With the University’s reputation as a rigorous STEM environment, it is no surprise that the campus features students with robust experiences in computer science. One such student is Andreas Jaramillo, a junior majoring in Computer Science (CS). In an interview with The News-Letter, Jaramillo discussed his journey so far and his next steps in the field.
Shawn Burgess, chief of the Office of Scientific Core Facilities in the Developmental Genomics Section of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), gave a talk titled "Darwinian Genomics: Rapid Advances in Genome Assembly Can Make Any Fish a Model Organism" as part of the Biology Department’s seminar series on Thursday, Nov. 14. Burgess is also co-deputy director of the Division of Intramural Research, senior investigator of the Translational and Functional Genomics Branch and head of the Developmental Genomics Section at the NIH.
Innovation in biomedical engineering is accelerating nationally and at Hopkins, a team of ambitious students is similarly pursuing new engineering challenges in the realm of fetal surgery. Led by current Center of Bioengineering Innovation and Design Master’s student Selena Shirkin, the team’s FetalCare Port System aims to address complications in fetal therapy procedures by providing a safer alternative to existing techniques.
For some students, research is merely ticking another box for med school or a resume builder, but not for sophomore Brianna Gauto-Kennedy, a Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChemBE) major, who is currently engaged in research in the Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering . In an interview with The News-Letter, she outlined her journey to her lab and described her current project.
The SERS technique is a valuable tool for the detection of trace amounts of contaminants in food and water or the identification of biological samples. Regarding its most recent clinical applications, SERS has been adapted to diagnose heart attacks in research settings at impressive speeds and accuracy levels.
Andrew H. Song, a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School, presented his work on applying deep learning tools to cancer pathology at a talk titled “Taming Large-Scale Pathology Data for Clinical Outcome Prediction” on Nov. 13. In his talk, Song delved into his efforts to leverage AI in improving cancer diagnostics, explaining how machine learning models can fundamentally alter the landscape of clinical outcome prediction.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this week’s review highlights scientific breakthroughs we can all be grateful for — advancements that have made a profound impact on human health in the past month. The new at-home test could correctly identify 99% negative and 92% positive COVID-19 samples. For negative Flu A and Flu B samples, 99.9% were identified correctly; for positive Flu A and Flu B samples, the test correctly identified 92.5% and 90.5% of samples, respectively. These quick and affordable tests will be a vital fix for the colder months.
Fei Miao, Pratt & Whitney Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut's School of Computing, delivered a talk titled “Learning and Control for Safety, Efficiency, and Resiliency of Embodied AI” on Nov. 8. Her presentation explored her team’s recent efforts to advance Multi-agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs), which models multiple autonomous vehicles that can send and receive real-time information from nearby vehicles and infrastructure to enhance driving decisions.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, as part of the Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery Neuroimmunology Seminar Series, Dr. Amber Salter delivered an overview of her ongoing work concerning comorbidities in multiple sclerosis (MS) disease, titled “Examining Associations of Comorbidities in MS Disease-Modifying Therapy Clinical Trial.” Salter is an associate professor of Biostatistics at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Eledon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Eledon), is a biotechnology company led by Dr. David-Alexandre C. Gros, its CEO and a 1999 graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Eledon recently announced that two out of the three subjects with Type 1 diabetes treated with Eledon’s drug, tegoprubart, were able to achieve insulin independence after islet cell transplantation between three and six months post-transplant, with the third on the trajectory for insulin independence.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Professor Anna Gilmore discussed her work defining commercial determinants of health (CDOH) — the influence of commercial entities on public health — and further described the topics of her recent talk hosted by the Institute for Global Tobacco Control through the Bloomberg School of Public Health on Nov. 6, 2024.
As the leaves continue to change color, scientific research similarly advances with new progress and innovation. Here are some of the recent studies in the fields of biotechnology, health and chemistry. Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona recently authored a study published in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science, which reports analyses regarding the components and functions of the spliceosome.
In a buzzing corner of campus, a group of students is pushing the limits of student-led space innovation. The newly established student organization, JHU CubeSat Club (HopSat), is gearing up to launch a nanosatellite powered by passive solar propulsion, with the ambitious goal of deploying the largest solar sail ever sent into space.
A chimera is an organism composed of cells from two or more distinct genotypes. Human-animal chimeras are a budding area of research and involve the introduction and growth of human tissues in an animal. Chimerism research holds great promise in improving the availability of organs for organ transplantation, which is a major issue due to the current severe organ shortage. Initial chimerism studies involved smaller organisms, such as one where researchers attempted to grow a rat pancreas in a mouse.
Neha Tripathi, a senior studying Molecular and Cellular Biology and Public Health, is currently a member of the Matunis Lab. The lab, located at the School of Medicine, generally focuses on stem cell dynamics and regeneration. During an interview with The News-letter, Tripathi shared information about her research journey and described not only her role but also the greater importance of her research work.
The Department of Biology hosted Detlef Weigel, director at the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen and member of the National Academy of Sciences, on Friday, Oct. 25. Weigel gave a talk titled "Imperfect plants in an imperfect world,” which explored his research group’s work on genetic variation in the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana.
Becky Zheng, a sophomore majoring in Neuroscience and Chemistry and minoring in Writing Seminars, started doing research in high school and now continues at the School of Medicine. She is currently working in a lab under Dr. Lee J. Martin, who studies the onset of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Let’s dive into the latest in scientific news and explore recent breakthroughs, discoveries and advancements that are shaping our understanding of the world. This week’s column looks into an unanticipated effect of a type 2 diabetes treatment, explores a recent report in the field of public health and dives into updates in ecology.
The Department of Computer Science hosted Tommi Jaakkola, a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Institute for Data, Systems and Society, on Tuesday, Oct. 15. In his talk, titled “Generative AI for (Molecular) Sciences,” Jaakkola highlighted the advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI) for molecular science and material design.
We hope that the fall break was a good time to take a rest. Before diving back into the semester, catch up on the newest scientific discoveries! A team of researchers led by Manu Prakash at Stanford University collected water samples and observed the behavior of one phytoplankton species in particular, Pyrocystis noctiluca (P. noctiluca). Researchers learned that this species, which is most well-known for its bioluminescence, use cellular inflation to drive this migration.
