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The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University November 10, 2008 | Vol. 38 No. 11
 
In Brief

 

'Redesigning East Baltimore' symposium, tour set for Wed.

The Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute this week will convene "Redesigning East Baltimore," a symposium to discuss the redevelopment efforts under way north of the medical campus.

The event will take place from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12, in Sheldon Hall at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to the event, at 3 p.m., the Urban Health Institute will offer guided walking tours through several of the redevelopment areas; call 410-502-7473 to sign up.

East Baltimore Development Inc. has spearheaded and manages the $1.8 billion revitalization of the New East Side, an 88-acre portion of East Baltimore. The first phase of development plans for the area include the 1.1 million-square-foot Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, more than 850 housing units for mixed-income buyers and renters, park space and a variety of retail services.

Urban Health Institute officials said they want the symposium to foster a dialogue among leaders of the redevelopment efforts, residents, elected officials and members of the Johns Hopkins community.

The panelists will be Bishop Douglas Miles of the Koinonia Baptist Church and clergy co-chair of BUILD (Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development); Edward Sabatino, executive director of the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Committee; Jack Shannon, president and CEO of East Baltimore Development Inc.; and Marie Washington, president of the East Baltimore Community Corp.

A live webcast of the symposium can be viewed at: www.jhsph.edu/urbanhealth.

For more information, call 410-502-6155 or e-mail epittman@jhsph.edu.

 

Cardiovascular researchers honored with Blumenthal prizes

Outstanding researchers in cardiovascular medicine were honored on Wednesday in JHH's Houck Lobby as part of the Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute's annual awards ceremony named to commemorate the late Johns Hopkins physician Stanley L. Blumenthal, BA '39 and MD '43. Three postdoctoral research fellows each received a $1,000 cash prize with a commemorative plaque.

The Basic Science Prize went to Mikhail Maslov for finding evidence to prove the long-held suspicion that failing hearts are indeed "energy-starved" and that boosting the gene activity for creatine kinase, the prime energy reserve in the heart, corrected the energy deficit and restored heart pumping function.

Michael Bonios received the Translational Science Prize for a study that tracked stem cells injected into damaged hearts in mice, showing that these transplants were being washed away in the blood to the lungs, a work that possibly explains why initial tests of stem cell therapies have proved disappointing at existing test doses.

Juan Rivera was awarded the Clinical Science Prize for research using the latest 64-CT imaging techniques to tie cardiovascular disease risk factors such as smoking, gender and age to different kinds of plaque in narrowed blood vessels. A better understanding of the biology behind plaque formations, Rivera says, could offer better tests for assessing the real risk of heart attack from blocked arteries.

 

Scientist-cum-skeptic discusses his new book on superstition

Robert L. Park, a physics professor at the University of Maryland and a renowned skeptic, will be discussing and signing copies of his latest book, Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, at Barnes & Noble Johns Hopkins. Park is also the author of Voodoo Science: The Road From Foolishness to Fraud.

In his new book, Park asks why people persist in superstitious convictions long after science has shown them to be ill-founded; takes on supernatural beliefs, from religion and the afterlife to New Age spiritualism and faith-based medical claims; examines recent controversies; and concludes that science is the only way we have of understanding the world.

 

John Lipsky of International Monetary Fund speaks at SAIS

John Lipsky, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, will give a talk titled "Toward a Post-Crisis World Economy" on Monday, Nov. 17, at SAIS.

Before assuming the No. 2 post at the IMF in September 2006, Lipsky was vice chairman of the J.P. Morgan investment bank, where he advised the firm's principal market risk takers, published independent research on the principal forces shaping global financial markets, was actively engaged with J.P. Morgan's key clients and represented the firm around the world with senior public and financial sector decison makers.

He previously served as chief economist at J.P. Morgan, chief economist and director of research at Chase Manhattan Bank and chief economist at Salomon Brothers. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Lipsky holds a PhD in economics from Stanford.

The lecture will take place at 12:30 p.m. in the Nitze Building's Kenney Auditorium. Non-SAIS affiliates should RSVP to saispubaffairs@jhu.edu or 202-663-5648.

 

No 'Gazette' Nov. 24 because of Thanksgiving holiday break

As The Gazette will not be published on Nov. 24 because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the calendar in the Nov. 17 issue will carry listings for events scheduled through Dec. 1.

The deadline for calendar and classified submissions for the Nov. 17 issue is noon on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

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