Category Archives: News

AS HE SETTLES INTO A NEW OFFICE AT THE JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR TRANSGENDER HEALTH, MEDICAL DIRECTOR DEVIN O’BRIEN COON DESCRIBES THE LIFE-CHANGING SURGERIES THAT ARE PART OF HIS DAILY ROUTINE AND THAT SIGNAL A NEW ERA AT JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE.

Led By Surgeon And TTEC Member Devin O’Brien Coon, Johns Hopkins Is Offering Gender Affirming Surgeries And Other Specialized Services After A 38-Year Hiatus.

PHOTO BY CHRIS MYERS AND MIKE CIESIELSKI

The day before, the plastic surgeon spent 10 hours reconstructing the bones of a face to make it appear more feminine.

The next day he will perform the first stage of a phalloplasty for a patient who is transitioning from female to male. This multistage operation will make a functional penis using tissue from the patient’s own forearm, and it will require complex microvascular and nerve surgery. The physician considers the 14-hour procedure to be the most challenging of the gender affirming surgeries he performs.

Read the full article on https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org.

“THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES HERE FOR COLLABORATIVE GRANTS AND JOINT PROJECTS,” SAYS SPANGLER, WHO HOLDS A JOINT APPOINTMENT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING.

Group Shot Of The Spangler Lab

The Spangler Lab, located on Johns Hopkins’ medical campus, focuses on combining structural insights with molecular engineering to redesign better protein therapeutics for immunomodulation. It’s an “open bench” arrangement where members are surrounded by other researchers with complementary interest areas and resources. Its location in the Wilmer Eye Institute building was the jumping-off point for the lab’s macular degeneration angle; other pursuits include cancer therapy, transplantation medicine, and diabetes.

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OUTSIDE THE TRADITIONAL CONFINES OF ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP ARE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEPARTMENT. RECENTLY, OUR EXPERTS HAVE LAUNCHED AT LEAST THREE COMPANIES—BRINGING THEIR CREATIVE VISIONS TO FRUITION FOR THE SAKE OF PATIENTS.

(From Left) Russell Martin, Hai-Quan Mao, Justin Sacks And Sashank Reddy.

One startup, LifeSprout, features a synthetic biodegradable material that mimics soft tissue. It could help serve as a placeholder for soft tissue defects resulting from cancer surgery, trauma or aging, sparing patients the pain and inconvenience of surgery to move soft tissue from another part of the body.

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“THIS IS DISNEYLAND FOR SCIENTISTS!” BRIAN STANSKY IS PROCLAIMING, IN HIS HARD HAT, IN THE GLASS-WALLED LOBBY OF 1812 ASHLAND AVENUE, JUST NORTH OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL.

The Johns Hopkins FastForward Enterprise Prepares Scientists Like TTEC Materials Science And Engineering Professor Hai-Quan Mao To Turn Scientific Ideas Into Commercial Products. Jennifer Elisseeff, TTEC Director And Interim CEO Of Aegeria Soft Tissue LLC, Discusses Her Advances In Soft-Tissue Replacement And Reminisces About The Time When There Wasn’t So Much Support.

Stansky, a former Wall Street investment manager, is showing off the newly hewn work spaces, wet labs, canteens, and conference rooms in the 23,000-square-foot building that is part and pride of the university’s recent commitment to translating basic laboratory research into real-world innovations, transformational inventions, and life-changing technologies.

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REDUCING HEALTH DISPARITIES FACED BY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS HAS BEEN PART OF JOHNS HOPKINS’ DNA SINCE ITS FOUNDING IN 1876. IN SUPPORT OF THAT MISSION, JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE ESTABLISHED THE JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR TRANSGENDER HEALTH (JHCTH) AS ONE OF OUR INTERDISCIPLINARY SERVICE LINES. THE CENTER IS ALREADY PROVID­ING GENDER AFFIRMING SURGICAL SERVICES TO TRANSGENDER ADULTS. WHEN FULLY OPEN, IT WILL BE ENTERPRISEWIDE AND PROVIDE ALL FAC­ETS OF TRANSGENDER-RELATED CARE FOR CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND ADULTS.

The Johns Hopkins Center For Transgender Health, Under The Leadership Of Medical Director Devin O’Brien-Coon, Brings Together Expertise From Plastic Surgery, Mental Health, Primary Care, Endocrinology, Pediatrics, OB-GYN, Nursing, Social Work And Case Management, Among Other Disciplines, With The Goal Of Improving The Health Of The Transgender Community And Reducing The Health Disparities It Faces.

Paula Neira-nurse, lawyer and former naval officer who is a nationally recognized advocate for LGBTQ equality and the clinical program director for the center-says, “Real people still face real difficulties when seeking care and that’s something we can change. With this new center, we aim to lead by action: to improve the ability for transgender people to get health care, to provide medically needed care and to offer it in a supportive and affirming way.”

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