Nobel laureate Peter Agre announces departure from JHU

Peter Agre, a professor of biological chemistry and medicine in the School of Medicine and winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in chemistry, announced to colleagues last week that he would be leaving Johns Hopkins after 28 years.

Agre, who received his medical degree from Hopkins in 1974 and returned in 1981 after postgraduate training and a fellowship, began a six-month sabbatical on Jan. 1. On July 1, he will become vice chancellor for science and technology at the Duke University Medical Center.

The opportunity, he said in a broadcast e-mail, will allow him to pursue his interests in science policy and education and will provide a platform for his interest in championing human rights. This winter, Agre will begin his term as chair of the Committee on Human Rights of the National Academy of Sciences.

His laboratory, he said, will move to Duke but will be smaller than the operation he had at Johns Hopkins.

 

Children's Center seeking 'Change Bandits' for fund-raiser

Beginning today, the Children's Center is looking for "Change Bandits" to help solicit loose change from the pockets, desk drawers and piggy banks of their co-workers, families and friends. The money raised will officially kick off the 16th annual Mix 106.5 FM Radiothon to benefit the center.

In its 15 years, the Mix 106.5 FM Radiothon has raised more than $7 million to benefit pediatric research and patient care at Johns Hopkins.

This year's on-air event will begin at 5 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24, in the Children's Center's Hope Forest Lobby and will continue live from the hospital and the Mix 106.5 FM studio in Towson until 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 27.

To volunteer as a Change Bandit, register online at http://www.mix1065.fm or call the Mix studio at 410-825-5410. Donations will be collected from all Bandits at a Change Bandit Bash (time/date TBA) and in the Hope Forest Lobby at the Children's Center during the live Radiothon broadcasts on Feb. 24 and 25.

 

Fells Point businesses support JHPIEGO's tsunami efforts

Twenty Fells Point businesses are sponsoring Asia Tsunami Week from Jan. 24 to 29 by donating a portion of their revenues to JHPIEGO, which is headquartered in the neighborhood. JHPIEGO, an international health organization that has been part of JHU for 32 years, established the Asia Tsunami Fund to support its relief and long-term recovery and development work in South Asian nations hit by the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami.

The kickoff event will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. tonight at Red Star restaurant, 906 S. Wolfe St.

Fells Point is also home to a number of Johns Hopkins offices.

Businesses participating in the fund-raising efforts are Su Casa, Fells Point Surf Company, Urban Adventure Company, After Midnight, Brassworks Company, .925 The Silver Store, Strictly BeMore, Fells Point Popcorn, the Frame House, Art Gallery of Fells Point, Sound Garden, aMuse, Funky Fish, Eclectic Elements, Urban Posters, Grrreat Bears, Carmella's Art Gallery & Gift Shop and Wind River.

JHPIEGO works to improve health care services for women and families by training and supporting doctors, nurses, midwives and health educators throughout the world.

Direct contributions to JHPIEGO's Asia Tsunami Fund may be made online at www.jhpiego.org. Donations made before Jan. 31 are eligible for tax deductibility on 2004 tax returns.

 

JHU Summer Day Sports Camp now accepting applications

The JHU Summer Day Sports Camp, which is operated primarily for the children of members of the Johns Hopkins community, will begin its 39th year of operation on June 20.

Applications are now available for the all-day program, which serves boys and girls from the ages of 5 through 13. All campers are guaranteed a spot if registered with a nonrefundable deposit by May 1.

Directors of this year's camp will be Brad Mountcastle, JHU head athletic trainer; Bill Nelson, men's basketball coach; and Robert Babb, head baseball coach.

For information about the program and/or a registration application, contact Babb at 410-516-7490.

 

KSAS and WSE soliciting nominations for teaching awards

The schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering are asking students, alumni and faculty to submit nominations for several awards that recognize excellence in teaching.

The awards, which will recognize both faculty and teaching assistants, are based on nominations and are reviewed and chosen by separate committees in each school. A single nomination is sufficient for the various awards. It must include the nominee's name and department and a description of what makes him or her different from other good teachers at Homewood.

Professors, instructors and lecturers who have taught in either of the two schools on any level on a regular basis for at least three years may be nominated. Faculty, however, are ineligible to win an award more than once in three years.

Arts and Sciences nominations should be submitted to Sabrina Raymond, 237 Mergenthaler Hall, and Engineering nominations to Steph Schreckinger, 126 New Engineering Building.

 

JHPIEGO, CARE team to restore Indonesian health care facilities

JHPIEGO is partnering with the humanitarian group CARE to re-establish high-quality health care facilities in the Indonesian province of Aceh, where more than 160,000 lives were lost to the tsunami.

JHPIEGO has worked to strengthen health care services in Indonesia for more than 30 years. The organization's network of obstetricians, midwives, nurses and pediatricians is unmatched in Indonesia, according to Leslie Mancuso, president and CEO of JHPIEGO.

Mancuso has been in Indonesia since early this month working with local staff and officials to assess damage and develop strategies to rebuild facilities and the health care system in Aceh.

Seventy-seven community health clinics in Aceh province were destroyed by the tsunami, and it is estimated that approximately 70 percent of health care workers lost their lives, are missing or have left Aceh. At the eight hospitals left standing, crowded conditions and lack of adequate supplies and equipment are hampering the ability to treat the sick and injured.

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