Three from Johns Hopkins receive awards for biomedical research that improves children's health

Three faculty members from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health have received Individual Biomedical Research Awards from the Hartwell Foundation to support research that improves children's health. The three-year awards are accompanied by financial support at $100,000 direct cost per year.

Image caption: Individual Biomedical Research Award winners (from left) Samuel M. Alaish, Jill A. Fahrner, and Ho Lam Tang

The invitation-only competition funds researchers who are involved in early-stage biomedical research that has not yet qualified for significant funding from outside sources. For the 2016 cycle awarded this month, the Hartwell Foundation invited 17 universities to compete for 12 awards. Johns Hopkins was the only university to win more than one award.

"The 2016 competition was once again very competitive, with innovative translational research that has the potential to benefit children," said Fred Dombrose, president of the Hartwell Foundation, in a press release about the awards. "The Hartwell Foundation seeks to inspire innovation and achievement by offering individual researchers an opportunity to realize their professional goals."

The Johns Hopkins winners of the Hartwell Foundation 2016 Individual Biomedical Research Awards are:

Samuel M. Alaish, associate professor of pediatric surgery in the School of Medicine's Department of Surgery. He is the surgical director of the Johns Hopkins Children's Center's Center for Intestinal Rehabilitation and Cure Using Science and the program director for the Pediatric Surgery Fellowship. Alaish was recognized for his work in "Partitioned Stent to Overcome Infections and Feeding Intolerance in Short Bowel Syndrome."

Jill A. Fahrner, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine and assistant director of the Johns Hopkins Genetic Medicine Residency Program. She was recognized by the Hartwell Foundation for her work in "Altering Epigenetics to Treat Growth Abnormalities."

Ho Lam Tang, who is currently a research associate in the Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. He was recently appointed an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, effective in August. Tang received his award for his work in "Inhibiting Anastasis in Cancer: Overcoming Reversal in the Cell Death Process to Prevent Recurrence."