Innovation + Job News

The University of Maryland College Park has been designated an Intelligence Community "Center of Academic Excellence" by the U.S. government. It is the first higher education institution in the state to be selected for the program, and 1 of only 14 universities participating nationwide.

The program provides funding -- $300,000 dollars annually for up to five years -- to enhance College Park's ability to prepare students for government service and leadership positions in the Intelligence Community.

The designation further aligns Maryland's flagship research university with the state's cyber security strategic plan recently announced today by Governor Martin O'Malley.

As a Center of Academic Excellence, the university will strengthen its curriculum as well as create new educational opportunities and internships in a broad range of areas, from information and cyber security to foreign language acquisition, cross-cultural studies, mathematics, physical sciences and engineering.

The first class affected by the program will begin this month: Intelligence as a National Security Instrument.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence coordinates the Centers of Academic Excellence program, and particularly seeks to encourage minority students to pursue careers in national security professions.

"The growing challenges and expanding mission of the Intelligence Community, plus the 'graying' of the federal workforce adds up to an increased need for government workers with the requisite critical skills, diverse backgrounds and language and cultural capabilities," says professor William Nolte, who directs the program. Nolte formerly served as chancellor of the National Intelligence University System and as a senior Intelligence Community officer.

"For years, the University of Maryland has provided an excellent entr�e into national security service, and with this new funding stream we can build on that," Nolte adds.

The program will be based in the School of Public Policy, but will include participation across campus and from other parts of the University System of Maryland. Its funding will:

Expand course offerings in fields of national security-related interest across most major disciplines;

Develop seminars, visits and other activities to help students learn more about national security professions;

Support additional study abroad opportunities;

Develop a high school outreach program to encourage students to explore careers in the national security professions.

The program will leverage a number of University strengths - the proximity of various federal agencies, existing research partnerships with these agencies, and strong existing educational and research programs related to national security. Some examples:

Information and Cyber Security: Extensive research  in engineering, as well as business management of cyber security resources and public policy issues; Maryland has been designated by the NSA and DHS a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research.

Language Acquisition: Interdisciplinary study of language acquisition and instruction, including the University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language and National Flagship programs in Arabic andPersian.

Behavioral Study of Terrorism: The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) based at Maryland maintains the world's largest and most comprehensive open-source database of terrorist incidents; the University also offers a minor in terrorism studies and a graduate certificate in Terrorism Studies.

Source: University of Maryland College Park
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Undergraduates in the University of Baltimore's Simulation and Digital Entertainment programhave come up with a novel way to help state legislators and the governor balance the budget -- educating the public.

The students have designed a Web-based videogame that will help ordinary citizens learn how Maryland's budget works�including the all-important and legally-required task of balancing it�as part of a public education effort by the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute.

The "Maryland Budget Game" was unveiled by the institute on Monday, Jan. 18 and is be available online and at no cost to the user.

According to the institute, "Maryland Budget Game" players assume the role of the governor in making decisions to balance the state budget. Players travel to different locations to view budget options related to different policy areas: the schoolhouse for education, a clinic for health and so on. Based on the player's decisions, the state's near-term and long-term budget status improves or deteriorates. At the same time, 10 different simulated interest groups react to the players' every decision.

"Our students developed this project with the classic learning-game goal in mind: to provide an experience that replicates much of what goes in the real world, and do it so that it stays with the player in tangible ways," said Stuart Moulthrop, professor and director of the Simulation and Digital Entertainment program in UB's School of Information Arts and Technologies.

Source: University of Baltimore, School of Information Arts and Technologies
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Chicago-based TravelClick, a digital marketing and consulting firm for hotels, has opened a new Digital Agency in South Baltimore. The move, the compay explains, comes during a time when despite the downturn in the tourism industry, hoteliers continue to see marketing directly to consumers through the web as a critical part of their business strategy. More than 55 percent of hotel reservations are booked directly through hotel and corporate websites now. The new location will help TravelClick accommodate this demand and better serve its growing number of hospitality clients.

