In 2024, 44 JHU Discovery Awards were given to interdisciplinary faculty teams across eleven units of Johns Hopkins.
The Discovery Awards encourage faculty from various disciplines to collaborate in addressing multifaceted challenges and pushing the boundaries of understanding. 2024 awarded projects will launch a wide range of inquiry – creating DNA-based hydrogel bioinks with enhanced mechanical properties for advanced 3D bioprinting applications, such as smart bandages, biosensors and water filtration membranes, gaining a better understanding of how trust in the healthcare system is formed and how it influences patient behavior and outcomes, with the goal of identifying strategies to improve trust and, consequently, public health and designing a novel influenza vaccine to overcome the challenges of immunosenescence and inflammaging in the elderly, which currently limit the effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccines.
Altogether, the winning project teams—chosen from 286 proposals—include 148 individuals representing 11 Johns Hopkins entities. The following projects involve members of the DOM (listed in bold).
Characterizing the Acute Impact of Air Pollution Exposures on Blood Pressure and Implications for Clean Cooking – Kendra Williams (Public Health), Yvonne Commodore-Mensah (Nursing) & William Checkley (Medicine-Pulmonary & Critical Care)
Deep Learning Applications in ECG Analysis for Atrial Fibrillation Patients: A New Horizon in Diagnosis and Monitoring – Eugene Kholmovski (Engineering), Natalia Trayanova (Engineering), David Spragg (Medicine-Cardiology) & Yazan Mohsen (Engineering)
Health Education and Training (HEAT) Corps: Novel Strategy for Community Health in Schools through Community Health Workers – Panagis Galiatsatos (Medicine-Pulmonary & Critical Care), Annette Anderson (Education), Catherine Ling (Nursing), Mindi Levin (Public Health) & Jennifer Ross (University Administration)
Pharmaceutical Market Dynamics and Competition: The Impact of New Drug Formulations on Marketing and Spending – Ravi Gupta (Medicine-GIM), Joseph Levy (Public Health) & Michael DiStefano (Public Health) *Co-Funded with the Hopkins Business of Health Initiative*
Programmed Regenerative Inflammation for Functional Recovery in Repairing Volumetric Muscle Loss – Laszlo Nagy (Medicine-Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism), Hai-Quan Mao (Engineering) & Warren Grayson (Medicine)
The Dynamics of Trust: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Improving Health Care Outcomes – Michael Darden (Business), Mario Macis (Business), Christina Yuan (Business), Kathy McDonald (Nursing/Medicine-GIM/Public Health/Business) & Mary Catherine Beach (Medicine-GIM)
The Impact of Sex-Dependent Glycosylation on Nitros(yl)ation in Myocardial Infarction – Natasha Zachara (Medicine), Brian Foster (Medicine-Cardiology), Mark Kohr (Public Health) & Priya Umapathi (Medicine-Cardiology)
Using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit for Assisted Living? Mapping the Current Environment and Charting a Path Forward – Kali Thomas (Nursing) & Craig Pollack (Public Health/Medicine-GIM) *Co-Funded with the Hopkins Business of Health Initiative*
