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The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University October 2, 2006 | Vol. 36 No. 5
 
Internet2 Takes JHM to India

HIV/AIDS experts to participate in clinical ed program

By Eric Vohr
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Imagine Johns Hopkins faculty members performing microsurgery in Tanzania from a computer terminal in a Baltimore operating room, or health care experts in Vietnam presenting an avian influenza patient to medical students gathered in the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center. These are some of the possible applications of a high-tech Internet communication system that will be used for the first time this week to link Johns Hopkins faculty with clinicians thousands of miles away.

Internet2 is a high-speed, high-bandwidth, dedicated Internet network developed in 1996 by leaders in the research and education community in the United States as a way to better support education and research collaborations worldwide. On Tuesday, Oct. 3, Johns Hopkins faculty members will use this technology to conduct an interactive clinical education program on HIV/AIDS with leading health care professionals in India.

"This is a major advancement in global medical education," said Robert C. Bollinger, professor of infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and director of the Center for Clinical Global Health Education. "This technology will allow us to bring Hopkins' expertise in clinical education to some of the most resource-limited settings in the world, and it will give Hopkins the opportunity to learn from experts in the field, thousands of miles away."

Bollinger said he chose HIV/AIDS for the Internet2 presentation because it's a high-priority health issue in India, where he has worked extensively researching the disease.

Typical bandwidth for standard Internet conferencing is 384 kilobits per second, but Internet2 operates at 2 megabits per second. The higher bandwidth allows for better resolution and permits faculty to utilize complex imaging techniques, such as manipulating 3-D MRI images.

"You could never perform these procedures with a standard connection," Bollinger said.

The program, running from 8 to 10 a.m. (5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in India), will link HIV/AIDS faculty experts from India and Johns Hopkins using high-resolution, multipoint video conferencing, digital microscopy, 3-D imaging and other, unique e-learning tools.

Participants will be in four locations at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore; the World Bank in Washington, D.C.; Capital Technology Information Services in Gaithersburg, Md.; the National AIDS Research Institute in Pune, India; BJ Medical College in Pune, India; and the Education and Research Network in New Delhi, India. A Web broadcast also will be available for viewing by standard Internet connection at http://codian.oar.net, login 9087.

Highlighting the program are clinical demonstrations by Johns Hopkins faculty: "Ophthalmology and HIV/AIDS," presented by Sanjay Kedhar, clinical instructor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute; "Pathology of HIV-Associated Diseases," presented by Douglas P. Clark, associate professor of pathology; "HIV/AIDS Neurological Complications," presented by Justin McArthur, professor and chief neurologist; and "HIV Drug Resistance," presented by Robert F. Siliciano, professor of immunology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.

The presentations will be followed by discussions by high-level AIDS experts in India.

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