Hopkins heart treatment nets place on AHA's 'Top 10' list

A gene-based procedure to treat atrial fibrillation, developed by Hopkins researchers, was ranked fifth on the American Heart Association's 2000 "Top 10" list of advances in heart disease and stroke. First created in 1996, the annual list highlights research achievements in basic and clinical research that may have significant impact on the prevention and treatment of heart disease and stroke.

This past year Hopkins investigators reported a study in which they administered a virus containing a gene producing a "G protein" into the artery supplying the AV node, cardiac conduction tissue, in pigs. G proteins help cells communicate with each other. The procedure, which was done using the same type of cardiac catheters used in human patients, was successful in slowing the transmission of electrical impulses across the AV node, slowing the rapid heart in atrial fibrillation. This suggests a potential new approach for patients resistant to current drug therapies and who are now treated with ablation therapy for their rapid heart rates.

APL and NASA give young students behind-the-scenes look

Nearly 100 Maryland middle school students recently got a behind-the-scenes look at a NASA mission in an educational program hosted by APL and sponsored by Comcast Cable and Discovery networks. Students were briefed on the TIMED--Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics--mission, which will study the region approximately 40 to 110 miles above Earth after launch of the TIMED spacecraft next spring. Following lunch with mission scientists and engineers, students put on clean-room suits and toured APL's space facilities.

Critics laud 'Hopkins 24/7' as one of 2000's best on TV

Hopkins 24/7, the six-part ABC News documentary that aired late last summer, ranks as one of the top 10 television shows of 2000, according to People magazine, Baltimore Sun television critic David Zurawik and San Francisco Chronicle columnist John Carman. The only other program that made all three lists was CBS's hit reality show, Survivor.

Arts program offered at East Baltimore's Weinberg Building

A new cultural arts program begins this week in the Weinberg Building. Called The Art of Healing: A Music and Lecture Series, the program integrates the patient-oriented environment and design of the Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Weinberg Building with special musical concerts and lectures. Patients, families, visitors, faculty and staff all are welcome to attend the inaugural concert, slated for noon on Jan. 17 in the Ceremonial Lobby. The instrumental and vocal music recital features Hopkins faculty and staff.

Additional concerts and lectures will be scheduled throughout the year. For more information, contact Pierre Gantt at 410-614-2914.