparative study of representation and electoral systems. Katz's book, A Theory of Parties and Electoral Systems, was published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in 1980.

Richard E. McCarty has been named the William D. Gill Professor of Biology.

Sasha Torres has been named to the Second Decade Society Faculty Development Chair.

David R. Veblen has been appointed to the Morton K. Blaustein Professorship and Chair in Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Continuing Studies

The Police Executive Leadership Program has earned an Award of Excellence from the University Continuing Education Association, Region II. The committee selected the program for its overall quality, effectiveness, innovative nature and contribution to adult and continuing higher education. The award was presented to Sheldon Greenberg, director, at the Oct. 8 UCEA Region II annual conference in Ocean City, Md.

Health System

Michele Kendus-Gatdula has joined the risk management staff at Bayview. Kendus-Gatdula, who was most recently Bayview's hematology-oncology case manager, now will handle the occurrence reporting program, develop a risk management education program and serve as a resource for clinical areas.

Multidisciplinary

Neil R. Powe has been promoted to professor of medicine in the School of Medicine. He also was appointed professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health.

Seven Hopkins scientists are among nine local researchers selected to receive nearly $200,000 in awards from the American Lung Association of Maryland. They are Darryl J. Adamko, Pediatric Respiratory Sciences, Charles W. Emala, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine; Young Hee Ko, Biological Chemistry; and Qiang Liu, Patrice M. Becker and Naresh M. Punjabi from the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, all from the School of Medicine; and Thomas L. Croxton, School of Public Health.

Julia Evans, pursuing a master of science degree in environmental/sanitary engineering; Katherine Lucas, completing a doctorate in epidemiology; and Virginia Poole, a doctoral student in public health, have received fellowships for the 1998-99 academic year from the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation in Washington.

School of Medicine

Phillip Beachy has been promoted to professor of molecular biology and genetics.

Henry Brem, director of neurosurgical oncology, delivered the keynote address at the European Association for Neuro-Oncology September meeting in Versailles, France. His speech was titled "Interstitial Chemotherapy: Clinical Experience and Perspectives."

Gary R. Cutting has been promoted to professor, Pediatrics. He also has been appointed to the Aetna U.S. Healthcare Professorship in Medical Genetics.

The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation has selected Barbara J. de Lateur, professor, director and Lawrence Cardinal Shehan Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, as the recipient of the 1998 Distinguished Clinician Award. The academy honors individual physiatrists who have achieved distinction on the basis of their scholarly level of teaching and their outstanding performance in patient care activities.

Frederick Lenz has been promoted to professor of neurological surgery.

Craig Montell has been promoted to professor of biological chemistry, with a secondary appointment in neuroscience.

Lillie Shockney, director of education and outreach for the Breast Center, has been awarded the silver medal in the consumer decision-making category from the Health Information Resource Center for her booklet Breast Cancer--Making the Right Choices for You.

Hopkins has been selected as a national research center of excellence in Parkinson's disease. The center will be directed by Ted M. Dawson, who won a federal grant of $1 million each year for five years. The funding was appropriated last year in response to the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Research Education and Assistance Act, which honors the former United States senator, who had Parkinson's disease. The multi-investigator grant will enable Hopkins to considerably advance research and patient care in Parkinson's disease. In addition to Hopkins, two other institutions, Massachusetts General and Emory, were selected as federal centers of excellence in Parkinson's.

The Whitaker Foundation has awarded grants totaling more than $7.5 million to biomedical engineers at 29 universities. At Hopkins, awards have gone to M. Saleet Jafri, research associate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and Susumu Mori, postdoctoral fellow in Biophysics. The grants, totaling up to $210,000 over three years, are designed to help promising new investigators establish research careers.

School of Nursing

Seven recent baccalaureate graduates are recipients of the National Health Service Corps scholarship, a competitive federal program that awards full tuition and an additional living stipend in exchange for two years of service work in community health care. The seven nurses, six of whom are continuing in Hopkins' nurse practitioner graduate program, are Traci Cronin, Mary Lynn Youngwerth Gonsalves, Stephen Gonsalves, Bridgitte Patterson, Stephanie Rhodes, Joseph Rubash and Robin Soto.

School of Public Health

Thomas A. Burke, associate professor, Health Policy and Management, has been appointed by Donna Shalala, U.S. secretary of health and human services, to chair the advisory board of the National Center for Environmental Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rafael A. Irizarry has been appointed assistant professor, Biostatistics.

Michael A. Koenig has been appointed associate professor, Population and Family Health Sciences.

David E. Levin has been promoted to professor, Biochemistry.

Jonathan M. Links has been promoted to professor, Environmental Health Sciences.

F. Javier Nieto has been promoted to associate professor, Epidemiology.

Thomas R. Oliver has been appointed assistant professor, Health Policy and Management.

Lizbeth Pettengill, director, Public Affairs, and Rachel MacKnight, project coordinator, have won the highest award given by the Association of American Medical Colleges, an Award of Excellence. The prize, for special projects in public relations, was awarded in recognition of "Following ER," a weekly television news segment about health.

Nathaniel F. Pierce has been appointed professor, International Health.

Dean Alfred Sommer will be awarded the International Blindness Prevention Award at the 1998 American Academy of Ophthalmology's annual meeting, Nov. 8-11 in New Orleans. The award honors those who have made significant contributions to the prevention of blindness or the restoration of sight around the world.