September 29 , 2006

Dear Colleagues:

Please join me in congratulating three of our finest, Philip A. Cole, M.D., Ph.D., Pamela L. Zeitlin, M.D., Ph.D., and Mingzhao Xing, M.D., Ph.D., for being named innovators of the year by the Baltimore business newspaper, The Daily Record. Phil was selected as the top overall winner.

The awards “seek and recognize Maryland organizations and individuals who have demonstrated the spirit of innovation by creating products, services or programs that benefit their businesses, industries or communities,” according to the paper.

We know that identifying three outstanding innovators out of the hundreds of innovators at Hopkins is not an easy task. The selection of Phil, Pam and Mingzhao underscores the significance of their contributions to science and humanity.

Thanks to the trailblazing research by Phil and his colleagues exploring how signaling pathways in cells function, scientists now have a method of studying proteins in live cells, helping better understand the process of cancer which may lead to methods to easily screen cancer therapies for effectiveness.

Pam’s research is pointing the way for what she hopes is an eventual cure for cystic fibrosis, a lethal disease that strikes thousands of Americans each year. She and her team have identified the protein that eliminates the mutant cystic fibrosis gene, a finding that may help pave the way not only for a treatment for cystic fibrosis but also for cures of a host of protein deficiency diseases.

Mingzhao and his team discovered that a mutation in the BRAF gene - associated with tumor growth when activated - is associated with poorer clinical outcomes among papillary thyroid cancer patients. They then developed a novel molecular diagnostic method that permits clinicians to predict the outcomes of patients with this cancer, allowing more effective treatment.

Sincerely,

Edward D. Miller, M.D.
Dean/CEO
Johns Hopkins Medicine