MLK Jr. speaker announced; nominations sought for awards

Renowned actor James Earl Jones will be the keynote speaker at the Jan. 13 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Celebration, which also will recognize faculty, staff, graduate students and retirees of the university and hospital who demonstrate the same spirit of volunteerism and citizenship that characterized King's life.

Nominations for this honor, the 2005 Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Community Service, are now being accepted. To nominate a candidate, simply go to hrnt.jhu .edu/mlk to access the new online form. The deadline is Friday, Oct. 21.

For more information, including eligibility criteria, go to www.jhu.edu/~outreach/mlk/nomination.html or contact Matt Smith at 410-516-0345 or mattsmith@jhu.edu.

 

JHU Press, Library of Congress celebrate Washington buildings

A new book published by The Johns Hopkins University Press in association with the Library of Congress will be feted this week in Washington.

Capital Drawings: Architectural Designs for Washington, D.C. from the Library of Congress (October; $55) features drawings for some of Washington's most important buildings, monuments and memorials as well as anonymous structures of everyday life and ambitious projects that were never built.

The volume, edited by C. Ford Peatross, the library's curator of architecture, design and engineering collections in the Prints and Photographs Division, is a guide to the library's massive collection of more than 40,000 documents.

The public reception will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11, in the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. Prior to the event, Peatross will conduct a private tour of the library's Jefferson Building for invited Friends of the JHU Press.

 

Need a piano? JHU affiliates get first chance at Peabody sale

Through an arrangement with Kawai America Corp. and its local representative, Jordan Kitt's Music, the Peabody Institute receives new pianos each year for the use of its students. This week, numerous pianos previously used in the program will be offered to alumni, faculty, staff and students at reduced prices before being offered to the general public.

These pianos have been professionally maintained and will carry a 10-year factory warranty. New pianos of other makers such as Steinway, and used pianos from Yamaha and others, will also be available. The selection includes grand, baby grand, upright and digital pianos. Sales, service, financing and delivery will be provided by Jordan Kitt's Music.

Johns Hopkins affiliates can make appointments for private showings on Friday, Oct. 14, or Saturday, Oct. 15, by calling the Peabody Institute at 410-539-4280. The public sale of the pianos will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, at Peabody.

 

JHPIEGO receives grant for midwifery training in Indonesia

JHPIEGO has received a $200,000 grant from the ExxonMobil Foundation to build the capacity for midwifery training in Aceh, Indonesia, one of the areas hardest hit by the December 2004 tsunami.

Since its founding 32 years ago, JHPIEGO has maintained health care programs in Indonesia. Immediately after the tsunami struck on Dec. 26, 2004, its Jakarta-based staff began assisting the Indonesian Midwives Association to relocate midwives from provinces throughout Indonesia to work in Aceh resettlement camps.

The new project, funded by ExxonMobil's Educating Women and Girls initiative, will focus on faculty development and educational improvements at North Aceh Health Academy.

"The tsunami devastated the health care infrastructure in this region of Indonesia," Leslie Mancuso, president and CEO of JHPIEGO, said. "JHPIEGO's commitment to Indonesia is for the long term. The ExxonMobil grant will help us accomplish our goal of re-establishing and strengthening midwifery services in Aceh. By educating midwives, we will help women survive economically and recover emotionally from the tsunami, and provide essential health care services for women and families."

 

New or used professional clothing needed for Oct. 20 drive

The next JHU Professional Clothing Drive collection date is Thursday, Oct. 20. Donating gently used or new professional apparel will help formerly homeless men and women successfully re-enter the workforce. The drive is organized by the Office of Faculty, Staff and Retiree Programs. For guidelines, drop-off locations and contacts, go to www.jhu.edu/hr/fsrp/clothing.html or call Matt Smith at 410-516-0345.

 

JHU receives national Campus Suicide Prevention Grant

Johns Hopkins has received one of the first Campus Suicide Prevention Grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which will distribute $9.7 million this year to support national suicide prevention efforts. The grants were made possible through the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, signed by President Bush in October 2004.

The campus awards, one of three grant programs, will range up to $75,000 per year for up to three years, with an equivalent match from the application organization. JHU, one of 22 recipients in 2005, will receive $69,323.

 

NIH selects SoM as muscular dystrophy research center

NIH has selected the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania, as a Sen. Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative Research Center. Six research centers across the nation have been funded following the MD-CARE Act, passed by Congress in 2001, that aims to support and enhance collaborations of established basic and clinical science investigators to study muscular dystrophy.

NIAMS will fund the joint Hopkins-UPenn center at $8.3 million over five years. Se-Jin Lee, professor of molecular biology and genetics, and Kathryn R. Wagner, assistant professor of neurology, are project leaders. Wagner is also the center's co-director with H. Lee Sweeney, of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Experts to discuss genetic technologies, future of sports

SAIS will host this week a discussion on "Gene Doping: Human Genetic Technologies and the Future of Sports."

Kathy Hudson, director of the JHU Genetics and Public Policy Center; Melissa Dalio Mierke, exercise physiologist and U.S. triathlon champion; Tom Murray, director of the Hastings Center; Bengt Saltin, director of the Center for Muscle Research at Copenhagen University; and H. Lee Sweeney, chair and professor of physiology at the University of Pennsylvania, will discuss the science, ethics and regulation of genetically enhanced athletic prowess.

The event will be held at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11, in Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building. Non-SAIS affiliates should RSVP to the GPPC at GPPCNews@jhu.edu.

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