News

The Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS) proudly announces that Dr. Janielle P. Maynard, Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will be honored with the Vanguard Award at the 31st Annual Caribbean American Heritage (CARAH) Awards Gala.

This distinguished event, themed "A Celebration of Excellence and Service," will take place on Friday, November 15, 2024, at the JW Marriott in Washington, DC. The evening will celebrate the remarkable achievements and pioneering contributions of Caribbean American leaders across fields such as Health Care, Entrepreneurship, Sports, Public Service, and Community Service, recognizing those who inspire current and future generations.

Read more about Dr. Maynard in the Caribbean American Heritage Awards website along with the Awards Gala information.

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Gary Pasternack, M.D., Ph.D., passed away on Sunday October 13, 2024 after a long illness.  Gary received his B.A. (1971), his M.D. (1978) and his Ph.D. (1978) degrees from Hopkins.  He then moved to Yale for residency and fellowship training. He returned to Hopkins in 1984 to join our faculty.  Gary started as an Assistant Professor (1984-1990), and quickly contributed widely to the department and institution, rising to the rank of Associate Professor in 1990.  A mark of the breadth of his impact, Gary would hold joint appointments in the Departments of Pathology, Cell Biology and Anatomy, Oncology, and Medicine.  He served as Director of the Division of Molecular Pathology (1993-2005), and as inaugural Director of the Graduate Program in Pathobiology (1997-2005).  Gary was perpetually welcoming to students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. He would engage in fruitful and thoughtful conversation about science and teaching on the spur of the moment. Gary’s impactful science included advances in immunotherapy for cancer and the discovery of novel biomarkers for the detection and treatment of cancer. Gary published 51 peer-reviewed scientific articles, many in top journals including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), Journal of Biological Chemistry, Nature Medicine, and Science. 

Always eager to bring discoveries to patient care, Gary held 29 patents, and in 2005 became an Adjunct member of our faculty so that he could work more closely with industry. He was Vice-President of Intralytix (1998-), Managing Director of Archimedes Bioengineering (2015-), Managing Director of Aliceanna Group, and Chief Operating Officer of Asklepion Pharmaceuticals (2008-).

Gary was known for his creative and detailed approach to science, his use of the Socratic method of teaching, and his dedication to the Pathobiology graduate program and to the department.  Gary was a modern renaissance man who would request historical scientific articles from the Welch library, ask his classes to answer questions in a “Haiku format,” and reference Kafka in his lectures. Gary was especially proud of his legacy of supporting STEM as a Board member of The Ingenuity Project in Baltimore and launching the Graduate Program in Pathobiology which continues to be a world-class training platform for academic and industry-based scientists making a difference in the world and creating a generation of new scientific talent. He will be missed by the many trainees he touched and mentored.  To quote one of his mentees (Dr. Jonathan Brody, a Professor now), “I believe Gary set up the graduate program for the many young people like me who he believed in, more than we believed in ourselves.”   He is survived by his loving wife Michelle and daughter Sophie. 

Natasha Bachmeyer MS, MLS(ASCP)^CMSBB^CM, a recent Johns Hopkins Hospital Specialist in Blood Bank Technology/Transfusion Medicine Program graduate, has been awarded the 2024 AABB Future Leader Specialist in Blood Bank Scholarship Award for her project, "Transfusion Reactions in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: Are Hemolytic Reactions Being Underreported?" 

Congratulations Natasha!

The National Medical Association has selected Dr. Mahalia Robinson as the recipient of the 2024 Future of Pathology Award.  

The Future of Pathology Award, established in 2020 by the National Medical Association (NMA) pathology section, recognizes and rewards students and trainees with a special interest in Pathology. The award aims to increase representation and recognition of African Americans and other underrepresented minorities while impacting the field. The NMA pathology section also seeks to provide mentoring relationships and share educational content to ensure best practices in anatomic pathology and laboratory medicine.

Congratulations, Dr. Robinson!

Johns Hopkins Summer Jobs Program, celebrating its 30th year, has provided over 8,000 students with paid internships since 1994. The program, a partnership with YouthWorks, offers high school and college students opportunities in various Hopkins departments, including the Department of Pathology. It has expanded to include locations in Maryland, Florida, and Washington, D.C. Interns, aged 15-21, work five-hour days for seven weeks, while gaining professional experience and attending weekly professional development events. The program emphasizes mentorship and skill development for personal and professional growth.

