Peterson Accolades

Ronald R. Peterson, who retired Jan. 1 as president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine, has been named president emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) in a joint resolution by the JHHS board of trustees and the board of trustees of Johns Hopkins Medicine. In addition, Peterson, a 1970 graduate of the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, has received an alumni association 2017 Heritage Award in honor of his 44 years of service to the Johns Hopkins medical institutions. 

Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians Appointments

Jonathan Efron, M.D., professor, executive vice director of the Department of Surgery, chief of the Ravitch Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery and chief of surgery for Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, has been appointed senior vice president of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians (OJHP). He will succeed cardiac surgeon William Baumgartner, M.D., who is retiring from the OJHP role but will remain vice dean for clinical affairs for the school of medicine. 

Baligh Yehia, M.D., M.P.P., M.Sc., associate professor of medicine, has been named interim medical director for community care in the OJHP and the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine. Previously, he served at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as the deputy undersecretary for health for community care and chief executive of community care. 

National Academy of Medicine Honors

Mark Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Department of Medicine; Tina Cheng, M.D., M.P.H., professor and director of the Department of Pediatrics; and Rachel Green, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics, an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, have been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Also elected were Felicia Hill-Briggs, Ph.D., professor of medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation; Martin Pomper, M.D., Ph.D., professor of radiology; Robert Siliciano, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and Suzanne Topalian, M.D., professor of surgery and oncology and associate director of the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Ruth Faden, Ph.D., professor of biomedical ethics and founder of the Berman Institute of Bioethics, has received the NAM’s 2017 Adam Yarmolinsky Medal for her exceptional service to the academy in its efforts to improve health and advance science.

American Neurological Association Appointments

Justin McArthur, M.D., M.P.H., professor of neurology, pathology, medicine and epidemiology, and director of the Department of Neurology, has been named president-elect of the American Neurological Association. Rebecca Gottesman, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology, was named secretary of the 142-year-old organization, and Ahmet Hoke, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Neuromuscular Division, has been named to the association’s board of directors. 

Komen Grants

Ben Ho Park, M.D., Ph.D., professor of oncology, has received a $600,000 research grant from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to design a treatment strategy to target abnormal proteins found only in cancer cells, which result in a mutation in a specific gene called SF3BI. Antonio Wolff, M.D., professor of oncology, has received a $200,000 research grant from the foundation to run a pilot clinical trial aimed at improving communications between breast cancer patients, caregivers and physicians in an outpatient setting. 

Damon Runyon Award

Evan Worden, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in biophysics and biochemistry, has received a four-year, $231,000 award from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation to fund his innovative scientific inquiries into ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. Worden and his sponsor, Cynthia Wolberger, Ph.D., professor of biophysics and biophysical chemistry, are examining how the decision to “turn on” or “turn off” genes is determined by the chemical modification of histone proteins, which can cause a variety of cancers.

Diversity Distinction

James Page, M.B.A., vice president and chief diversity officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine, has received the 2018 Diversity Leader Award from the Profiles in Diversity Journal. 

EAST BALTIMORE

Namandje Bumpus, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine, pharmacology and molecular sciences, won a 2017 Leading Women Award from The Daily Record newspaper. Leading Women awards recognize Maryland women age 40 and under for professional and community achievement.

John Cameron, M.D., distinguished service professor of surgery and professor of oncology, has received a 2017 Giants of Cancer Care Award from the Oncology Specialty group, which reports on every aspect of oncology. Cameron, director of the Department of Surgery from 1984 to 2003, was the world’s leading pancreatic cancer surgeon.

James Ficke, M.D., professor and director of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and orthopaedist-in-chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, has been elected to the board of directors of the National Trauma Institute.

Carol Greider, Ph.D., professor and director of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, has received an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, providing up to $600,000 per year to fund cancer research projects with unusual potential. A 2009 Nobel Prize-winner for groundbreaking research on what makes cells age, Greider has also received a 2017 Alma Dea Morani, M.D., Renaissance Woman Award from the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine.  

Gerald Hart, Ph.D., professor and director of the Department of Biological Chemistry, has received the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s 2018 Herbert Tabor Research Award. Hart also has been named president-elect of the society.

Lauren Jansson, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, has received a five-year, $3 million research grant from the National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Drug Abuse to explore the effects on fetuses and infants of buprenorphine-naloxone, a drug used to treat opioid dependency during pregnancy.

David Newman-Toker, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology, ophthalmology and otolaryngology, director of the Division of Neuro-Visual & Vestibular Disorders, and director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality’s Center for Diagnostic Excellence brain injury outcomes clinical trials unit, has been elected president-elect of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. 

Kathleen Schwarz, M.D., professor of pediatrics, has received the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition’s 2017 Shwachman Award for lifelong scientific and educational contributions in the field of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition.

Paul Sponseller, M.D., professor of orthopaedic surgery and chief of the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics, has been named vice president of the Scoliosis Research Society.

HOWARD COUNTY GENERAL HOSPITAL 

Claro Pio Roda has been named vice president of finance/chief financial officer. A 23-year veteran of Johns Hopkins, he most recently served as senior director of finance for Johns Hopkins Medicine, overseeing initiatives that led to $50 million in performance improvement savings. 

SIBLEY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Pouneh Razavi, M.D., has been named director of community breast imaging. She will oversee breast imaging at Sibley’s Sullivan Breast Center and at Johns Hopkins Medical Imaging in Bethesda. 

Erica Richards, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the school of medicine, has been named chair and medical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. Previously an assistant professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University, Richards completed an internship in psychiatry and internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, a residency in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and a clinical research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health.  

JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE INTERNATIONAL

Lindsay Roylance Rothstein, M.A., director of marketing and communications, has been promoted to senior director. She will continue to lead integrated marketing, branding and strategic communications, while assuming responsibility for international patient acquisition strategy in collaboration with colleagues across Johns Hopkins Medicine.