Biomedical Odyssey

Life at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Cropped composite image of a woman when she was young and old

Genetic Double-Agents Are Making You Old

October 12, 2017

We’re getting old. Unprecedented advances in biomedical research and technology over the last century have increased the average human lifespan in the United States by over 50 percent.1 And with more people enrolling in Medicare than prenatal partner yoga, it is vital to understand and improve the health of the aging population. Unfortunately, getting older […]

Eduardo Martínez-Montes ⋅ A Day in the Life aging, Human Genetics ⋅

How Lithium Treats Bipolar Disorder

June 8, 2016

Lithium is a first-line treatment for patients with bipolar disorder, which is characterized by mood swings between mania and depression. Although widespread use of lithium to treat mania began around the mid-20th century, we still know relatively little about the compound’s mechanism of action. And we know even less about why lithium fails to treat […]

Cody Call ⋅ Perspectives in Research Human Genetics, mental health ⋅

How Genetics Can Inform Future Missions to Mars

May 17, 2016

On May 3, I and four other Johns Hopkins students volunteered with the Personalized Genetics Education Project, or pgEd, at a congressional briefing titled “Enduring the Extremes: Space Travel, Genetics and Astronaut Health.” This briefing, co-hosted by Rep. Louise Slaughter and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, was motivated by NASA’s goal to conduct landing missions to a […]

Seun Ajiboye ⋅ Events and Happenings, Perspectives in Research DNA, dna mutation, Genetics, Human Genetics, NASA ⋅

Scientifically Defining Life

April 18, 2016

You may expect that defining something as living or dead would be relatively straightforward, yet nearly every scientist you ask for a definition of what constitutes life will give you a different answer, often emphasizing the importance of their area of expertise. Even with widespread disagreement in the details, generally agreed-upon characteristics of life include […]

davidwilson ⋅ Perspectives in Research DNA, dna sequencing, Genetics, Human Genetics ⋅

The Life Lottery

April 12, 2016

One in 292.2 million — those were the odds of winning the recent $1.5 billion Powerball, the largest lottery jackpot ever. As it happens, a few months ago, the medical student class of 2018 was learning about obstetrics, gynecology and reproduction as part of the Genes to Society curriculum, which gave me a newfound appreciation […]

Benjamin Ostrander ⋅ Perspectives in Research Human Genetics, pregnancy ⋅

Highlights from the 2015 American Society of Human Genetics Conference

October 23, 2015

As the American Society of Human Genetics concluded its 65th annual meeting in Baltimore, the air around the Johns Hopkins McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine still seems to buzz with the excitement of it all. Among the plethora of innovative research and technologies presented, the society devoted some focus to those entities whose existence is […]

Xuan Pham ⋅ Events and Happenings ASHG, Baltimore, Biomedical Research, Breast Cancer, Genetics, Human Genetics, human genome editing, innovation, Research ⋅

Carolina Montano: From Political Asylum to Johns Hopkins M.D./Ph.D.

June 22, 2015

I remember the day I first met Carolina Montano, a fellow student in the Johns Hopkins M.D./Ph.D. program. It was toward the beginning of my first year in medical school. We were both at a dinner for M.D./Ph.D. interviewees, and, as with many conversations between medical students, we inevitably began to discuss our classes. Carolina […]

Alisa Mo ⋅ A Day in the Life Brain, Cells, Colombia, DNA, Human Genetics, Johns Hopkins M.D./Ph.D., Molecular Biology, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Neuronal Epigenetics, Neuroscience, Political Asylum, Schizophrenia ⋅

Subscribe to the Blog

Introduction

  • About This Blog
  • Meet the Authors
  • Do You Want to Write for Us?

Blog Categories

  • A Day in the Life
  • Events and Happenings
  • Honor Roll
  • Perspectives in Research

More About the School of Medicine

  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Life at Hopkins
  • Training at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Archives