CLASS NOTES

1949

Michael Wertheimer, A&S '49 (MS), published Facets of an Academic's Life: A Memoir in January. Available in paperback and as an e-book, it includes a chapter about his graduate training in experimental psychology at Johns Hopkins University between 1947 and 1949. Additionally, a sixth edition of Wertheimer's 1970 book, A Brief History of Psychology, will be reissued in 2020 by Psychology Press, an imprint of Taylor & Franklin.

1953

George Lambrakis, SAIS '53 (MS), a retired senior Foreign Service officer, wrote a memoir, So You Want to Be a Diplomat? An American Diplomat's Progress From Vietnam to Iran, Fun, Warts and All, published in December 2019 by Xlibris. The book details Lambrakis' decades of service, with anecdotes about interacting with world leaders and common folks around the globe, and is appropriate for those curious about or planning to enter a career in the Foreign Service.

1962

John L. Cameron, Med '62 (MD), HS '70, '71 (PGF), was awarded the 2019 Bigelow Medal from the Boston Surgical Society. Cameron served as chief of surgery for the Johns Hopkins Hospital for 19 years and was president of the American College of Surgeons from 2008 to 2009. He is believed to have operated on more patients with pancreatic cancer and performed more Whipple resections than any other surgeon in the world.

1970

Marilynn Katatsky, SPH '70 (MPH), A&S '72 (PhD), a wealth adviser with Morgan Stanley in Naples, Florida, was again named a Forbes Best-in-State financial adviser. Katatsky recently moved her practice to Naples after 32 years in the Baltimore/Washington area.

1977

Edward S. Bessman, A&S '77, HS '82, Bus '11 (MS), '11 (Cert), assistant professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, was honored with the Excellence in Service and Professionalism Award from the Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians. Bessman has worked in the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center's Emergency Department for 28 years, including 20 years as the chair.

Peter Devreotes, A&S '77 (PhD), director of the Department of Cell Biology and professor of biological chemistry at Johns Hopkins, was awarded the 2019 E.B. Wilson Medal from the American Society for Cell Biology for his research in chemotaxis, the study of an organism or cell's movement in response to outside agents. The award goes to individuals who demonstrate significant contributions to cell biology over a lifetime in science and is the organization's highest honor.

1984

Mark F. Teaford, Med '84 (PGF), a professor of basic sciences at Touro University in Vellejo, California, received the American Association for Anatomy's Henry Gray Distinguished Education Award for his leadership in anatomy education and curricular reform and design.

1985

Michael Repka, Med '85 (PGF), Bus '10 (Cert), '10 (MS), a professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, was nominated for the 2019 Physician of the Year Award by Johns Hopkins Medicine. The award is given to physicians who consistently achieve high standards in the practice of medicine and are looked upon as role models by their peers. Repka also was named a 2019 Top Doctor by Baltimore magazine. This recognition is compiled by an annual peer survey of the Baltimore metro area's physicians.

Ingrid Zimmer-Galler, A&S '85, an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute and executive clinical director of the Office of Telemedicine, has been selected by the World Health Organization to serve on its Digital Health Roster of Experts. WHO's newly established Department of Digital Health will advise the United Nations agency on, and steer the development of, technology initiatives in health care.

1987

James R. Barrett, Med '87 (MD), became the interim chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Oklahoma. Barrett practices family and sports medicine in the Oklahoma City area.

1992

Cherie Butts, A&S '92, '97 (MS), was appointed medical director and head of human biology research, digital and quantitative medicine at Biogen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Biogen is responsible for the use of novel technologies in clinical trials to address the needs of patients with neurodegenerative and immunological diseases.

Ted M. Dawson, Med '92 (PGF), director of the Institute for Cell Engineering at Johns Hopkins, received a 2020 Zenith Fellows Award from the Alzheimer's Association. Dawson received the award for his work examining whether parthanatos, a protein known to cause nerve cell death in people with Parkinson's disease, plays a similar role in Alzheimer's disease.

1993

Daniel "Dan" B. Flynn, A&S '93, Bus '04 (MBA), was named the director of development, marketing, and communications by the Community Foundation of Howard County, which raises, manages, and distributes funds to support Howard County, Maryland, nonprofits. Prior to his current role, Flynn was director of business development and events for Inside Lacrosse, a media and events company, where he led brand development and new business and revenue growth.

1995

Michael J. Caterina, Med '95 (MD/PhD), was named director of the Department of Biological Chemistry for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is also the Solomon H. Snyder Professor of Neurosurgery and the director of the Neurosurgery Pain Research Institute.

