“Intracranial pressure (ICP) is universally accepted as a critical vital sign … in patients with serious neurological disorders, yet the current standard for ICP measurement is invasive, risky and resource intensive.”

Robert Stevens, associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, describing research that offers a potentially less invasive approach to evaluate ICP in patients with serious neurological conditions. “With validation, physiology-based artificial intelligence solutions, such as the one used here, could significantly expand the proportion of patients and health care settings in which ICP monitoring and management can be delivered,” noted Stevens, whose team reported its findings in Computers in Biology and Medicine.

“We have a simple blood test that could be done in a doctor’s office that would tell patients whether they have potential signs of lung cancer and should get a follow-up CT scan.”

Oncologist Victor Velculescu, of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, describing research that uses artificial intelligence technology to identify patterns of DNA fragments associated with lung cancer. The resulting “liquid biopsy,” which the team developed and validated, may help identify lung cancer earlier. “The test is inexpensive and could be done at a very large scale,” Velculescu says. The team’s findings appear in Cancer Discovery.

“Not many people actually develop pancreatic cancer, so we were shocked to find a lot of precancer, or PanINs, within the normal regions of the pancreas.”

Laura Wood, oncologist and pathologist, whose Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center team has developed a 3-D genomic profiling technique to identify small precancerous lesions in the pancreas — called pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias (PanINs) — that lead to one of the most aggressive, deadly pancreatic cancers. Published in Nature, their detailed 3-D map lays the foundation for future early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and other types of pancreatic cancer.

“We have a new way of understanding how alpha-synuclein contributes to the disease progression of Parkinson’s disease. … Targeting this interaction with drugs could significantly slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.”

Neurologist Xiaobo Mao, describing studies with genetically engineered mice in which Johns Hopkins researchers say they have identified a potentially new biological target involving Aplp1, a cell surface protein that drives the spread of Parkinson’s disease-causing alpha-synuclein. The team, working within the Johns Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering, reported its findings in Nature Communications.

“We hope that this test helps clinicians guide surveillance and endoscopic management, so that they can tailor it to the personalized risk of each patient.”

Oncologist Stephen Meltzer, describing a novel test developed by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center investigators that could give gastroenterologists insight into which patients with Barrett’s esophagus — a premalignant condition in which parts of the esophagus become damaged by chronic acid reflux — are likely to progress to esophageal cancer or high-grade dysplasia. The researchers reported on their test, now commercially available, in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.