April 8, 2002
VOL. 31, NO. 29
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SOM to Honor Its Student Researchers
In an annual spring rite, the next generation of
scientists is recognized
By Joanna Downer Johns Hopkins Medicine
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The best of the best. The cream of the crop. Cliches
may accurately describe the winners of this year's Young
Investigators' Day awards at the School of Medicine, but
their work is anything but run-of-the-mill.
Now in its 25th year, Young Investigators' Day
recognizes the substantial contributions of all graduate
school and medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and
medical residents and fellows throughout the School of
Medicine and hospital by rewarding the advances of some of
Hopkins' most talented researchers-in-training.
This year's winning projects have brought a new
anticancer drug to clinical trial, shown a common diagnostic
observation not to be diagnostic at all and turned more than
one scientific field on its head. The award recipients will
present their study results and accept their awards
Thursday, April 11, beginning at 4 p.m. in Mountcastle
Auditorium on the East Baltimore campus.
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Jef Boeke, center, this
year sponsored two Young Investigators' Day winners: Siew
Loon Ooi, who received the Hans Joaquim Prochaska Research
Award and will present her work at the April 11 ceremony,
and Joseph F. Lawler Jr., who received a Paul Ehrlich
Research Award. |
"Young investigators are the heart and soul of the
research enterprise," says Paul Talalay, a driving force in
the creation of Young Investigators' Day in 1978 and a
continuing supporter. "Each year we take part in an
extraordinary intellectual feast, really, in which our young
investigators tell the larger Hopkins community about their
discoveries. So many wonderful new ideas are presented, and
a sense of happy excitement surrounds [the event]."
The results of more than a few of the recognized
projects have been or are about to be published in leading
journals such as Cell, Science, Nature, The Lancet and The
New England Journal of Medicine. But while publication in
such journals validates the efforts of a budding scientist
or research physician, recognition within Hopkins--not to
mention the award checks--can be an important boost for
young investigators.
"Having my work accepted for publication is a great
feeling, but receiving recognition from people I know and
have a great deal of respect for professionally is something
else," says biophysics postdoctoral fellow Colin Garvie,
winner of this year's W. Barry Wood Jr. Research Award. "The
recognition encourages me in the opinion that I have chosen
the right path, which is fortunate considering how much I
enjoy what I am doing."
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Sponsor Hal Dietz with
Pamela Frischmeyer, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate in the Human
Genetics Program, who received the Michael A. Shanoff
Research Award. She will present her work April 11. |
Publications, presentations and the support of a good
mentor are common and important ways for young investigators
to gain confidence and a boost toward a satisfying career.
But celebrating the next generation of scientists in a big
way draws the attention of the entire institution, say YID's
organizers.
"Young Investigators' Day is a really nice way to
recognize accomplished young scientists while at the same
time remembering colleagues who made Hopkins what it is
today," says Carolyn Machamer, associate professor of cell
biology and mentor of doctoral candidate Emily Corse, winner
of the 2002 Mette Strand Research Award.
Most of the awards, whose monetary value varies from
year to year, were established in memory of people who had
educational or research ties to Hopkins. Funds for the
awards come from a variety of sources, including family,
friends and colleagues of the person memorialized. The Johns
Hopkins Medical and Surgical Association, an alumni
organization, funds five awards.
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Sponsor Philip Cole with
Wei Lu, a Ph.D. candidate in pharmacology and molecular
sciences, who was given the Alice Showalter Reynolds
Research Award. |
This year roughly two-thirds of the awards were open to
students pursuing doctorates or combined doctorates, and
one-third to postdoctoral fellows including clinical
residents. Only doctoral degree candidates are eligible for
the very first YID award--the Michael A. Shanoff Research
Award, named in memory of a young investigator who died in a
scuba diving accident in 1975. Shanoff, an M.D./Ph.D.,
earned three degrees from Johns Hopkins.
This year's Shanoff Award recipient is Pamela
Frischmeyer, an M.D./Ph.D. candidate in human genetics. Her
work, published in two papers in the journal Science on
March 22, revealed for the first time how cells get rid of
messenger-RNA that has no "stop" signal. Understanding this
clean-up mechanism may help efforts to treat many genetic
diseases that are caused by mutation or misreading of stop
sequences in DNA, she says.
