The Society of Scholars was created by former Johns Hopkins University President Milton S. Eisenhower and approved by the university board of trustees on May 1, 1967. The Society of Scholars — the first of its kind in the nation — inducts former postdoctoral fellows and junior or visiting faculty at Johns Hopkins who have gained marked distinction in their fields and for whom at least five years have elapsed since their last Johns Hopkins affiliation.
Three former pathology faculty members/trainees, Drs. Stanley Hamilton, Elizabeth Perlman, and Steven Qualman, have been recently inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars.
Dr. Steven J. Qualman has a longstanding interest in pediatric tumors; one paper on neuroblastoma was awarded the Lotte Strauss Prize from the Society of Pediatric Pathology. But his singular contribution to medical research has been the development of the Biopathology Center (BPC) of the Cooperative Human Tissue Network (CHTN). This began in 1991 as a $51,000 subcontract, but Steve’s success convinced the NCI of the value of providing pediatric tumor specimens to medical researchers. From this small beginning Steve built the premier tumor repository in the country. Over 10 years he expanded the center to include the Children’s Cancer Group BPC, the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Tissue Bank, the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study Pathology Center, and the Gynecologic Oncology Group Tissue Bank; since 2000, seven additional tumor banks have been merged into the BPC under Steve’s direction, supported by over $6M in annual NIH funding. On average 15,000 biospecimens are distributed annually to approximately 200 researchers. Since 2000, 1275 original manuscripts have been published using resources from the center. In October 2007, Steve was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Steve recently retired from his position as Vice Chair, Pediatric Pathology Branch, The Ohio State University School of Medicine and Public Health.
Dr. Elizabeth Perlman is Pathologist-in-chief-at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago Illinois where she heads the Department of Pathology. Elizabeth is internationally known for her expertise in pediatric kidney tumors, and directs the Pathology Center for the pediatric cooperative trial Children’s Oncology Group, reviewing all tumors on clinical protocols to provide the “gold standard” of pathologic diagnosis. Her genetic analyses of pediatric germ cell tumors have identified important differences from those of adult tumors, and have found distinct genetic subgroups within the pediatric primary mediastinal germ cell tumors. Elizabeth’s ongoing characterization of genetic expression signatures of pediatric tumors, most recently for the classification of renal tumors, has shown that integration of molecular analyses into the pathologist’s diagnostic toolbox can result in increasingly precise classification that will impact treatment decisions and outcomes.
Dr. Stanley Hamilton is the Head of the Division of Pathology/Laboratory Medicine, and Professor of Pathology at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas. Stan has made significant advances in our understanding of the molecular genetics and genomics of gastrointestinal neoplasia and Barrett esophagus. A long-time collaborator of Dr. Bert Vogelstein here at Johns Hopkins, Stan established the genetic progression model of colorectal cancer. He has also helped identify molecular markers for screening, surveillance, diagnosis, prognosis, prediction of response and resistance to therapy, as well as new therapeutic targets. His strong leadership, teaching and investigative capabilities continue to play major roles in institutional, national and international affairs related to research into the pathogenesis, diagnostic methods and prognosis of neoplastic diseases.
Dr. Sharon Anne Whelan Weiss attended medical school and trained in Anatomic Pathology at Johns Hopkins serving as Chief Resident in 1974-75. She was appointed to the faculty as Assistant Professor in 1975, then moved to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in 1976 as Assistant Chairman, Department of Soft Tissue Pathology. She was named Chairman of this department in 1988. Dr. Weiss took a position as Professor of Pathology and Director of Anatomic Pathology at the University of Michigan in 1989 and was named A. James French Professor of Diagnostic Pathology in 1995. Dr. Weiss is currently Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Previous inductees from the Pathology Department include:
Ivan L. Bennett, Jr.
Morgan Berthrong
William H. Hartmann
Gordon R. Hennigar
Harrison Latta
Huntington Sheldon