1997

Seth Blackshaw, Med '97 (PhD), '99 (PGF), a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins, received an RPB Stein Innovation Award from Research to Prevent Blindness. Blackshaw is one of 33 researchers who have received the award since it was established in 2014. The grant money will go toward research on replacing photoreceptors in human eyes that are lost to disease.

Christopher Matthew Burtner, Peab '97 (MM), an Alaska-born composer, sound artist, and eco-acoustician, has been elected to the 2020 class of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, which honors former Hopkins affiliates who have achieved marked distinction in their fields.

2000

Susan L. Gearhart, Med '00 (PGF), HS '00, Ed '17 (PhD), an associate professor of surgery and a colon and rectal surgeon practicing in Baltimore, received the Southern Surgical Association's 2019 Shipley Award for presenting the best scientific paper at the association's annual meeting. The subject of the paper was cognitive impairment and loss of independence in older patients after colorectal cancer surgery.

Verónica Hernandez-Shepard, A&S '00, published her first children's book, P is for Penelope, in February. Available in both English and Spanish editions, it tells the story of a little girl who is excited to become a big sister.

Jennifer Nickoles, Bus '00, '09, vice president for operations and system integration at Johns Hopkins Health System and chief of staff at Johns Hopkins Medicine, was awarded a 2020 Carol Emmott Fellowship. The program supports women in leadership capacities who are already influential in their fields, so that they may increase their ability to make an impact and ultimately contribute to improving gender equity in health leadership through their own career advancement. Nickoles was nominated for the fellowship by Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Sarah Polk, SPH '00 (MPH), '13 (MPH), Med '04 (MD), HS '07, was selected as one of 35 fellows for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program. Polk, whose clinical expertise includes pediatrics and adolescent medicine with a focus on mental health and sexually transmitted infections in adolescents, was recognized for her contribution on a project involving immigrant Latina mothers and their risk for depression and unmet social needs.

Joseph "Joe" W. Stauffer, HS '00, Med '02 (PGF), was appointed chief medical officer at a biotech startup company, Inheris Biopharma Inc. The company will be responsible for launch preparation and the commercialization of NKTR-181, a novel investigational opioid molecule. Stauffer is also the principal and founder of Alta Life Sciences LLC.

2001

Michele A. Manahan, Med '01 (MD), HS '07, a board-certified plastic surgeon who performs aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, was named the 172nd president of MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society. MedChi is a nonprofit membership association of Maryland physicians and the largest physician organization in the state.

2002

Margaux Soeffker, A&S '02, was selected to the 2019 and 2020 Minnesota Rising Stars for demonstrating excellence in the practice of law. This honor is limited to fewer than 3% of attorneys in the state. Soeffker runs a solo family law practice in a suburb of the Twin Cities.

2003

Roger Dale Heinken, Engr '03 (MS), SAIS '09 (MIPP), a captain in the U.S. Navy, assumed command of the USS Boxer on Sept. 15, 2019, while on deployment in the Middle East. The Boxer is an amphibious aircraft carrier with approximately 3,200 sailors and Marines on board as well as associated aircraft and amphibious vehicles. The ship is based in San Diego, California.

Sean R. Moore, Med '03 (MD), co-director of the University of Virginia's TransUniversity Microbiome Initiative, was appointed chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition. A subspecialist in pediatric gastroenterology, Moore diagnoses and treats digestive diseases in children.

Joseph Sakran, SPH '03 (MPH), director of Emergency General Surgery and assistant professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins, has been named to the 2019–2020 class of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellows by the National Academy of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Since September, Sakran and five other health professionals have been in Washington, working on health-related legislative and regulatory issues with members of Congress or the executive branch. The fellows were chosen in a national competition for highly accomplished health and behavioral/social science professionals who have an interest in health policy. After their Washington assignment, Sakran and the other fellows will continue to receive support to sustain their development as health policy leaders.

2004

W. Caleb McDaniel, A&S '04 (MA), '06 (PhD), won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in History for his book Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America. Published by Oxford University Press, Sweet Taste of Liberty tells the story of Henrietta Wood, who twice survived enslavement and eventually triumphed in a historic court case against one of the men responsible for her captivity. McDaniel is an associate professor and incoming chair of the Department of History at Rice University.

Rheanna Platt, SPH '04 (MPH), HS '09, was selected as one of 35 fellows for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program. Platt, whose expertise includes adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and child development and behavioral health, was recognized for her contribution on a project involving immigrant Latina mothers and their risk for depression and unmet social needs.