The first Nupur Thekdi Research Award, named for an
M.D./Ph.D. student who died accidentally in 2001, recognizes
M.D./Ph.D. candidate Jacob Jones, whose research has changed
thinking about the proteins that make membranes of a tiny
compartment within cells. The Daniel Nathans Research Award
went to Mark Levis, M.D., Ph.D., whose studies have led to
clinical trials of a new treatment for acute myelogenous
leukemia, the disease that claimed the life of the award's
namesake, a Nobel laureate and Hopkins professor.
Awards also are made for clinical research.
Postdoctoral fellow Lisa Korn, M.D., discovered that
screening for osteoporosis in people over age 65 may be
beneficial, while cardiology fellow Charles Henrikson, M.D.,
M.P.H., revealed that nitroglycerin's effect on chest pain
does not help diagnosis, contrary to conventional wisdom.
Korn received the Helen B. Taussig Research Award;
Henrikson, the Alfred Blalock Research Award.
For detailed information about all of this year's
awardees, go to
www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/APRIL/
YIDrecipients.html.
About the
Awards
The Michael A. Shanoff Research Award was established
in 1977 in memory of Shanoff, who received his M.D. and
Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in
1973.
The David Israel Macht Research Award was established
in 1982 to commemorate the centenary of the namesake's
birth. Macht was a 1906 School of Medicine graduate and
member of the faculty of the departments of Pharmacology and
Medicine at Johns Hopkins.
The Martin and Carol Macht Research Award was
established in 1993 to honor Martin B. Macht, who received
his M.D. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins and was a trustee of
the university for many years. Carol Macht received her M.A.
and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins in the history of art and
archeology.
The Alicia Showalter Reynolds Research Award was
established in 1996 in memory of Alicia Showalter Reynolds,
a Ph.D. student in the Department of Pharmacology and
Molecular Sciences.
The Mette Strand Research Award was established in 1998
in memory of Strand, who was a professor of pharmacology and
molecular sciences.
The Hans Joaquim Prochaska Research Award was
established in 1998 in memory of Prochaska who earned his
M.D. and Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins.
The Paul Ehrlich Research Awards are given to
candidates in the Ph.D., M.D. or master's programs at the
School of Medicine in recognition of their contributions to
research.
The Johns Hopkins Medical and Surgical Association
Awards for Postdoctoral Investigation were established in
1981 by the School of Medicine to recognize excellence in
research by clinical or research fellows in the School of
Medicine. These awards are designated for clinical research,
laboratory research with direct clinical relevance and basic
laboratory research. The awards are as follows:
The Alfred Blalock Research Award
The A. McGehee Harvey Research Award
The Daniel Nathans Research Award
The Helen B. Taussig Research Award
The W. Barry Wood Jr. Research Award
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Program for 25th Annual
Young Investigators' Day
The 25th annual Young Investigators' Day Awards will
begin at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, in the Vernon B.
Mountcastle Auditorium, Preclinical Teaching Building, East
Baltimore campus.
4 p.m.
"Reflections on Young Investigators' Day"
Paul Talalay, John Jacob Abel Distinguished Service
Professor
STUDENT LECTURES
The Michael A. Shanoff Research Award
"Nonstop decay: A novel mRNA surveillance mechanism"
Pamela A. Frischmeyer, candidate for the degrees doctor of
medicine and doctor of philosophy, Human Genetics Program
Sponsor: Hal Dietz
The Nupur Dinesh Thekdi Research Award
"A new paradigm for membrane protein biogenesis"
Jacob M. Jones, candidate for the degrees doctor of medicine
and doctor of philosophy, Department of Biological
Chemistry
Sponsor: Steve Gould
The Hans Joaquim Prochaska Research Award
"Yeast genetics on microarrays: Probing DNA end-joining
in S. cerevisiae"
Siew Loon Ooi, candidate for the degree doctor of
philosophy, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics
Sponsor: Jef D. Boeke
The David Israel Macht Research Award
"Early detection of colorectal tumors through the
examination of fecal DNA"
Giovanni Traverso, candidate for the degree doctor of
philosophy, Human Genetics Program
Sponsor: Bert Vogelstein
PRESENTATION OF STUDENT AWARDS
The Martin and Carol Macht Research Award
