I have been part of the Johns Hopkins community for the last five years — first as a laboratory technician and now as a graduate student — and every fall I have gotten an email from Dean Paul Rothman inviting me to attend the State of Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) address. After years of good(...)
The Future of Biomedical Education: Part 1
Posted by | A Day in the LifeAs graduate students, we spend our days in the lab and are constantly working to balance setting up experiments, tackling our coursework, and attending relevant seminars and meetings. With this hectic day-to-day life, it can be easy to lose track of time, as well as the big picture of our Ph.D. training and the overall(...)
From Crisis to Consensus: Guidelines Aim to Reduce Over-Prescribing of Abused Drugs
Posted by | Did You See This?Every day, 115 Americans are killed by opioid overdose. That this number is so strikingly high underlines the language of ‘“epidemics” and “emergencies” in politicians’ speeches and newspaper headlines. Thousands of articles and millions of research dollars have become components of a concerted effort to understand, quantify and alleviate the opioid epidemic in the United(...)
Solving the CAR-T Conundrum
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchThe development and commercialization of cancer immunotherapies, a class of treatments that fights cancer by fortifying the immune system, has advanced at a rapid pace. Prior to 2017, most cancer immunotherapies were composed of antibodies that selectively flag cancer cells for destruction by other cells in the immune system. In mid-2017, the FDA approved Kymriah(...)
STEM Students: “Doc” the Vote!
Posted by | A Day in the LifeMidterm elections are right around the corner. Now is the time to register to vote — the Maryland registration deadline is Oct. 16, 2018. Why should health care workers and scientists care about voting? Simply put, the very foundations of our professions, such as access to health care or funding for research, are dictated by(...)
A Day in the Life of a Medical Student
Posted by | A Day in the LifeThrough triumphs, inspiration and heartache, our medical students offer rich, vivid accounts of their time at the school of medicine. Here are some of our favorites: The Hidden Joys of Medical School The rigor of medical school provides little time to celebrate or reflect on one’s accomplishments. The truly exhilarating moments, however, come most unexpectedly.(...)
I’m Alive!
Posted by | A Day in the LifeHer first impression: The supernatural world was surprisingly similar to reality. She opened her eyes and looked around. Lifting her hand in disbelief, she slowly flexed each intricate finger muscle. She gingerly touched her nose and ran her hand through her hair. “Are you an angel?” she asked. This 80-year-old lady had recently been diagnosed(...)
The Puppets of Parasites
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchWe’ve all experienced illnesses where parasites or small infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses are the culprits. But what happens when those pathogens start to influence the behavior of their hosts? Here I’ll discuss three different parasites that manipulate host behavior, delineate some potential mechanisms for their influence and outline some of the theory(...)
Delivering Your Goals
Posted by | A Day in the LifeOn Day 1 of my residency in the Gyn/Ob department at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, I remember feeling intimidated by all the skills that I had to develop: placing orders, writing notes, managing labor, performing vaginal deliveries, repairing lacerations, performing C-sections, placing Nexplanon implants for contraception, managing triage patients, answering consults, and(...)
The Colorful World of Cancer Drug Discovery
Posted by | Did You See This?Melanoma cells stained with PTRF (in red), RPA194 (in green) and nucleus stained in blue. RPA194 is the main subunit of the RNA polymerase I (POL 1) enzyme. Our lab discovered a first-in-class small molecule that inhibits POL 1 enzyme and causes the destruction of RPA194 protein. Here, we are investigating how these proteins are(...)