WSE's Rachel Karchin earns National Science Foundation CAREER award

The National Science Foundation has awarded a Faculty Early Career Development program award to Rachel Karchin, an assistant professor in the Whiting School's Department of Biomedical Engineering. The award is worth more than $500,000 over a period of five years to support Karchin's work in modeling missense mutations.

The work will contribute to computational research in public health (genetic components of disease), agriculture and ecology (plant and animal susceptibility to pathogens and parasites, resistance to herbicides and insecticides, response to fertilizers).

As part of her CAREER plan Karchin will introduce high school students from groups underrepresented in science, particularly disadvantaged young women, to computational biology. A unique approach to this activity is a molecular evolution computer game designed by Karchin for high school students. "The game is an agent-based model to evolve a highly fit population of toy proteins in a virtual environment," she said.

 

No increase in monthly parking charges at Homewood campus

In recognition of the current economic environment and the several measures the university is taking to stabilize and lower costs, the Homewood Parking and Transportation Office is announcing today that it has taken steps to keep costs down and will hold monthly parking rates at the current level for another fiscal year. Therefore, rates will not increase on July 1, 2009. Current rate and registration information can be found at www.parking.jhu.edu.

 

WMAR-TV to air one-hour special about Hopkins Children's

In partnership with Johns Hopkins Children's Center, ABC2, WMAR-TV will broadcast a one-hour special that takes a rare glimpse into the achievements inside the world-renowned pediatric hospital.

In the one-hour special, Johns Hopkins Children's Center: Where Miracles Happen, news anchors Mary Beth Marsden, Terry Owens, Kelly Swoope, Jamie Costello and Megan Pringle introduce viewers to patients whose survival stories showcase the work of the hospital's faculty and staff.

The show premieres at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27, with an encore presentation at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28.For the third year in a row, ABC2 has donated the airtime to help raise awareness of the hospital's work.

Scheduled to air the same weekend as the 20th annual Radiothon on MIX 106.5., viewers of the television special will be encouraged to make a donation by calling 410-823-1065 or by logging on to: www.hopkinschildrens.org.

 

Carey Business School completes downtown Baltimore move

The Carey Business School's downtown Baltimore coalition is now complete.

On Feb. 9, the Dean's Office of the school relocated to the third floor of the Downtown Center, located at 10N. Charles St. At the same time, the Office of External Affairs, composed of the Office of Development and the Office of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs,moved into its new quarters at 100 N. Charles St.,7th floor. Both areas were previously located at Shaffer Hall on the Homewood campus.

These moves have brought together the administrative offices of the school alongside its flagship downtown location. Classes and additional services will continue to be offered at the school's Columbia, Md., and Washington, D.C., centers and at the Montgomery County (Rockville) Campus in Rockville, Md., as well.

Contact information, including phone and fax numbers and e-mail, remain the same for all relocated parties.

 

Summer Day Sports Camp sets change in campers' ages

The JHU Summer Day Sports Camp — opened 43 years ago to provide a service to the faculty, staff, alumni and neighbors of the university — will open for the season on June 15.

Camp director Robert Babb said a decision has been made to raise the age of the campers this year. The youngest who will be accepted must be born on or before June 1, 2002, and campers will be admitted until the age of 15.

The hours of the camp, which operates from Monday to Friday at Homewood, are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., but campersmaybe dropped off as early as 8:15 a.m. and picked up as late as 5:10 p.m.

Campers are guaranteed a spot if registered with a nonrefundable deposit by May 1. For more information, go to: hopkinssports.cstv.com/camps/jhop-camps.html.

 

Burn experts from Bayview assist in Nairobi after explosion

Three Johns Hopkins Burn Center experts recently traveled to Nairobi to provide expertise and assistance to local medical personnel and victims after a tanker explosion left more than 100 dead and dozens severely burned and injured.

Stephen Milner, chief of the Burn Division; Lester Young, a burn fellow; and Rowena Orosco, burn unit charge nurse, volunteered their time and represented Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

The James R. Jordan Foundation had contacted the Burn Center and asked for assistance in caring for patients and teaching the staff about burn care.

 

Public Health group joins city Fire, Health departments in outreach effort

On Wednesday morning at the Oldtown Fire Station, the Baltimore City Fire and Health departments and the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health came together to teach families how to reduce their risk of injury from home fires. More than 1,500 house fires occur each year in Baltimore, and the majority of these fires are preventable.

The event, part of the Health Department's Prevention Wednesday public education campaign, marked the first time the three groups have partnered to provide fire prevention education to the community.

Eileen McDonald, associate scientist with the Center for Injury Research and Policy and director of The Johns Hopkins Children's Safety Center, noted that people who rent their home should be aware of their rights related to smoke alarms. "In a rental situation," she said, "the landlord is legally responsible for providing tenants with smoke alarms. It is up to the renter, however, to be sure the alarms are in good working order."

Research conducted by McDonald and colleagues at the center found that while 90 percent of homes have smoke alarms, 50 percent of them did not function properly.

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