Dr. Jackie Birkness-Gartman was selected by the American Society of Clinical Pathology as a "40 Under Forty Honoree" for 2024.

The ASCP 40 Under Forty program recognizes members (nationally and internationally) under the age of 40 for their achievements and leadership qualities that are making an impact on pathology and laboratory medicine.

Please support Dr. Jackie when you vote for your favorite honorees!

This year Maxim Rosario (Pathology), Scott Wilson (Whiting School of Engineering) and Jay Bream (Bloomberg School of Public Health) were awarded a Discovery award for their proposal to develop “A Bone Marrow Targeting Vehicle for IL-15 to Enhance NK Cell Anti-leukemic Effect”.

Immunotherapy, specifically adoptive cell therapy for cancer is a burgeoning field. Among the most successful are cell therapies for blood borne cancers. Acute Myeloid Leukemia AML is responsible for thousands of deaths in the United States each year. T cell therapy for AML is leading the charge but comes with one major drawback. That is Graft vs Host GVH disease where the adoptively transferred T cells begin to attack the host. NK cells are another type of white blood cell that does not engraft and won’t cause GVH disease. In previous work they showed that adoptively transferred NK cells can induce a remission in half of the patients treated. They also showed that the potency (killing potential of these cells) is directly related to how well NK cells are stimulated by activation markers (cytokines). In this project they will use a Biopolymer to directly target cytokines to areas where NK cells and Leukemic cells reside in order to maximize killing potential. They will test the concept in vivo comparing tumor cell killing with the biopolymer against currently used NK cell adoptive cell therapy.

Dr. Patricia (Trish) Simner, PhD, D(ABMM), was selected by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Board of Governors as the recipient of the 2024 CAP Pathology Advancement Award in recognition of her contributions on the CAP Microbiology Committee, specifically for the outstanding, transformative work ensuring the use of current clinical breakpoints to interpret antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) results to guide patient care.

Dr. Simner along with other CAP Microbiology Committee member colleagues, Drs. Humphries, Martin, Ota-Sullivan, Rauch, and She, worked over the past decade to tackle this critical patient safety issue. Their efforts heightened awareness of a significant problem, created important tools for laboratories, and resulted in changes of FDA opinion and policy.

Congratulations, Dr. Simner!

Lorraine Blagg EdD, MA, MLS(ASCP)^CMSBB, AHI(AMT), Pathology Education and Development Lead in Transfusion Medicine and Program Director of the Specialist in Blood Bank Technology/Transfusion Medicine Program at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, recently earned her Doctor of Education (EdD) with honors from the College of Graduate Health Studies at A.T. Still University. She was also awarded the Outstanding Student Service Award for her extensive outreach work promoting STEM and laboratory science to elementary, high school, and college students.

Congratulations on your many accomplishments, Dr. Blagg!

Human Immunology recently recognized the work of Dr. Maria Bettinotti and Dr. Scott Krummey with Best Papers of 2022 Awards.

Both publications qualified for the award based on citation and download statistics from 2023. The editorial board of Human Immunology voted on two categories: Research and Review.

Dr. Bettinotti won 1^st place in the Review Category for her publication: Evolution of HLA testing for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: Importance of the candidate’s antibody profile for donor selection.

Dr. Krummey won 2^nd place in the Research Category for his publication: The utility of imputation for molecular mismatch analysis in solid organ transplantation.

Fungal infections are increasing at an alarming rate as is resistance to current antifungal therapies. In his article in the April edition of CAP Today, Dr. Sean Zhang, Associate Professor of Pathology and Director of the Mycology Laboratory in the Division of Medical Microbiology, highlights these current threats and draws attention to diagnostic gaps in fungal infections.

Dr. Zhang draws attention to such pathogens as Candida auris, an organism that was rare in the USA and infrequently isolated at Johns Hopkins until 2020. Currently, this organism is responsible for outbreaks in hospital settings and has become resistant to many of the standard agents used to treat Candida infections. This is just one of the many organisms highlighted on the WHO fungal priority list which is discussed in the article.

