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.

Applied Physics Laboratory

Dawnielle Farrar, an electrical engineer in the Technical Services Department, was recognized as a Rising Star at the Women of Color Government and Defense Technology Awards conference held this month in Washington, D.C. The award, given to minority women under age 30 who are "demonstrating outstanding performance in helping shape technology for the future," noted Farrar's contributions to Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems-based thermal control systems for the 2004 NASA Space Technology-5 mission. She also has made significant contributions to spacecraft for the MESSENGER, STEREO and New Horizon missions. Farrar will be profiled in the fall issue of Women of Color Conference magazine and the back-to-school issue of US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine, which co-hosted the conference.

Louise Prockter and Deborah Domingue, both of the Space Department, have been awarded grants from NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Data Analysis Program to carry out research using data collected during the NEAR mission. Prockter will work on a detailed global map of Eros' surface features to help researchers understand the interior makeup of the asteroid. Domingue will use photometric data to study the scattering properties of rocky debris on Eros' surface.

At its annual awards ceremony on July 9 at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., the space agency gave a Group Achievement Award to the APL NEAR mission team for "outstanding achievement in conducting the most comprehensive scientific study of asteroid 433 Eros, including the first rendezvous, orbit and landing on an asteroid." NASA also presented a Medal for Exceptional Engineering Achievement to the Space Department's Bob Farquhar for "outstanding achievement directing the NEAR mission team during the successful cruise, orbit and spectacular soft landing of the spacecraft on asteroid 433 Eros."

The Strategic Systems Department has honored 51 staff members who have worked on the Fleet Ballistic Missile Strategic Weapons Systems program for the Navy's Strategic Systems Programs. Capt. Daniel Elliott, SSP technical director, thanked staffers for their "dedicated work on this very important element of the nation's strategic deterrence."

Homewood Student Affairs

Ellen Frishberg, director of Student Financial Services, has been admitted into the University of Pennsylvania's highly selective executive doctorate program. Frishberg joins a distinguished group of 19 other executives and senior managers--including deans and vice presidents--from colleges and universities across the country. The curriculum of the two-year program centers on "real world" management competencies and applied research skills. The group, which meets once a month for a three-day period, will begin the program in August.

Johns Hopkins Health System

Sheldon Gottlieb, an associate professor of medicine at Hopkins Bayview, has won the Bronze "Excel" Award from the Society of National Association Publications for his column in the September 2001 issue of Diabetes Forecast, the American Diabetes Association magazine. Titled "Heart Disease--A Cardiologist's POV," the article described the importance of making cardiovascular care part of diabetes care.

Suzanne Jan de Beur, an assistant professor of medicine, has been named chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Bayview. Jan de Beur has developed a national reputation for her work on osteomalacia.

Matthew Olnes, a medical resident at Bayview, was among the winners of the American College of Physicians' 2002 National Associates Abstract Competitions. Olnes presented his winning poster at the ACP annual session in Philadelphia.

John Stone, an associate professor of medicine and director of the Vasculitis Center at Bayview, has been promoted from vice chairman to chairman of the International Network for the Study of Systemic Vasculitis.

Scott Wright, an assistant professor of medicine at Bayview, has received the C. Lockard Conley Award from the Maryland Chapter of the American College of Physicians in recognition of his significant contributions to the mentoring of house staff.

Johns Hopkins Medicine

Joseph R. Coppola, vice president of corporate security, has been elected chairman of the board of directors for Metro Crime Stoppers of Metropolitan Baltimore. Metro Crime Stoppers is a volunteer organization that supports law enforcement agencies in solving crime in our communities.

Krieger School of Arts and Sciences

Michael P. Johnson, a professor in the History Department, received the Best Article Prize for 2001 from the William and Mary Quarterly. His article, "Denmark Vesey and His Co-Conspirators," was published in October. Johnson was honored for an essay that "raises large historical issues that transcend the immediate case of the Vesey conspiracy" and "provoke[s] wide-ranging discussion." The article has since been reprinted in pamphlet form, together with a collection of historians' responses that appeared in the January 2002 Quarterly. The prize is sponsored by the National Society, Daughters of Colonial Wars; the Quarterly editorial board made the selection.

School of Medicine

Alex L. Kolodkin, an associate professor in the Department of Neuroscience, is one of three new recipients of a Kirsch Investigator Award from the Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation. He will receive $200,000 over two years to fund his research activities on the Mechanisms of Neuronal Guidance and Regeneration, and Johns Hopkins will receive $40,000 over the same period.

Paul Ladenson, chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, has been elected president of the Association of Subspecialty Professors for 2003-2004.

Lee McCabe, director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences' Office of Behavioral Health Care, has been voted president-elect of the Maryland Psychological Association. McCabe also was recently appointed to the editorial board of the International Journal of Emergency Mental Health.

Patrick McElgunn, an assistant professor, is the new director of the Department of Dermatology's Cosmetic Center, which is slated to open this fall at Green Spring Station. Before joining Hopkins, McElgunn was in private practice in Toronto and was an associate clinical professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Mary Ruppe, a clinical fellow, has received a $1,500 award from the first annual Pfizer Scholars in Endocrinology Grant Program, which recognizes contributions to research and patient care in endocrinology.

Oliver Schein, a professor of ophthalmology, has received the Alcon Research Institute's $100,000 research award for 2002 in recognition of his research accomplishments in ophthalmology/visual science.

Solomon Snyder, Distinguished Service Professor of Neuroscience, director of the Neuroscience Department and professor of pharmacology and psychiatry, has been awarded the Doctor Scientiarum Honoris Causa, the highest honor given by the Israel Institute of Technology Council of the Technion. Snyder was recognized for his discoveries of receptors for drugs and neurotransmitters in the brain, his contributions to molecular neuroscience and his impact on the development of new types of medications.

Stephen Sisson, an assistant professor of medicine, is this year's Hopkins nominee for the annual Humanism in Medicine Award, a national prize given by the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Chloe Thio, an assistant professor of medicine, has received a 2002 Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The award is $400,000 over five years.

Eric Vonderheid has joined the Department of Dermatology as director of its new photopheresis program, the only such program in the state. The treatment is used for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, acute allograft rejection in certain transplant patients and graft vs. host disease. Before bringing photopheresis to Hopkins, Vonderheid was a professor of dermatology at MCP Hahnemann University in Pennsylvania.

An annual tradition in the Department of Pediatrics is recognizing those who have made noteworthy contributions. This year, Michelle Hudspeth took home the David Kamsler Award, given to a senior resident in pediatrics who most exemplifies the qualities of a humanistic physician. Singled out for excellent teaching were Janet Serwint, an associate professor of pediatrics, who received the Alexander Schaffer Award; Frederick Heldrich, an associate professor of pediatrics, who won the faculty teaching award; and Javier Tejedor-Sojo, who received the resident teaching award. House staff awards, given to senior residents who provide the most informed help to house staff, went to pediatric neurology residents Kaleb Yohay and Tyler Reimschisel.

School of Nursing

Martha N. Hill, dean of the school, received the Gold Heart Award of the American Heart Association in June. She was selected in recognition of her progress in helping to frame a new strategic plan and emphasizing compliance and behavior science.

Karen Huss, an associate professor, was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Huss is one of only two nurses to be named a fellow and is the first and only doctor of nursing science to become a fellow.

Ann Myers has joined the school as associate director of development. Previously she served for four years as assistant director of development at the Whiting School of Engineering.