Gerald Hart Announces His Retirement

To school of medicine faculty, staff and students and Johns Hopkins Medicine corporate staff

Dear Colleagues,

An interviewer once asked Jerry Hart about his hobbies. Jerry replied that research is his hobby and his job–he could not think of anything he would rather do. This profound love of science has been a driving force in Jerry's life, generating a remarkable scientific legacy and infecting those around him with a similar passion for discovery. Now, after 39 years as a member of our faculty and 41 years since arriving at Johns Hopkins as a postdoctoral fellow, Gerald Hart, Ph.D., has announced that he will retire in October.

As director of the Department of Biological Chemistry since 1997, Jerry has greatly advanced Johns Hopkins' ability to generate and disseminate new knowledge and original concepts in biochemistry and molecular biology.

A renowned cell biologist and biochemist himself, Jerry has conducted research on glycoconjugates for more than 40 years. His work has addressed a range of questions specifically aimed at un¬der¬stand¬ing the functions of glycans in the development of cancer, diabetes and neurodegeneration.

His studies have produced several pivotal findings, including the discovery of nuclear and cytoplasmic protein glycosylation by O-linked N-acetylglucosamine. In 2011, Jerry's research team was one of two at Johns Hopkins awarded a total of $23 million by the National Institutes of Health's Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to establish two Programs of Excellence in Glycosciences that are focused on better understanding the role sugars play in the molecular mechanisms of disease.

Throughout his time with Johns Hopkins, Jerry has recruited outstanding faculty and created an intellectually stimulating environment to nurture the research and career development of the young people recruited to Johns Hopkins. He has personally trained and mentored more than 80 predoctoral and postdoctoral students.

Among his many professional honors and activities, Jerry received the 2018 Herbert Tabor Research Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), and he is president-elect of the ASBMB. He has given lectures at universities and professional conferences around the world and published more than 300 papers and articles in the field of glycoscience.

Jerry also founded Glycobiology, the field's leading journal, serving as editor-in-chief for 12 years. He currently is associate editor of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, editor of Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, associate editor of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, and a member of the editorial boards of ASBMB Today and Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.

Michael Caterina, M.D., Ph.D., professor of biological chemistry, neurosurgery and neuroscience, has agreed to serve as interim director while we conduct a national search for a new department head.

Jerry's work will leave a lasting imprint on biological chemistry and on Johns Hopkins Medicine. Please join me in recognizing his immeasurable contributions.

Sincerely,

Paul B. Rothman, M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine