Medical News ----------------------------------------------------------------- Shark-liver substance may slow brain tumors Results of Hopkins animal studies show that a natural shark substance nearly stops the growth of new blood vessels that nourish solid brain tumors. The results suggest that the substance, squalamine, named for the shark genus Squalus, may find a role with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery in treating brain cancer and other solid tumors in people, say scientists from Hopkins and Magainin Pharmaceuticals, which processes squalamine and funded the studies. Hopkins scientists added squalamine, a hormone-like chemical concentrated in the liver of the dogfish shark, and a growth factor to lab dishes containing central nervous system blood vessel cells from cows and squalamine alone to lab dishes containing human, rabbit or rat solid brain tumor cells. The blood vessel cells' rate of growth fell by up to 83 percent after two days, while the tumor cells treated with squalamine were unaffected. Results of a second study showed that time-release capsules containing squalamine slowed the growth of new blood vessels caused by tumors in rabbits' eyes by up to 43 percent after three weeks. Uncontrolled growth of blood vessels fuels the runaway cell growth of malignant tumors. Other investigators also are exploring natural shark substances for use against human diseases, but this is believed to be the first evidence that squalamine may work against brain cancer. Squalus sharks' livers produce an oil used in manufacturing drugs, and small amounts of squalamine are found in shark cartilage. Squalamine dramatically slowed blood vessel cell growth without damaging healthy cells, according to Henry Brem, co-author of the studies and director of neurosurgical oncology, and Allen K. Sills, lead author and a Hopkins neurosurgery resident. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Other News ----------------------------------------------------------------- Students organize rally in support of living wage A coalition of student groups, faculty members and others held a rally on April 30 to support the Campaign for a Living Wage at Hopkins. Rally organizers wanted to draw university-wide attention to employees who were earning the minimum wage of $4.25 an hour, without benefits, in the employ of Broadway Services Inc., a for-profit subsidiary of the Dome Corp., which is jointly owned by the university and the Johns Hopkins Health System. Speakers at the noon rally, which attracted about 200 faculty, staff, students and others to Homewood campus' Levering Hall, demanded that Hopkins insist that these employees get at least $6.10 an hour--with benefits. That hourly wage was based on a recently passed Baltimore City ordinance--the first in the country--that requires companies with city contracts to pay employees at least that amount with an increase to $6.60 after July 1. Michelle McLaurin, a member of the organizing Graduate Representative Organization and a graduate student in political science, said the rally was originally planned to force the administration to discuss the matter. But a meeting had already been set for May 8 between worker representatives, chairman and CEO of the Dome Corp. James Flick and senior vice president for administration Eugene Sunshine. So, she said, the rally's purpose shifted to putting pressure on the administration to accept the living wage policy. In an April 16 letter to students, Sunshine put the employment situation into context. The letter noted that as of March, BSI employed 976 full-time and 660 part-time employees. Of these employees, 39 full-timers and 207 part-timers earned the minimum wage, and all full-time workers received subsidized health and retirement benefits. Of the 246 minimum wage workers, Sunshine stated, 170 (nearly 70 percent) are employed under a Baltimore City school contract in which the city is paying BSI, as the contractor, only enough money to provide for a minimum wage to individuals doing the work. University spokesman Dennis O'Shea said that because BSI bids against other commercial companies for jobs, including those for Baltimore City, BSI "would go out of business" if it offered wages higher than its competitors. The letter points out that BSI generally pays minimum wage only for entry level positions with the expectation that employees will soon move into higher paying positions. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Barton Hall lobby to be named for Julian Smith A dark, gloomy entryway in a building that once housed secret military research at Johns Hopkins has been transformed into a bright modern lobby, thanks to a gift from the family of a prominent Baltimore broadcasting executive. The family of the late Julian Sinclair Smith, who received an electrical engineering degree from Hopkins in 1952, will join university officials at 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 10, to name the refurbished lobby of Barton Hall in honor of Smith. The ceremony will take place on the lower quad, outside the main entrance to Barton Hall. The building opened in 1961 as the Radiation Laboratory. Inside, Hopkins conducted classified research for the U.S. Air Force. As a result, the lobby had no windows and was set up for restricted access. In 1962, the building was renamed in honor of Carlyle Barton, president of the university's board of trustees between 1941 and 1958. Radiation research at this site ended in 1970. Barton became the home of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and, later, the Center for Language and Speech Processing. Yet until now, its lobby remained as dark and dreary as it was during the Cold War era. The Smith family's gift allowed the installation of new doors, new lighting fixtures and warm cherry wood accents, along with transom windows to let in natural light. Fresh white paint now covers the formerly dark walls. A portrait of Julian Smith will hang in the lobby. A new display case will let visitors view memorabilia from his career, including his 1952 Hopkins diploma, signed by Carlyle Barton. In 1986 Smith and his family founded the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which is now the seventh-largest broadcast group in the United States. The company's local holdings include WBFF-TV, Channel 45, Baltimore's Fox Network affiliate and WNUV-TV, Channel 54. Smith died in 1993 at age 72. Smith's widow, Carolyn, and their four sons have pledged $2 million to Hopkins' Whiting School of Engineering to honor his achievements. From the gift, $1.5 million will establish a professorship in electrical engineering. The remaining funds are to be used for extensive renovations at Barton Hall; the lobby project represents the first phase of that work. One quirky fixture from the old Radiation Lab will remain as a tribute to Ferdinand Hamburger, former chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering. Hamburger, who was left-handed, insisted that the main doorknobs be mounted on the left side. The revamped Barton Hall lobby will continue to have doors that cater to lefties. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- 'Homicide' episode filmed at WJHU to air WJHU-FM will make its national television debut on Friday, May 10, at 10 p.m. on WBAL-TV. The studios on Charles Street were transformed into the set for Homicide: Life on the Street in February for the upcoming episode. ----------------------------------------------------------------