ArchesNPS / CC PDM 1.0
The team has received $1.35 million dollars from an EPA grant to assess the exposure of children to dust and soil.

Hopkins team studying dust and soil exposures for children receives $1.35 million EPA Grant

By MARGERY CHEN | March 16, 2022

Recently the project INnovations to generate estimates of children’s soil/dust inTakes (INGEST) received a $1.35 million research grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A team of researchers from Hopkins and the University of California, San Francisco will quantitatively assess children’s dust and soil exposures using a set of novel research approaches.

BERLIN MEDIA/CC BY 2.0
For International Women's Day, FastForward U hosted a panel with three female-founded startups.

FastForward U hosts International Women's Day panel

By SRINITHI SRINIVASAN | March 15, 2022

FastFoward U’s first Ask a Female Founder Panel was held on March 8 in celebration of International Women’s Day. To discuss the factors, challenges and lessons learned from being a woman founder, Kristen Corlay Sanmiguel, co-founder of Cabilde, Nandita Balaji, co-founder of InfernoGuard, and Selena Shirkin, founder of StetPulse, came together for a discussion.

COURTESY OF LIZZIE SUBER
The Fascination of Science is on view in the Bloomberg Center until March 18.

The Fascination of Science exhibit spotlights scientists through photography

By LIZZIE SUBER | March 11, 2022

The Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy acquired something unexpected last month: art. The portrait exhibition The Fascination of Science features some of today’s most prominent scientists and their hands decorated with illustrations related to their work, which varies from DNA modification technology to aliens.

PABAK SARKAR/CC BY 2.0
Throughout the past two years, adolescents have encountered a stream of new sources of stress.

Bloomberg spotlights adolescent mental health

By ESTELLE YEUNG | March 10, 2022

The School of Public Health hosted a panel discussion titled “Strategies for Supporting Adolescent Mental Health” as part of the Spotlight Series of events featuring alumni on March 3.

RAYMOND WAMBSGANS/CC BY-SA 2.0
Panelists recounted both positive and negative experiences navigating the medical system with a rare disease.

DASO panel spotlights undergraduates living with rare diseases

By SAUSAN RAHMAN | March 4, 2022

Last Monday, the Rare Disease Day Panel hosted by the Disability Activism Student Organization (DASO) featured three undergraduate students with rare medical conditions. The panel consisted of freshmen Kate Ketelhohn and Leyra Espino-Nardi and junior Garryn Bryant.

WONDERLANE / CC-BY-2.0
The CS major prepares students to build new technologies in our increasingly connected world.

Meet the Major: Computer science equips students to create a diverse range of modern solutions

By MUHAMMAD ABIDI | March 4, 2022

Computer science (CS) is present all around us. In our increasingly connected world, our digital technologies rely on a foundational understanding of computer science and software engineering; this is the focus of the Hopkins CS major.

COURTESY OF DR. ADAM MILAM
Milam studies how the placement of alcohol outlets can affect youth behaviors.

Early social intervention in Baltimore neighborhoods aims to reduce youth substance abuse

By ESTELLE YEUNG | March 4, 2022

Communities in Baltimore have the ability to directly impact the health and well-being of youth through social intervention. Dr. Adam Milam focuses on characterizing adolescent substance abuse in neighborhoods and developing interventions to reduce adolescent exposure to violence, alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

HEY PAUL STUDIOS / CC BY 2.0
The previous equation used in kidney function tests by the Hopkins Health System produced two different values depending on whether a patient was Black or not.

Hopkins announces adoption of race-free kidney function algorithm

By ALICE ZHAO | February 24, 2022

This year, the Hopkins Health System will adopt a race-free kidney function equation in the hopes of allowing more Black patients to have early access to the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases. The change will be immediately implemented in hospitals and laboratories affiliated with Hopkins.

ROSIE JANG/CARTOONS EDITOR
Students must confront many factors when deciding whether this is the year to apply to medical school.

Project MD 2027: making the decision to apply to medical school

By ELLIE ROSE MATTOON | February 22, 2022

When Siena DeFazio was younger, she dreamed of opening a free veterinary clinic. Growing up in rural Florida with lots of official and unofficial pets, her family seldom had the means to pay to save an animal’s life after an illness or accident. Now that DeFazio is a junior at Hopkins, she is interested in treating a different set of patients.

SHIXART1985/CC-BY-SA 2.0
The goal of the free COVID-19 Ambassadors course is to empower more people to communicate with parents in the U.S. who have concerns about vaccinating their children.

Hopkins offers free COVID-19 vaccine ambassadors course

By CELINE SUI | February 20, 2022

The School of Public Health has released a new virtual course titled COVID-19 Vaccine Ambassador Training: How to Talk to Parents. The course, completely free on Coursera, is the latest offering from the Hopkins COVID-19 Training Initiative, which aims to share COVID-19 training support for public health workers across the United States.

