Category: Around Hopkins
New early warning system for seizures
April 2, 2012
Epilepsy affects 50 million people worldwide, and in a third of these cases, medication cannot keep seizures from occurring. One solution is to shoot a short pulse of electricity to the brain to stamp out the seizure just as it begins to erupt. But brain implants designed to do this have run into a stubborn […]
JHU artist in residence to perform at BMA
April 2, 2012
Mezzo-soprano Stephanie McGuire will present a free performance of her solo operatic theater piece, Mezzo Laid Bare, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 5, in the auditorium of the Baltimore Museum of Art. McGuire is visiting The Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus this spring as the 2012 artist in residence with the Krieger School’s Center […]
Newly discovered foot points to new kid on the hominin block
April 2, 2012
It seems that “Lucy” was not the only hominin on the block in northern Africa about 3 million years ago. A team of researchers that included Johns Hopkins University geologist Naomi Levin has announced the discovery of a partial foot skeleton with characteristics (such as an opposable big toe bone) that don’t match those of […]
Dengue virus turns on mosquito genes that make them hungrier
April 2, 2012
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have, for the first time, shown that infection with dengue virus turns on mosquito genes that make them hungrier and better feeders, and therefore possibly more likely to spread the disease to humans. Specifically, they found that dengue virus infection of the mosquito’s salivary gland […]
Genetic risk, stressful infancy join to increase schizophrenia risk
April 2, 2012
Working with genetically engineered mice and the genomes of thousands of people with schizophrenia, researchers at Johns Hopkins say they now better understand how both nature and nurture can affect one’s risks for schizophrenia and abnormal brain development in general. The researchers reported in the March 2 issue of Cell that defects in schizophrenia-risk genes […]
Scientists reprogram cancer cells with low doses of epigenetic drugs
April 2, 2012
Experimenting with cells in culture, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have breathed possible new life into two drugs once considered too toxic for human cancer treatment. The drugs, azacitidine (AZA) and decitabine (DAC), are epigenetic-targeted drugs and work to correct cancer-causing alterations that modify DNA. The researchers said that the drugs also […]
Hospitals with no cardiac surgery can perform nonemergency angioplasty
April 2, 2012
Patients who have nonemergency angioplasty to open blocked heart vessels have no greater risk of death or complications when they have the procedure at hospitals without cardiac surgery backup. That is the conclusion of a national study to assess the safety and effectiveness of such procedures at community hospitals. Results of the study, called the […]
Report: Brain cancer blood vessels not substantially tumor-derived
April 2, 2012
Johns Hopkins scientists have published laboratory data refuting studies that suggest blood vessels that form within brain cancers are largely made up of cancer cells. The theory of cancer-based blood vessels calls into question the use and value of anti-cancer drugs that target these blood vessels, including bevacizumab (Avastin). “We don’t question whether brain cancer […]
Commencement: Off they go, with hundreds of helping hands
April 2, 2012
John Birney, a senior associate director in the Admissions Office at Homewood, has a unique front-row seat to the start and end of many a Johns Hopkins student’s career. In his role in Admissions, Birney talks to constituent groups (guidance counselors, faculty, staff and others) and oversees the university’s largest recruitment territory, New York and […]
Take a tour, visit houses … Live Near Your Work
April 2, 2012
House hunting? The Office of Work, Life and Engagement has several upcoming events aimed at helping employees purchase a home close to a Johns Hopkins campus in Baltimore. To get a better sense of the Live Near Your Work program areas, a bus tour will be held on Saturday, April 14. Participants will tour homes […]