Robert S.D. Higgins to lead Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Robert S.D. Higgins, the William Stewart Halsted Professor of Surgery and director of the Department of Surgery, has been elected president of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Higgins, a heart-lung transplant surgeon, also is surgeon-in-chief of Johns Hopkins Hospital. His research interests are the mechanism of cell injury in failing hearts, health policy, health economics, racial disparities in post-transplant outcomes, access to care, and improving outcomes among heart failure and cardiac surgery patients.

More from the School of Medicine

Henry Brem, director of the Department of Neurosurgery and a professor of neurosurgery, has been awarded the 2019 Medical Student Teaching Award by the Society of Neurological Surgeons for his "dedication to teaching and mentoring medical students" and for all he is doing "to shape the next generation of neurosurgeons."

Jonathan Callan, a fourth-year medical student, was one of 14 medical students chosen for the 2019 Medical Program of the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics. The program offers the students the opportunity to participate in a two-week summer program in Germany and Poland, studying the conduct of physicians in Nazi-occupied Europe as a way to reflect on medical ethics today.

Colleen Christmas has received the 2019 Outstanding Mid-Career Clinician Educator of the Year Award from the American Geriatrics Society. Christmas is an assistant professor of medicine, director of the Primary Care Leadership Track at the School of Medicine, and associate program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Tae Hwan Chung, an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, has been named to the Medical Advisory Board of the Myositis Association. A physiatrist, Chung specializes in investigating and developing rehabilitative treatments and therapeutic exercise programs for patients with neuromuscular diseases, such as myositis.

Megan Collins a professor of ophthalmology, is the recipient of the 2019 Award for Excellence in Mentoring sponsored by the Scholarly Concentration program. The award recognizes the faculty mentor who best embodies the goals of the SC program in fostering the spirit of independent scholarship among Johns Hopkins medical students.

Shravani Durbhakul, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, has received a $150,000 grant to create a video curriculum and research project on the fundamentals of neuromodulation that will feature experts from around the nation. The grant was awarded by the Nevro Corp., a medical device company that provides products for patients suffering from chronic pain.

James R. Ficke, director of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Robert A. Robinson Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, became a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' board of directors at the organization's 2019 annual meeting. Ficke also is a committed volunteer with AAOS. He is currently a mentor for the academy's Leadership Fellows Program.

Panagis Galiatsatos, an assistant professor with expertise in pulmonary and critical care medicine, has been named a 2019 Health Care Hero by the Maryland Daily Record newspaper. Galiatsatos received the Community Outreach/Education Award, which honors individuals and organizations that have helped the community they serve by providing support and education.

Sherita Golden has been named the 2019 Distinguished Alumna of the University of Virginia by the UVA Maxine Platzer Lynn Women's Center for her "professional expertise in the field of diabetes, her dedication to her community, and her inspirational leadership." Golden is the Hugh P. McCormick Family Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism and executive vice chair of the Department of Medicine. Her research interests include diabetes and depression, diabetes epidemiology, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and inpatient diabetes health care delivery.

James C. Harris, director of the Developmental Neuropsychiatry Clinic at JHU and the Kennedy Krieger Institute, and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and pediatrics, has been given the 2019 William I. Gardner Award by the Center for START Services, Institute on Disability. The award recognizes "a national leader who has made significant contributions in the effort to improve the lives of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities and behavioral health." Harris is a past director of the Johns Hopkins Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Ralph Hruban, a professor of pathology and director of the Department of Pathology, has been named the world's top expert in pancreatic neoplasms by Expertscape.com, a website that ranks people and institutions by their expertise in more than 26,000 biomedical topics. Hruban, who is also chair of the school's Professional Promotions Committee, received this honor for his preeminent contributions to the understanding and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Richard Huganir, a neurobiologist, has won the 2019 Edward Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience for his research on changes in synapses—the spaces between neurons—that affect learning and memory. The Scolnick Prize is awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's McGovern Institute for Brain Research. Huganir is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience and Psychological and Brain Sciences and director of the Department of Neuroscience.

Pamela Johnson, vice chair of quality and safety in the Department of Radiology and associate professor of radiology and radiological sciences, and her team received a Teaching Value Innovator Award from the Costs of Care 2018 Value Challenge. The team designed a full-day continuing medical education program that reviews the appropriate use of imaging exams, lab tests, medications, transfusions, and other treatments. The Value Challenge is a national search aimed at recognizing the most promising ideas to improve the safety, experience, and affordability of American health care. The Teaching Value Innovator Award recognizes projects that focus on improving medical education curricula around delivering high-value care.

Bram Lambrus, a molecular biologist and doctoral candidate in the laboratory of Andrew Holland, is one of 13 winners of the prestigious Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, which has been given by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for the past 20 years. Lambrus won for his discovery of a quality-control pathway that acts as a timer to measure the duration of cell division.

Peter J. McDonnell, director of the Wilmer Eye Institute and a professor of ophthalmology, has been named to the ARCS Foundation Hall of Fame for making advances in ophthalmology that have improved sight for countless patients worldwide. ARCS Foundation is a nationally recognized nonprofit started and run entirely by women who boost American leadership and aid advancement in science and technology. McDonnell was sponsored as an ARCS Scholar in 1981 and 1982, when he was a medical student at Johns Hopkins.