"New insights into the typanosome RNA editing
complex"
Catherine E. Huang, candidate for the degree doctor of
philosophy, Department of Biological Chemistry
Sponsor: Barbara Sollner-Webb
The Mette Strand Research Award
"Envelope protein localization and coronavirus budding at
Golgi membranes"
Emily Corse, candidate for the degree doctor of philosophy,
Department of Cell Biology
Sponsor: Carolyn Machamer
The Alicia Showalter Reynolds Research Award
"Site-specific incorporation of a phospho-tyrosine
mimetic reveals a role for tyrosine phosphorylation of SHP-2
in cell signaling"
Wei Lu, candidate for the degree doctor of philosophy,
Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences
Sponsor: Philip A. Cole
The Paul Ehrlich Research Awards
"Regulation of glutamate receptor function and synaptic
plasticity by PDZ ligand phosphorylation"
Hee Jung Chung, candidate for the degree doctor of
philosophy, Department of Neuroscience
Sponsor: Richard L. Huganir
"Identifying prime numbers with a DNA computer"
Joseph F. Lawler Jr., candidate for the degrees doctor of
medicine and doctor of philosophy, Cellular and Molecular
Medicine
Sponsor: Jef D. Boeke
"Studying trypanosome gene function with RNA
interference"
Zefeng Wang, candidate for the degree doctor of philosophy,
Department of Biological Chemistry
Sponsor: Paul T. Englund
"Assembly and stoichiometry of heteromeric cyclic
nucleotide-gated channels"
Haining Zhong, candidate for the degree doctor of
philosophy, Department of Neuroscience
Sponsor: King-Wai Yau
The Ivor and Colette Royston Awards
Predoctoral Research Award
"Novel inherited caspase-8 mutation in autoimmune
lymphoproliferative syndrome"
Hyung J. Chun, candidate for the degree doctor of
medicine
Sponsor: H. Franklin Herlong and Michael J.
Lenardo
Postdoctoral Research Award
"Genes expressed in human tumor endothelium"
Brad St. Croix, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, Oncology
Center
Sponsor: Kenneth W. Kinzler
5:15 p.m.
"A Legacy of Postdoctoral Excellence"
Peter C. Agre, professor of biological chemistry
POSTDOCTORAL LECTURES
The Helen B. Taussig Research Award
"Is screening for osteoporosis associated with fewer hip
fractures?"
Lisa M. Korn, M.D., postdoctoral fellow, Robert Wood Johnson
Clinical Scholar Program and Department of Medicine
Sponsor: Linda P. Fried
The W. Barry Wood Jr. Research Award
"Structural insights into the regulation of DNA binding
of ETS-1"
Colin Garvie, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, Department of
Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry
Sponsor: Cynthia Wolberger
PRESENTATION OF POSTDOCTORAL AWARDS
The Daniel Nathans Research Award
"An FLT3-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor is cytotoxic
to leukemia cells in vitro and in vivo"
Mark Levis, M.D., Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, Oncology
Center
Sponsor: Donald Small
The A. McGehee Harvey Research Award
"A human genotoxicity assay? High-throughput measurement
of p53 responses"
Taylor A. Sohn, M.D., postdoctoral fellow, Department of
Surgery
Sponsor: Scott E. Kern
The Alfred Blalock Research Award
"Chest pain relief by nitroglycerin: Predictive value for
coronary artery disease"
Charles A. Henrikson, M.D., M.P.H., postdoctoral fellow,
Department of Medicine
Sponsor: Nisha Chandra-Strobos
The Albert Lehninger Research Award
"The monitoring of heterotrimeric G-protein activation in
living cells"
Chris Janetopoulos, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, Department
of Cell Biology
Sponsor: Peter N. Devreotes
5:45 p.m.
Poster presentations and reception
All are invited to the Greenhouse in the Preclinical
Teaching Building.
Acknowlegments: The 25th Young
Investigators' Day program is made possible by generous
contributions from the Johns Hopkins Medical and Surgical
Association; the Office of the Dean; friends and family of
Michael Shanoff; friends and family of David, Martin and
Carol Macht; family of Hans Prochaska; Drs. Paul and Pamela
Talalay; the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular
Sciences; Dr. Emanuel Libman; the San Diego Foundation Ivor
and Colette Royston Fund at the recommendation of Dr. Ivor
Royston and Mrs. Colette Carson Royston; Dr. and Mrs. Dinesh
C. Thekdi; Dr. and Mrs. John Vela; and many friends and
members of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The program
for the event is based on a poster designed by John Gibb,
class of 1998, Department of Art As Applied to
Medicine.
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