Category: School of Medicine
Looking for the roots of racial bias in delivery of health care
September 12, 2011
New Johns Hopkins research shows that medical students—just like the general American population—may have unconscious if not overt preferences for white people, but this innate bias does not appear to translate into different or lesser health care of other races. The research findings, published in the Sept. 7 issue of the Journal of the American […]
Study begins of minimally invasive treatment for blocked heart valves in risky patients
September 12, 2011
Heart experts at Johns Hopkins have begun testing a new device designed to replace blocked aortic valves in patients for whom traditional open-heart surgery is considered too risky, such as elderly patients and those with other serious medical conditions. The testing is part of a nationwide study to evaluate the device, which is deployed in […]
JHU scientists expose cancer cells’ universal ‘dark matter’
August 1, 2011
Using the latest gene sequencing tools to examine so-called epigenetic influences on the DNA makeup of colon cancer, a Johns Hopkins team says that its results suggest cancer treatment might eventually be more tolerable and successful if therapies could focus on helping cancer cells get back to normal as well as on strategies for killing […]
Expanded research effort to seek cure for AIDS
July 18, 2011
A team of AIDS experts at Johns Hopkins and other institutions has embarked on a joint five-year research initiative to cure HIV disease by finding ways to completely purge the virus from the body in people already successfully suppressing the virus with antiretroviral drug therapy. Major advances in anti-HIV drug treatment in the last two decades […]
Sexually transmitted parasite twice as prevalent in women over 40
July 18, 2011
A Johns Hopkins infectious disease expert is calling for all sexually active American women age 40 and older to get tested for the parasite Trichomonas vaginalis after new evidence found that the sexually transmitted disease is more than twice as common in this age group than was previously thought. Screening is especially important because in many […]
Researchers awarded $32 mill to study sugar molecules
July 18, 2011
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has awarded each of two groups at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine approximately $2.3 million a year for seven years to establish Programs of Excellence in Glycosciences. Gerald Hart, director of Biological Chemistry, and Ronald Schnaar, professor of pharmacology and molecular sciences, will lead these independent […]
Famed neurosurgeon Cushing’s century-old notes reveal modern-style admission of medical error
February 28, 2011
The current focus on medical errors isn’t quite as new as it seems. A Johns Hopkins review of trailblazing neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing’s notes, made at the turn of the 20th century, has turned up copious documentation of his own surgical mishaps as well as his suggestions for preventing those mistakes in the future. Authors of […]
Seniors with hearing loss more likely to develop dementia
February 21, 2011
Seniors with hearing loss are significantly more likely to develop dementia over time than those who retain their hearing, a study by Johns Hopkins and National Institute on Aging researchers suggests. The findings, the researchers say, could lead to new ways to combat dementia, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide and carries heavy […]
Safety checklist use yields 10 percent drop in hospital deaths
February 14, 2011
A Johns Hopkins–led safety checklist program that virtually eliminated bloodstream infections in hospital intensive care units throughout Michigan appears to have also reduced deaths by 10 percent, a new study suggests. Although prior research showed a major reduction in central line–related bloodstream infections at hospitals using the checklist, the new study is the first to show […]
Internal med residents graduate unprepared for primary care
February 14, 2011
Doctors who have completed training in internal medicine are in general poorly prepared for jobs as primary care physicians, most notably lacking the knowledge to best care for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, a new Johns Hopkins study suggests. The researchers also found, however, that physicians who completed internal […]