Debraj Mukherjee, an assistant professor of neurosurgery, has received the David C. Leach Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The award recognizes residents and fellows who have fostered innovation and improvement in their residency programs, advanced humanism in medicine, and increased efficiency and emphasis on educational outcomes. It was given to Mukherjee for work done during his residency at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Kristen Nelson, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Office for Pediatric Education and an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, has been named a 2019 Health Care Hero by the Maryland Daily Record newspaper. Nelson received the Physician of the Year Award, which honors a physician whose job performance is considered exemplary by patients and peers.

Nancy L. Schoenborn, an assistant professor of medicine and an assistant professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, has received the 2019 Outstanding Junior Investigator of the Year Award from the American Geriatrics Society. Schoenborn's clinical/research expertise is in geriatric medicine and cancer screenings in older adults that incorporate patient preferences and life expectancy.

Sharon Denise Solomon, a professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, was honored in February on the floors of both the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates with citations from the governor and the General Assembly, recognizing that she is the first African-American to be promoted to full professor in the history of the Wilmer Eye Institute. Solomon's clinical expertise includes medical and surgical treatment of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, epiretinal membranes, macular holes, and retinal tears and detachment.

Emmanouil Tampakakis, an instructor of medicine, was one of three winners of the 2019 Presidential Career Development Award given by the American College of Cardiology. Tampakakis' award-winning project is titled "Engineering a Power Switch to Study the Contribution of Stem Cell–Derived Cardiomyocytes on Heart Regeneration."

Lillian L. Tsai, an assistant resident in the Department of Surgery, has received a $60,000 Southern Thoracic Surgical Association Resident Research Award from the Thoracic Surgery Foundation, the charitable arm of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The project that earned Tsai the award is titled "An Implantable Microdevice for Personalized Chemotherapy to Prevent Recurrence in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer."

Megan M. Tschudy, an assistant professor of pediatrics and assistant medical director of the Harriet Lane Clinic, has received an AcademyHealth Nemours Child Health Services Research Award from AcademyHealth. The national award recognizes an early-career investigator in the field of child health services, particularly someone doing research on quality improvement of pediatric health services. Tschudy's research interests include community-integrated health care redesign, improving the quality of the family-centered medical home, home visitation, and implementing and evaluating innovative medical education curricula.

John Wilckens a sports medicine division chief and associate professor of orthopedic surgery, has been inducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Medicine into the 2019 class of the Miller Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence. The academy recognizes Johns Hopkins physicians who provide exceptional patient care and demonstrate mastery in communication, interpersonal skills, professionalism, and humanism. Wilckens was inducted during the Excellence in Patient Care Symposium in April.

Warren Grayson, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, and Sujatha Kannan, a professor of anesthesiology, critical care, and pediatric critical care, have been inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. The honor is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer. New fellows are nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows. Grayson was honored for "outstanding contributions to musculoskeletal tissue engineering, enhancement of diversity, and educating the public and policymakers on regenerative medicine strategies." Kannan was recognized for "elucidating the role of glia in neurodevelopmental disorders and contributions bridging clinical, preclinical, nanotechnology/translational efforts for pediatric brain disorders." They were inducted into the college, along with 155 others, during a ceremony in the spring in Washington, D.C.

Three faculty members from the School of Medicine and one from the Whiting School have been selected to join the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. The honor is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer. Warren Grayson, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, was honored for his outstanding contributions to musculoskeletal tissue engineering and educating the public and policymakers on regenerative medicine strategies, as well as for his commitments to diversity. Sujatha Kannan, a professor of anesthesiology, critical care, and pediatric critical care, was recognized for her research on the role of glia in neurodevelopmental disorders and her contributions bridging clinical, preclinical, nanotechnology/translational efforts for pediatric brain disorders. Hanzhang Lu, a professor and chief of the neurofunction section of the Department of Radiology and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, was recognized for outstanding contributions to functional and physiological capabilities of brain MRI scans. And Honggang Cui, an associate professor in the Whiting School of Engineering's Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was selected for his contributions to the development of drug-based supramolecular biomaterials. New fellows are nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows. They were inducted into the college, along with 155 others, during a ceremony in the spring in Washington, D.C.

Three School of Medicine professors are among the more than 200 scientists, scholars, writers, artists, and other leaders who have been elected to the 2019 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Rachel Green, a professor of molecular biology and genetics and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, focuses on a protein-building machine called the ribosome. Her laboratory uses genetic and biochemical tools to explore the function of ribosomes in bacteria, yeast, and mammals. Kenneth Kinzler, a professor of oncology, co-director of the Ludwig Center, and associate director for basic research at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, was recognized for his role in uncovering the genetic alterations linked to the initiation of colon cancer; the development of novel approaches for the molecular analysis of cancer; and, more recently, for his role in deciphering the genetic blueprints of many types of cancer. Cynthia Wolberger, a professor of biophysics and biophysical chemistry, studies proteins that pack DNA into a bundle within a cell, and she looks at how special tags called ubiquitin are attached to these proteins and help turn genes on or off. She develops 3D models in order to study, in fine detail, the cellular machinery that controls DNA packaging.

Kavita Sharma, an assistant professor of medicine and director of Johns Hopkins' Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction Program, and Susumu Tao, of the Division of Cardiology, were among the nine researchers who received 2019 Young Author Achievement Awards from the American College of Cardiology in recognition of outstanding research published in one of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology's sister journals. Sharma's work, published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure, is titled "Randomized Evaluation of Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction Patients With Acute Heart Failure and Dopamine (ROPA-DOP) Trial." Tao's work, titled "Ablation Lesion Characterization in Scarred Substrate Assessed Using Cardiac Magnetic Resonance," was published in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology. They were recognized during the ACC's 68th Annual Scientific Session, held in the spring in New Orleans.