October 19, 2009

Cheers — Oct. 19, 2009

BAYVIEW MEDICAL CENTER

N. Franklin Adkinson Jr., professor of medicine, has received the 2009 Distinguished Clinician Award from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. The award recognizes his commitment to patient care and clinical investigation focused on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of asthma and allergic diseases.

Deidra Crews, instructor in nephrology, has received a Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This junior faculty development award, named for the first African-American to chair a medical school department (now the Department of Microbiology and Medical Genetics at the Harvard Medical School), provides $420,000 in salary and research support over the next four years. It is given to a minority physician who is committed to excelling in biomedical research, clinical investigation or health services research; developing a career in academic medicine; improving the health of underserved populations; and furthering the understanding and elimination of health disparities.

Esther Oh, assistant professor and associate director of the Johns Hopkins Memory and Alzheimer’s Treatment Center, has been named a recipient of the American Federation for Aging Research’s Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation/AFAR New Investigator Award in Alzheimer’s Disease. Oh was recognized for her research, “Oral Glucose Tolerance Test of Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarker Development,” whose goal is to modify an amyloid blood test so it can determine if someone has early forms of Alzheimer’s or predict whether those with certain forms of mild cognitive impairment may development the disease. The grant provides funding of $75,000 over two years.

Fred Wigley, professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, has received the American College of Rheumatology’s Distinguished Clinical Scholar Award. Director of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center, Wigley is internationally renowned for his research into the disease and his care for patients who have it.

JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE

Leslie Waldman has been named director of Consumer and Physician Outreach in the Office of Marketing and Communications. A 25-year Johns Hopkins veteran, Waldman will foster collaboration among outreach programs, targeting referring physicians and consumers. Previously director of Strategic and Marketing Strategy, she also has long been the leader of the women’s health program “A Woman’s Journey.” She has held many marketing, planning and corporate communications positions, winning numerous awards from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Aaron Watkins has been named director of E-strategy and Web services in the Office of Marketing and Communications. Previously a senior information architect for the JHM Web site, he will now direct Internet strategy and development. Prior to joining the office in 2007, he developed Web projects for many nonprofits, winning a Webby Award for the National Aquarium in Baltimore Web site.

PEABODY INSTITUTE

A recording of Gabriela Lena Frank’s Inca Dances by faculty artist Manuel Barrueco, guitar, and Cuarteto Latinoamericano has received a Latin Grammy Award nomination for Best Classical Contemporary Composition. Commissioned by the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society, the work was released on the Sounds of the Americas album. The awards ceremony will be held on Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Awakening from a Disappearing Garden, a work for cello and orchestra by DMA candidate Angel Lam, was premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 15 and 16 at Atlanta Symphony Hall. It will be performed on Nov. 7 at Carnegie Hall in New York, with Robert Spano conducting and Lam narrating, as part of the Ancient Paths, Modern Voices festival.

Courtney Orlando, founding member of Alarm Will Sound, plays violin and sings on the acclaimed contemporary ensemble’s new CD, a/rhythymia. New York magazine cited a performance of the a/rhythymia program at Carnegie Hall as one of the Top 10 Classical Events of 2008. Orlando teaches ear training and sight singing in the Conservatory.

Faculty artist Denise Tryon has joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as fourth horn. Other Philadelphia Orchestra members on the Conservatory faculty are Harold Hall Robinson, principal bass, who returned to Peabody this year as faculty artist in residence, and Stephen Wyrczynski, viola.

SAIS

Francisco Gonzalez, the Riordan Roett Associate Professor in Latin American Studies, is the author of Dual Transitions from Authoritarian Rule, which was recognized by Choice Magazine as a 2008 Outstanding Academic Title. The book, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, explains why the regimes in Chile and Mexico survived the financial upheaval of the early 1980s and how each progressed toward a more open, democratic, market-driven system in later years.

David M. Lampton, the George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies and director of the China Studies Program, has received an honorable mention in the Asia Society’s inaugural Bernard Schwartz Book Award program for his book The Three Faces of Chinese Power: Might, Money and Minds. The award recognizes nonfiction books that provide outstanding contributions to the understanding of contemporary Asia or U.S.–Asia relations. Awardees were selected by an independent jury of experts in the fields of policy, media, academia, cultural affairs and business.

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

Michael Rosenberg, professor and associate dean, is co-author of a new book titled Inclusion—Effective Practices for All Students. He and his co-authors, James McLeskey of the University of Florida and David Westling of Western Carolina University, were recently recognized by school officials in Loudon County, Va., home of Heritage High, one of the schools featured in the book. Most special education students at that school receive their services in general education classrooms, where school administrators, teachers and professional staff work together in teams to ensure that all students have the opportunities to receive supportive instruction. The book points out that Heritage routinely scores well above average on the Virginia State Report Card.

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Steven Cunningham, clinical instructor and fellow in Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, has received a Moonbeam Award in the Children’s Poetry and Spanish Language Book categories for his bilingual book Dinosaur Name Poems, a collection of art and poetry for children.

Charles Balch, professor of surgery, dermatology and oncology; director of Johns Hopkins’ Clinical Research Network; and deputy director of clinical trials and outcomes research, has received the Association of Community Cancer Centers’ 2009 award for outstanding achievement in clinical research. The award recognizes Balch’s “extensive research, leadership and commitment to individuals with cancer.”

Glenn Treisman, professor of internal medicine, psychiatry and behavioral science and director of the AIDS Psychiatry Service, which cares for HIV-infected patients at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and several Baltimore City Health Department clinics, has received the city’s 2009 Dr. Sebastian Russo Memorial Award for his dedicated and compassionate service to low-income individuals and families. Named for a Baltimore family physician renowned for tireless service to his patients, the award cites Treisman’s role as the “father of AIDS psychiatry.” Recognizing two decades ago that the mental health needs of HIV patients were largely overlooked, Treisman “not only challenged the status quo but completely changed the way health care providers diagnose and treat these issues,” said Olivia Farrow, the city’s interim health commissioner.

David Tunkel, associate professor and director of Pediatric Otolaryngology, has received the 2009 Distinguished Service Award from the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. The award, given this month at the group’s annual meeting in San Diego, recognizes outstanding volunteer contributions to the academy and its foundation.

SCHOOL OF NURSING

Sandra Angell, associate dean for admissions and student affairs, is the recipient of the 2009 JHU Alumni Heritage Award. The award honors alumni and friends of Johns Hopkins who have contributed outstanding service over an extended period to the progress of the university or to the activities of the Alumni Association. An active member of the Johns Hopkins Nurses Alumni Association, Angell has served on the board of directors, the Nominating Committee and the Student Affairs Coordinating Committee. She has held the offices of vice president and president and has continually served on her Class Reunion Committee. She currently represents the school as one of its student disability services coordinators.

Karen Haller, associate dean for clinical affairs at the school and vice president of the Department of Nursing at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, received the 2009 President’s Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. When the award was presented to Haller at the 2009 National Magnet Conference in Louisville, Ky., she received a standing ovation from an audience of more than 5,000.

WHITING SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Joe Katz, the William F. Ward Sr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been named a fellow of the American Physical Society. Fellowship in the APS is an honor limited to less than one-half of 1 percent of the society’s membership. In the citation for Katz’s election, the APS cited that he was receiving the honor for his “important contributions to our understanding of the underlying physics of a wide range of complex flows, including turbulent boundary layers, cavitating flows in rotating machinery and flows in ocean and atmospheric environments; for his numerous transformative contributions to experimental techniques; and for his years of editorial service.”