The new facility, located at 1410 Key Highway, is the homebase for a talented group of designers, marketing experts, and Internet gurus who blend the art of design with the science of marketing hotels directly to online consumers. They are dedicated to serving the digital marketing needs of the hospitality industry, including improving website performance, expanding online visibility, enhancing guest engagement, and ultimately, increasing online bookings and profitability.
 
A 50-person staff has reportedly been hired to fill a variety of positions at the new office with more positions expected to become available as the company expands its operations. The company will be recruiting world-class designers, Flash developers, media specialists, and programmers. The expanded team will support TravelClick's growing roster of global clients, including the industry's best-known chains, iconic properties, and independent hotels.

"Our new location is a positive indication of TravelClick's financial strength and the growing importance of Internet marketing in the hospitality industry," says Robert Post, TravelClick's President and CEO. "Not only does this new presence help us support our customer-centric culture, it brings more jobs to the Baltimore area."

Follow TravelClick or friend the company on Facebook.

Ports America Chesapeake (PAC), a subsidiary of Ports America has successfully closed on a 50-year lease and concession agreement to operate the Seagirt Marine Terminal (Seagirt) in the Port of Baltimore. The concession was approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works on December 16, 2009.

The agreement provides more than $1.3 billion in value to the state, will create 5,700 jobs, and deliver more than $15 million annually in new tax revenues. Perhaps as important, as part of the deal PAC will provide 100 percent of the funding to implement the Maryland Port Administration's (MPA) long-standing vision and commitment to make Baltimore one of only two eastern ports capable of handling the large "Super Post Panamax" container ships that will begin calling the East Coast upon the completion of the Panama Canal widening project in 2014.

"I share Gov. Martin O'Malley's passion for the Port of Baltimore, and creating high quality jobs so critical to the Port's future and Maryland's competitiveness on the Atlantic seaboard," says Christopher Lee, founder and managing partner of Highstar Capital.

"Baltimore is one of the best, most efficient ports in the country," he continues. "I'm very proud to be a partner with the State of Maryland and look forward to our long association in making sure Baltimore maintains its great maritime heritage."

"We're proud and excited to work with the Maryland Port Administration, the International Longshoremen's Association, and all our ocean carrier customers, including Mediterranean Shipping Company and Evergreen, to help make this historic American port the most competitive facility on the East Coast," adds Ports America Chesapeake CEO Mark Montgomery.

Ports America is the largest independent American terminal operator and stevedore, with operations in 44 ports and 84 terminals. Ports America and its predecessor companies have served in the Port of Baltimore for over 88 years and have operated Seagirt since it was opened in 1990. Ports America Chesapeake is the newly formed affiliate of Ports America that will be the day-to-day operator of Seagirt.

Source: Ports America Chesapeake
Writer: Walaika Haskins

With April 1, 2010's Census Day fast approaching,  Census Bureau Regional Director Fernando Armstrong, Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Barbara Mikulski and other leaders officially opened the doors of the Baltimore East local census office as operations and awareness about the 2010 count kick into high gear. The new office at 250 S. President Street will support field operations in the eastern portion of the City and employ as many as 1,400 local residents for the 2010 Census.

"The success of the 2010 census and Maryland's position in securing federal funding for programs such as education, health care, highways, workforce development, housing and energy, depend largely on the opening of Census offices that are essential in ensuring an accurate count of every Maryland resident," says Gov. O'Malley. "Today, we celebrate the opening of the 2010 Census Office in East Baltimore, and the creation of up to 1,400 jobs for our hardworking families. We encourage every Marylander to stand up and be counted."

As an extension of the census awareness campaign, the regional 2010 road tour vehicle, "The Constitution," made its first stop in Maryland at the grand opening celebration. The exhibits on the vehicle allow residents wherever the bus goes to learn more about the upcoming census in a creative and interactive way. The road tour will travel throughout the region to encourage participation in the upcoming census by reaching out to historically hard-to-count audiences.

