SPH researcher honored as one of state’s Innovators of the Year

Jason Rasgon, an assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, was named a 2009 Innovator of the Year by the Maryland Daily Record.

Rasgon was recognized for his work identifying AgDNV, a previously unknown virus that infects Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, which are the primary carriers of human malaria. The discovery could one day be used to pass on new genetic information to A. gambiae as part of a strategy to control malaria, which globally kills more than 1 million people annually.

Rasgon, along with 23 other area individuals and organizations, was selected by a panel of Maryland business and community leaders based on the originality, power, challenge and value of their innovation. Recipients will be honored on Wednesday, Oct. 14, during a reception hosted at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.

The Innovator of the Year program recognizes Maryland individuals and organizations that demonstrate the spirit of innovation by creating products, services or programs that benefit business, industry or communities.