JHU profs join VP Biden in event touting stimulus success

Three Johns Hopkins researchers on Friday joined Vice President Joe Biden in an event at the White House complex touting the early success of a $787 billion federal stimulus and tax relief program designed to reinvigorate the nation’s ailing economy.

Michela Gallagher, vice provost for academic affairs and a Krieger-Eisenhower Professor in the School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences; Dan Ford, vice dean for clinical investigations and a professor of internal medicine at the School of Medicine; and David Sidransky, professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery and director of head and neck cancer research at the School of Medicine, were among the invited guests.

The event, which was organized by the National Institutes of Health, also brought out Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom praised the transparency of the federal stimulus program and the positive impact it has had on their states.

Biden, who is the lead voice on the stimulus program for the Obama administration, spoke of newly released reports showing that the stimulus dollars and tax relief have created or saved nearly 650,000 jobs. The reports are based on information from recipients of the stimulus grants, including those in the area of transportation, building infrastructure, development of new energy sources and research aimed at benefiting humankind.

A good portion of that research is being conducted at Johns Hopkins, where more than 300 grants totaling nearly $150 million have been received. The funding has enabled the university to create 78 jobs, 43 of which have been filled. To date, the university has submitted 1,311 proposals and received 312 awards.