2005

Mary Armanios, Med '05 (PGF), a professor of oncology and clinical director of the Telomere Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine, was elected a 2019 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a lifetime distinction that recognizes outstanding contributions to science and technology. Armanios' research focuses on dysfunction of telomeres, the protective ends of chromosomes.

Chetan Bettegowda, Med '05 (MD/PhD), HS '12, director of the Meningioma Center and professor of neurosurgery, assumed the leadership of the Physician Scientist Training Program at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in March 2020.

2007

Fasika A. Woreta, Med '07 (MD), SPH '07 (MPH), HS '11, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, was named 2019 Physician of the Year by the Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinical Awards for Physicians and Care Teams, one of six honors bestowed annually. Woreta was nominated for her attention to continuous improvement, commitment to evidence-based medicine, and focus on continuing medical education.

2009

Divya Srikumaran, HS '09, was named one of Baltimore magazine's 2019 Top Doctors. This recognition is compiled by an annual peer survey of the metro area's physicians. Srikumaran specializes in cornea and external diseases, as well as cataracts and refractive surgery.

Donna Koros Stramella, Bus '09 (Cert), an award-winning journalist based in Maryland, published her novel Coffee Killed My Mother with Adelaide Books in January. Her other works can be found in Adelaide Literary Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, Columbia Magazine, and The Baltimore Sun. She is currently working on her second novel.

Bonnielin Swenor, SPH '09 (MPH), '14 (PhD), an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, received funding from the Idea Lab's 2019 Ten by Twenty Challenge. Swenor proposed the establishment of the Johns Hopkins Disability Coalition, which aims to bring together stakeholders from across the university to address inequities for persons with disabilities. The Ten by Twenty Challenge offered up to $20,000 for ideas that support Johns Hopkins University's vision of 10 goals to be reached by 2020. Swenor's proposal falls under the university's goal to enhance diversity.

2011

Viet Cuong, Peab '11, '12 (MM), was chosen to be the California Symphony's Young American Composer-in-Residence for the 2020 to 2023 seasons. In that time, he will collaborate with the California Symphony to create, rehearse, premiere, and record three new major orchestra compositions. Cuong was selected through a blind screening application process that received a record 132 submissions.

Sonji Muhammad, A&S '11 (MA), is now the director of the office of diversity and inclusion at the University of Arizona College of Medicine–Phoenix after serving as assistant director for less than four years.

2012

Abhilaksh Likhi, SAIS '12 (MIPP), the principal secretary of Agriculture, Cooperation, and Farmers' Welfare for the government of Haryana in India, wrote the article "How a District in Telangana Is Empowering Small and Marginal Farmers" in Outlook, a general interest news magazine published in India.

2013

Claire L. Allen, Peab '13 (MM), received the 2019 Outstanding String Teacher Award from the Virginia Chapter of the American String Teachers Association. Allen joined the Mason Community Arts Academy of George Mason University's College of Visual and Performing Arts in 2013 and has since expanded the strings program to provide the students with various types of classes, camps, and performance opportunities.

Nakul Shekhawat, SPH '13 (MPH), an assistant of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, is the co-winner of the 2019 Claes H. Dohlman Society Fellowship Award. This international award, named after the surgical innovator and pioneer in corneal science and clinical education, is presented annually by the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary of Harvard Medical School to a cornea fellow who demonstrates academic, surgical, and research excellence.

2015

Joanna Smith, Engr '15 (MCE), a geotechnical engineer for AECOM in New York City, was one of the 10 honorees chosen by the American Society of Engineers for their New Faces of Civil Engineering recognition program, which highlights the next generation of civil engineering leaders.

2017

Harrison Xiao Bai, A&S '17 (MS), joined Rhode Island Medical Imaging as a radiologist after completing residencies in general surgery and radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Bai has authored and co-authored over 100 scholarly pieces. He resides in Providence, Rhode Island.

2018

Daniel Kadin, A&S '18 (MS), a registered patent litigator, joined the Los Angeles office and intellectual property team of Lathrop GPM, a national law firm with nearly 400 attorneys and 14 offices from coast to coast. The focus of his practice is primarily on patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and commercial litigations over a wide variety of industries including life sciences, medical devices, and media.

2019

Jonathan Dell, Engr '19 (MME), an engineering manager for new business and technology development at Collins Aerospace, was named LGBTQ+Engineer of the Year by the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals. Dell earned the award for his significant contributions to advancing aerospace power engineering and his rapid advancement as an engineer and leader at Collins Aerospace.