Dr. Zhang and 29 other mycologists in the USA and Canada have joined forces and created the Fungal Diagnostics Consortium designed to improve laboratory diagnosis of fungal diseases. In a publication in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2021; 59:e0178420, the Consortium highlighted gaps in fungal diagnostics and Dr. Zhang summarized them in a bulleted list in the CAP article. The Consortium has also developed training course in Medical Mycology that has been very successful. Dr. Zhang’s own impactful clinical and research activities in this area are also highlighted.

Congratulations, Dr. Zhang and many thanks for highlighting this critical medical issue.

The Association of Pathology Chairs (APC) Society of ’67 has selected Dr. Mahalia Robinson as a Kinney Scholar. The Society of ’67 fosters the development of academic pathology and future leaders in academic practice, education, and research. Dr. Robinson’s selection, a highly competitive honor, will fund her attendance at the APC 2024 Annual Meeting, where she will participate in several Kinney Scholar activities and receive recognition throughout the program. Congratulations, Dr. Robinson!

Dr. Clayton Yates, the John Lewis Professor of Pathology, joins the global Cancer Grand Challenges team (SAMBAI) led by Melissa Davis at Morehouse School of Medicine, in a $25 million initiative over five years to address cancer inequities. This interdisciplinary team, funded by Cancer Grand Challenges, aims to tackle disparities in cancer prevention, screening, and treatment, recognizing them as significant public health concerns. To learn more, click the button below.

Ksha Stephens, a grants and contracts manager in our department, has received an honorable mention for the first annual Research Administrator Staff Recognition Award! This recognition is a testament to Ksha’s dedication and hard work and we are very proud to have her as part of our Pathology team.

Congratulations Ksha on this well-deserved achievement!

It is with sadness that we share the news that Raymond Ellsworth Lund passed away On February 16, 2024. Pete (as most knew him) was a long time faculty member in Pathology and Art as Applied to Medicine at JHU School of Medicine from 1962-2000. He trained many biomedical photographers over the years and was a very active member in several professional organizations. Pete was a fellow of the Biological Photographic Association (BPA) and served as President of the association for six years. In 1994 he also served as Chairman and organizer for the World Congress on Biomedical Communications which brought together Biocommunicators from around the world to discuss global imaging in health and science. Over his long career at Hopkins Pete took countless “photomics” for our faculty and contributed to several major textbooks and journal articles.

A Celebration of Raymond’s life was held in the Lemmon Funeral Home of Dulaney Valley, Inc, 10 W. Padonia Road (at York Road) Timonium, Maryland 21093 on Wednesday, February 21, 2024 for a memorial gathering from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm with a Celebration of Life beginning at 3:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions may be made in Raymond's name to the Alzheimer's Association or ASPCA.

Clayton Yates, Ph.D., the John R. Lewis Professor of Pathology was recently interviewed by WebMD on Black Americans with Cancer and health care disparities. Click the button below to listen/read the interview.

Brandi Glover, a PhD candidate at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the Cellular and Molecular Medicine program, has been accepted to be a member of the Johns Hopkins University 2024 Class of the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society! According to the Office of the Provost, Brandi exemplifies the five Bouchet qualities of scholarship, leadership, character, service and advocacy for those traditionally underrepresented in the academy. She is one of the ten scholars selected.

Brandi earned her BS from Xavier University of Louisiana and currently working at the laboratory of Dr. Laura Wood. Her thesis project is focused on interrogating the molecular alterations in precancerous cells in organoid models.

Congratulations Brandi!

Dr. Angélica Cruz-Lebrón has been selected for the 2024 Johns Hopkins University Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (PPF) Program. According to the Office of the Provost, the PPF program fellowships “seek to locate, promote, and nurture the work of outstanding early career postdoctoral scholars at Johns Hopkins University.” The award provides salary support, research funds, and professional development funds towards the enhancement of connections and skills needed to prepare for an independent STEM faculty career.

Dr. Cruz-Lebrón completed a Ph.D. and a short Postdoctoral Fellowship at Case Western Reserve University before joining the laboratory of Dr. Karen Sfanos as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Pathology at Johns Hopkins. Prior to joining the Ph.D. program at Case Western, Dr. Cruz-Lebrón was a Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) scholar, and was awarded the PREP Scholar of the Year at Case Western Reserve University. Thus far during her tenure at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Cruz-Lebrón has received a Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Research Accelerator Award and a competitive award from the Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program.

Congratulations Angélica!