MAX AGUILERA HELLWEG/COURTESY OF AXEL KRIEGER AND JIN KANG
Krieger inspects the anastomosis performed by SMART.

Hopkins robot is first to perform laparoscopic surgery without assistance from humans

By ALICE ZHAO | February 18, 2022

In January 2022, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) performed laparoscopic surgery on the soft tissue of a pig without any human help. Laparoscopic surgery involves small tubes inserted into the abdomen or pelvis to manipulate tissues.

COURTESY OF SUA MYONG 
With the oldest undergraduate program in the nation, the Biophysics department at Hopkins has curated a closely knit major that allows students to study life’s processes while incorporating perspectives from biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science.

Meet the Major: Biophysics equips students to investigate life’s elemental processes

By MUHAMMAD ABIDI | February 12, 2022

Studying biomolecular processes at the nanometer scale is not an opportunity every major or even every university offers. With the oldest undergraduate program in the nation, the Thomas C. Jenkins Department of Biophysics at Hopkins has curated a closely knit major that allows students to study life’s processes while incorporating perspectives from biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science.

WOKANDAPIX/CC-BY-SA 2.0
Mental health varied fourfold across groups of children according to both the type and amount of relational health risks and social health risks they experienced.

Study looks at influences on children's mental health

By ZACHARY BAHAR | February 11, 2022

As the COVID-19 pandemic approaches the two-year mark, the mental health crisis induced by it continues to escalate. With 14% of U.S. youth and 19% of adults suffering from mental illness, understanding the factors that influence mental health is a crucial endeavor. These efforts are led in part by Christina Bethell, director of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative and professor of population, family and reproductive health at the School of Public Health.

COURTESY OF GEORGE DIMOPOULOS AND MARIA LUISA SIMÕES
Dimopoulos (left) and Simões (right) are two members of the team that identified an important gene in malaria transmission.

Hopkins scientists identify vital gene in malaria transmission

By MARGERY CHEN | February 11, 2022

Last month, four Hopkins scientists published their research on a potential way to fight against malaria in Public Library of Science Biology. They discovered that knocking out C-type lectins 4 (CTL4), a gene in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, results in effective resistance to the malaria parasite.

COURTESY OF NORTHROP GRUMMAN / NASA and STScI
A rendering of the cold side of Webb, where mirrors and measurement instruments are placed.

The Webb space telescope: From Homewood campus to final orbit

By ZACHARY BAHAR | January 25, 2022

Last month, the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) launched from French Guiana, and after a long journey, the telescope reached its final destination yesterday afternoon. While Webb is a global effort, its heart is right in our backyard.

COURTESY OF JOHN D'CRUZ
Hopkins researchers hope to elucidate the connection between hearing loss and dementia.

Hopkins researchers explore the link between hearing loss and dementia

By MEGHANA RAVI | December 7, 2021

Researchers at the School of Medicine are exploring a new link between age-related hearing loss and dementia in older adults. Current reports suggest hearing loss in older adults increases risk of dementia.

500 WOMEN SCIENTISTS / CC-BY-SA 2.0
The hope for the edit-a-thon is not only to increase representation of scientists and doctors with disabilities but also to build more of a community at Hopkins for students and faculty living with disabilities.

Hopkins groups host Wikipedia edit-a-thon to increase representation of scientists with disabilities

By MEGHANA RAVI | December 7, 2021

Tackling the underrepresentation of scientists with disabilities head on, the Equal Access in Science and Medicine Committee, Advocates for Disability Awareness and the Disability Health Research Center coordinated with 500 Women Scientists to hold a Wikipedia edit-a-thon on Dec. 3. This event also celebrated International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

COURTESY OF JOHN D'CRUZ
A flu shot is one way to gain protection from the flu.

Hopkins doctors weigh in on this year's flu season

By MEGHANA RAVI | December 5, 2021

The holiday season also heralds the season of sniffles. The world is facing its second flu season during the global COVID-19 pandemic; while cases of the flu remained low last year, scientists and doctors don’t expect this trend to last.

JARED WONG/CC BY 2.0
Researchers believe that AI technologies will assist in determining the best practices to help people age.

Hopkins receives grant to use AI to promote healthy aging

By CLARA LIM | December 5, 2021

The National Institute on Aging has allocated Hopkins a $20 million grant to promote the growth of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enhance the care of senior citizens, enabling them to enjoy longer independence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of those who are over the age of 65, 80% have at least one chronic condition, and one third experience limitations in their daily life activities.

ALEXANDRA KOCH/CC BY-SA 2.0
The PACE study aims to develop a public health campaign that supports families, especially in undeserved communities.

Hopkins study examines return to in-person schooling

By ZACHARY BAHAR | November 23, 2021

The Parents And Communities as Experts (PACE) study seeks to understand how caregivers and community members view the return to in-person school during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team hopes to use the results to develop a public health campaign to support families.

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