Everything from shrooms and weed to molly and ketamine — once known mainly as party drugs — is finding a place in clinical trials for depression and other mental health conditions. Precisely how they work on the brain, however, strays wildly from prescription antidepressants. In doing so, these drugs are challenging traditional ideas of how(...)
Perspectives in Research
Movie Review of “End Game”
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchGuest post by medical student Barry Bryant. The original article can be found on Closler.org. “End Game” is an Oscar-nominated short documentary directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film takes place at the University of California at San Francisco and incorporates the Zen Hospice Project. The overarching theme of the film is working(...)
19th-Century Technology, 21st-Century Users
Posted by | A Day in the Life, Perspectives in ResearchIn February, the Johns Hopkins History of Medicine Survey had the opportunity to experiment with three stethoscopes: a replica of René Laennec’s 1816 stethoscope, a Russian cavalry surgeon’s 1915 stethoscope and a modern stethoscope bought a few years ago. Per M.D./Ph.D. student Maya Koretsky’s instructions, I sat on the office desk with my back turned(...)
Underrepresented minority biomedical researchers: numbers, challenges and initiatives for change
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchIn 2012, the Advisory Committee to the Director Working Group on Diversity (ACDWGD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) produced its first report. The committee stated plainly that diversity increases core scientific principles — creativity, innovation and rigor — and that the NIH had a responsibility as a publicly funded body to maintain the(...)
Are Physician Salaries Appropriate?
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchOver the holiday season, I was fortunate to spend time with family in northern California where I grew up. There I had the opportunity to catch up with some friends from high school. We talked about many things, but eventually the conversation turned to work, salaries and other practicalities of adult life we would have(...)
Student Perspectives: All About Grad School
Posted by | A Day in the Life, Perspectives in ResearchCurious about graduate school? Below are recent posts from our students sharing advice, accomplishments and the latest goings-on in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine graduate programs. The Future of Biomedical Education: A Conversation with Dr. Ziegelstein A Ph.D. candidate sits down with Dr. Ziegelstein, vice dean for education at the Johns Hopkins University(...)
Partnering Toward Discovery: A Focus on Inclusion Body Myositis
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchMany people are not familiar with a rare disease called inclusion body myositis (IBM). Most have never heard of it. On Jan. 22, 2019, Harry Benjamin Larman and students Janelle Montagne, Sahana Jayaraman and Kyla Britson presented their clinical and basic science research on IBM at the first event in this year’s Partnering Toward Discovery(...)
Engineering Magic Bullets for Pancreatic Cancer
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchIn a 1909 manuscript titled “Ueber den jetzigen Stand der Chemotherapie” (“About the Current State of Chemotherapy”), Nobel laureate Paul Ehrlich proclaimed, “We must learn to aim in a chemical sense.” What did he mean? Ehrlich was referring to his “magic bullet” theory of chemical specificity, the observation that certain drugs can eliminate disease-causing entities(...)
A Life or Debt Decision: Tackling Unaffordable Drug Prices in Maryland
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchI first became concerned about unaffordable drug prices when I did one of my first-year research rotations in a lab that studied the hepatitis C virus. The timing of my rotation was in the midst of the (continuing) hepatitis C epidemic and just after the development of Harvoni, an exorbitantly expensive cure ($50,000–$100,000). I learned(...)
Fuggetaboudit: Is Forgetfulness a Vice or a Virtue?
Posted by | Perspectives in ResearchWhere are my keys? What’s the name of that actor again? Did she say 3 or 4 o’clock? Forgetfulness is a part of life, albeit often an inconvenient one. If you find yourself wishing you would never forget anything, you may want to reconsider. Neuroscientists are beginning to uncover the molecular mechanisms of forgetting. With(...)