August 16, 2010

Cheers — August 16, 2010

BAYVIEW MEDICAL CENTER

Daniel L. Buccino, clinical supervisor in the Community Psychiatry Program, has been appointed to a two-year term as chairman of the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners, a state agency that regulates the practice of the 12,000 licensed social workers in Maryland to best protect and serve the public.

Satish Shanbhag has been named clinical director of Hematology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Bayview and was appointed assistant professor of medicine and oncology at the School of Medicine. Shanbhag received his medical degree from Bangalore Medical College in India, and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he also earned a master’s degree in public health. He completed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at Temple University and Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Shanbhag specializes in treating adult patients with benign blood disorders and hematologic malignancies. His clinical research interests include Mantle cell lymphoma and low-grade lymphomas.

The Aliki Curriculum Group, led by Roy Ziegelstein, professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, and Cynthia Rand, professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, has been selected to receive a 2010–2011 Picker Institute/Gold Foundation Challenge Grant for its proposal titled “Development and Implementation of a Patient-Centered Discharge Curriculum.” The proposal, which received an award of $25,000 to support its development and implementation, was one of 10 in the country that the foundation felt best addressed the goal of enhancing patient-centeredness and humanism in medicine.

KRIEGER SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Nathan Connolly, an assistant professor in the History Department, has received the third Emerging Scholars Prize in the Humanities from the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Michigan, where he received his doctorate in 2008. The prize, which carries an award of $25,000, “celebrates emerging scholars in the humanities, persons within five years of having received their doctorates whose work pushes beyond old boundaries with its bold intervention, elegant conceptualization, convincing arguments and mature style.” According to the institute, the prize committee was unanimous in its praise for Connolly’s book, A World More Concrete: Real Estate and the Remaking of Jim Crow South Florida, forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press.

Frederick W. Puddester, senior associate dean for finance and administration, has been appointed by Gov. Martin O’Malley to the state Health Services Cost Review Commission and is being designated as chair. Before joining Johns Hopkins, Puddester worked for 21 years in Maryland state government, including four years as secretary of the Department of Budget and Management.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Steve Desiderio, professor of molecular biology and genetics in the School of Medicine, director of the Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences and director of the Immunology Program at the Institute for Cell Engineering, and Peter Searson, the Joseph R. and Lynn C. Reynolds Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the Whiting School and director of the interdivisional Institute for NanoBioTechnology, have been named by Gov. Martin O’Malley to the Task Force to Study Nanobiotechnology.

Two faculty members from the School of Nursing and two from the School of Medicine are among the 40 honorees named to The Daily Record’s inaugural “Successful Before 40 VIP List.” Cheryl R. Dennison, associate professor in Health Systems and Outcomes, SoN; Jason Farley, assistant professor in Community Public Health, SoN; Dorry Segev, associate professor of transplant surgery, SoM; and Sommer Gentry, research associate in the Department of Surgery, SoM, were selected by the publication’s editorial board based on their professional accomplishments achieved before or by the age of 40 and a commitment to inspiring change in their community. The honorees will be celebrated on Sept. 29 at Gertrude’s at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

PEABODY INSTITUTE

Senior Jasmine Hogan and graduate performance diploma candidates Cameron Huster and Shuang Liu attended the USA International Harp Competition held in July in Bloomington, Ind., and gave a presentation about new music with Harp Department chair Ruth Inglefield. The students performed several pieces—including those written by the prize winners in the composition competition, which Inglefield heads—and spoke about the process of learning avant-garde music. They will repeat the presentation at the World Harp Congress in July 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Faculty artist John Walker, organ, was organist and clinician at the Lake Junaluska Conference of the Fellowship of Methodist Musicians, held in June in North Carolina. Walker played daily for worship services, directed a hymn festival and taught several classes in hymn and service playing.

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Marilyn Albert, professor and director of the Division of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Neurology, is the 2010 recipient of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Zaven Khachaturian Award, presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease, held in July in Honolulu. The award recognizes “an individual whose compelling vision, selfless dedication and extraordinary achievement has significantly advanced the field of Alzheimer science.”

Sara Cosgrove, an associate professor of medicine, has been nominated to the board of directors of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America. She will begin serving a three-year term as secretary for the international society in January 2011.

Lisa Maragakis, an assistant professor of medicine, has been nominated to the board of directors of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America. She will begin serving a two-year term as a councillor in January 2011.

Aaron Milstone, assistant professor in Pediatric Infectious Diseases, was presented with the Society of Epidemiology of America Pediatric Investigator Award. The award, which recognizes an individual in the field of health care epidemiology, was presented at the Fifth Decennial International Conference on Healthcare-Associated Infections.

Trish M. Perl, a professor of medicine, has been awarded the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America’s most prestigious award, honoring an individual for dedication and excellence in mentoring trainees in infection prevention.

Eiki Takimoto, an assistant professor of cardiology, won the Early Career Investigator Award at the annual basic sciences meeting of the American Heart Association, held in July in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He won for his studies (with senior researcher/mentor David Kass) on the cellular processes, biological mechanisms and causes underlying heart failure.

Holly Wilcox, an assistant professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, will receive an Andrej Marusic Award at the European Symposium of Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour, to be held Sept. 2 in Rome. The prize is awarded for the best scientific contributions by young researchers to the fields of biology of suicide, suicide prevention and treatment of suicidal behavior.

Kayode Ayodele Williams, an assistant professor of anesthesiology in the Division of Pain Medicine, has been named to the board of trustees of Howard County General Hospital.

WHITING SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Howard Katz, professor and chair of Materials Science and Engineering, has been named a fellow of the American Chemical Society. The honor is bestowed upon scientists who have made outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, their profession and service to the society. The 2010 class of fellows is only the second in the society’s history.