Pathology Department at Johns Hopkins University

Letter from the Director J. Brooks Jackson, M.D., M.B.A.
Baxley Professor & Director of Pathology

March 1, 2007

Welcome to the Johns Hopkins Medicine Pathology Web Site. As our Department continues to grow, communication becomes increasingly more important. Currently, there are over 1300 people in the department which includes approximately 130 full-time faculty, 32 residents, 35 graduate students, over 100 fellows, and approximately 1000 staff. Full-time employees are not just based in Baltimore, but also in Brazil, Peru, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, India, and China. With internet access available at all these sites, I strongly encourage Pathology faculty, housestaff, students, staff, alumni, and prospective trainees to find out more about the activities of the Department.

This past 2006 fiscal/academic year, the Department of Pathology was successful in meeting or exceeding all its goals due to the strong efforts made by our faculty, fellows, residents, students and staff. Financial targets were exceeded for the University side of the Department, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Bayview Medical Center, and Howard County General Hospital budgets in terms of generating surpluses which are critical for supporting the new buildings, new equipment, and money for research projects, especially for junior investigators.

February 2006 saw the opening of the second Cancer Research Building (CRB II) in which Pathology cancer researchers moved into 13,500 square feet of new space on the third floor. This new space allowed the expansion of neuropathology, immunology, pulmonary pathology, and cardiac pathology on Ross 5 and 6. Despite the difficulty in obtaining NIH funding for research, the Department’s spending on extramural research increased by 18.2% over FY 2004-2005. NIH grant and contract awards were at an all time high up by 11.3% over the previous year placing our Department second in NIH funding for Departments of Pathology (see page 2 of Winter 07 Pathways Newsletter). However, it should be noted that many of these new awards went to senior investigators whereas junior investigators have had more difficulty. Helping talented junior investigators obtain support has and will continue to be a priority for the Department. The Department continues its tradition of excellent scholarship publishing over 175 first or last author peer-reviewed articles in the scientific literature.

In terms of patient safety we had a number of successful initiatives such as reducing the number of mislabeled specimens, documenting the correct receipt of verbal test results, assuring the timely report of critical action values, and assuring the presence of correct orders and consent forms in patient pheresis charts. Improvement was noted in all of these areas.

In terms of our educational programs, eight new excellent residents were accepted through the MATCH program (see page 16 of Winter 07 Pathways Newsletter) and eleven new graduate students started in the Pathobiology program this fall including four new students from Singapore (see page 14 of Winter 07 Pathways Newsletter). We now have a total of 32 residents and 35 graduate students enrolled, respectively. A number of our faculty have been involved in the School of Medicine’s plan to redesign the medical school curriculum which will be implemented in 2008. It is envisioned that Pathology will play a major role in all four years, not just the predominant role it plays in year 2. Through the efforts of Ralph Hruban, Sandy Markowitz, and several faculty, gifts exceeding $3.6 million were donated this past year from over 1,000 generous alumni, patients, and friends of the Department. These funds will support innovative research projects by junior faculty, fellows, and residents and provide stipends for some of our graduate students.

A new institutional and Departmental initiative this past year has been to focus our efforts to increase the diversity of our faculty, teaching programs, and staff. The Department has developed and implemented a plan which we believe will help us achieve this important objective. A university department diversity committee and a hospital department diversity committee have been established headed by Juan Troncoso, M.D. and Jim Creech, respectively, to spearhead these efforts.

Despite the notable achievements this past year, the current academic year will bring new challenges including another tough year for obtaining NIH funding, and increased regulatory compliance requirements. Given the talent and hard work of our faculty, trainees, and staff, I am confident we will deal with these challenges successfully as well. I think that we truly do have the best Pathology Department in the country and that we will continue to have an increasingly greater impact in research, teaching, and patient care in our field.