Leadership Appointments

Theodore DeWeese, M.D., professor and director of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences, will assume additional responsibilities as vice president of interdisciplinary patient care for Johns Hopkins Medicine. In this role, he will enlist other department directors in the development of new multidisciplinary services across the health system. Previously, DeWeese oversaw radiation oncology’s integration with Sibley Memorial Hospital and Suburban Hospital.

Mike Larson, M.B.A., vice president of finance and chief financial officer for Johns Hopkins HealthCare, has been named senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer for the Johns Hopkins Health System. In addition to maintaining his role with Johns Hopkins HealthCare, Larson will now oversee the finance activities of the entire health system.

Superior Stroke Treatment

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and Howard County General Hospital have received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite. Medical centers must achieve outstanding compliance with the associations’ guidelines to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. Separate quality measures that have been developed to reduce the time between a patient’s arrival at the hospital and proper clot-busting treatment must be met to earn the Target: Stroke Honor Roll-Elite award.

Sibley Memorial Hospital Kudos

For the second consecutive year, Washington City Paper has voted Sibley Memorial Hospital as the best hospital in Washington, D.C.

EAST BALTIMORE

Blair Anton, M.S., M.L.I.S., associate director of information services for the Welch Medical Library, has received the Medical Library Association’s 2016 Estelle Brodman Award for the Academic Medical Librarian of the Year. The award, given only when a worthy recipient is identified, recognizes a midcareer academic medical librarian who demonstrates significant achievement, the potential for leadership and continuing excellence. 

Tina Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pediatrics, has been named director of the Department of Pediatrics in the school of medicine, pediatrician-in-chief for The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and director of pediatrics for Johns Hopkins Medicine. She also has been named co-director of the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and will collaborate closely with David Hackam, M.D., Ph.D., chief of pediatric surgery, in managing the center’s multifaceted clinical and research centers. Cheng succeeds George Dover, M.D., who is retiring after a 20-year tenure.

Alan Cohen, M.D., a leader in developing minimally invasive techniques to enhance the safety and efficacy of pediatric neurosurgical procedures, has been appointed chief of pediatric neurosurgery and the Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., and Dr. Evelyn Spiro, R.N., Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery. Cohen previously was neurosurgeon-in-chief and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Boston Children’s Hospital, as well as a professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. Cohen’s wife, Shenandoah “Dody” Robinson, M.D., an expert in the surgical treatment of epilepsy and spasticity, has also joined the department as a professor of neurosurgery.

Charles Cummings, M.D., distinguished service professor, and professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery and of oncology, has received the University of Virginia medical alumni association’s 2016 Walter Reed Distinguished Achievement Award. Cummings, a 1961 graduate of UVA’s medical school, was director of Johns Hopkins’ Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery from 1991 to 2003. During that time, he also served as chairman of the staff of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He later served as executive medical director for Johns Hopkins Medicine International.

Sanjay Desai, M.D., associate professor of medicine, director of the Osler Medical Training Program and vice chair for education for the Department of Medicine, has been named by the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine as a Young Leader to Watch. The designation recognizes exemplary innovation, leadership and contributions to internal medicine residency education.

Alex Kolodkin, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience, has been elected to the 236th annual class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Kolodkin has made important strides in researching how neuronal connectivity is established during development.

Shari Lawson, M.D., assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics and director of the Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, has been appointed assistant dean for medical student affairs and director of medical student diversity. As assistant dean of medical student affairs, Lawson, a 2001 graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will be an adviser and advocate for medical students. As director of medical diversity, she will work to enhance the recruitment and success of a diverse medical student body.  

Paula Neira, J.D., M.S.N., R.N., C.E.N., a nurse educator in the Department of Emergency Medicine, will be among the first group of honorees cited by the nonprofit OutServe Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for her work ensuring equal treatment in the military of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members. A Naval Academy graduate with the rank of lieutenant, Neira is a transgender veteran of Operation Desert Storm and later became a nurse and an attorney.

Lillie Shockney, R.N., M.A.S., administrative director of the Johns Hopkins Breast Center, has been promoted to full professor in the school of medicine as University Distinguished Service Professor of Breast Cancer. The first registered nurse at the school of medicine with a primary faculty appointment, she is also the first to have ascended to the top of the academic ladder. A two-time breast cancer survivor, Shockney has devoted her 33-year Johns Hopkins career to improving the care of patients with breast cancer worldwide.

Daniel Smith has been named vice president of finance and chief financial officer for The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Following a dozen years as president/CEO of Johns Hopkins Home Care Group, Smith will also assume shared responsibilities as senior vice president of finance for the Johns Hopkins Health System.

JOHNS HOPKINS BAYVIEW MEDICAL CENTER

Nathaniel McQuay, M.D., assistant professor of surgery; Stephen Milner, M.B.B.S., M.D., professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery and director of the Michael D. Hendrix Burn Research Center; and Burn Center nurses Robert “Craig” Shoemaker, R.N., and Emily Werthman, R.N., were recognized at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center Gala for their expert, compassionate and lifesaving work.

Marketing and Communications

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center’s Marketing and Communications team has won two gold awards for its 18-month cancer awareness calendar, designed to celebrate the medical center’s expanded oncology services and the opening of the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center there. The top awards came from the Mid-Atlantic Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (MASHSMD) and from Marketing Healthcare Today magazine, which bestows the annual Aster awards that recognize the best in health care marketing. In addition, Johns Hopkins Bayview won a gold Aster award for its Called to Care program for family caregivers, which also received a silver award from MASHSMD and a Merit Award from the Healthcare Advertising Awards. Silver and bronze Aster awards went to Johns Hopkins HealthCare’s M&C team for special video production and billboard design, respectively, and two silver Aster Awards went to Johns Hopkins Medicine for the orthopaedic services website and the biomedical blog.  

JOHNS HOPKINS HOME CARE GROUP

Mary Myers, M.S.N., the Johns Hopkins Home Care Group’s vice president and chief operating officer, has been appointed to succeed Daniel Smith as JHHCG’s president/CEO. Myers held several clinical leadership positions throughout The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview before joining JHHCG in 2005. In addition, she was appointed by Johns Hopkins’ Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality to serve as the chief quality officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine’s home-based services, which she has also led.