"This is our last push to get folks on board and start talking about the 2010 census," says Fernando Armstrong, Philadelphia Regional Census Director. "Our partners in this community are great ambassadors and we appreciate their efforts to help us increase the mail-back response rate in Baltimore.

The 10-question census form will arrive in mailboxes beginning March 15. The 2010 form is one of the shortest forms in history and should take on average about 10 minutes to fill out. The form asks for name, gender, race, ethnicity, relationship and whether you own or rent your home.

"Everyone counts and everyone must be counted," says Sen. Mikulski, Chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Census. "I've stood sentry to make sure we're ready this year to meet our Constitutional obligation for a timely and accurate count. The Census will help determine where to build new schools, libraries, new roads and bridges and new police and fire stations. That's why it's so important we count everyone in Maryland from East Baltimore to the Eastern Shore."

The Census Bureau is hiring thousands of temporary workers as this is the largest domestic undertaking the nation undertakes. The Baltimore East local census office is recruiting and testing applicants now for census taker positions. Census takers are needed for the non-response follow up operation to visit households that did not return their questionnaire. Applicants can call 1-866-861-2010 for more information on how to apply or visit www.2010census.gov for more information.

The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States. By law, everyone in the United States, both citizens and noncitizens, must be counted every 10 years. Census data determines how more than $400 billion in federal funding is allocated each year to local, state and tribal governments. The 2010 Census form is one of the shortest census questionnaires in history and takes about 10 minutes to complete. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents' answers with anyone, including other federal agencies and law enforcement entities.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The Parks & People Foundation is hiring! Made possible through an 18 month funding grant gratis of the Fed's stimulus Act, the organization will create four "Green Up, Clean Up" Crews working in west and southwest Baltimore City as well as school and public housing sites throughout the city. Crew members will gain skills in the fields of environmental restoration and landscaping maintenance work, leading to potential green career opportunities.

Positions available include:

4 Team Leaders for crews of adult workers (hourly rate $11 to $13 plus benefits)

2 Team Leaders for crews of youth workers (hourly rate $11 to $13, no benefits)

16 Adult crew members ($8 to $11.75 plus benefits)
 
The positions are open to adults 18 years of age or older and able to lift 50 pounds. Crews work outdoors for 32 hours per week. Parks and People are looking to fill the positions immediately. To facilitate the hiring process, the organization is holding several recruitment events this week.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
1:00-3:00pm The Salvation Army Temple Corps Community Center 1601 W. Baltimore St. (intersection of W. Baltimore and Frederick Avenue) Baltimore, MD 21223
(accessible by #6, #10 and #20 MTA bus)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
1:00-3:00pm Fitch Company in Westport 2201 Russell St. (off of Annapolis Road near Rt. 295) Baltimore, MD 21230 (accessible by #27 and #51 MTA bus, and from the Westport light rail station)

Thursday, January 14, 2010
10:00am-12:00pm Pleasant View Gardens Community Center 201 N. Aisquith St. Baltimore, MD 21202 (accessible by #20, #23 and #40 MTA bus) 

Application will also be accepted via snail mail at the Parks & People Foundation, 800 Wyman Park Drive, Suite 010, Baltimore, MD 21211,  email at [email protected] or Fax: 410-448-5895 by January 15.

Source: Parks and People Foundation
Writer: Walaika Haskins

As the country's economic woes continue to be felt by the business community, Visit Baltimore has launched two innovative incentive programs in an effort to entice meeting and covention planners to hold their events in Baltimore.

"We realize that times are tough across all industries and we wanted to support the efforts of our meeting planner clients in continuing their professional growth within the industry while at the same time helping them to defray the cost of hosting a meeting in Baltimore," says Amy Calvert, Visit Baltimore vice president, sales and services.

Both plans offer meeting planners who book a new meeting in Baltimore with at least 1,000 room nights before June 30, 2010, for an event that takes place in Baltimore before December 31, 2012, a carrot for coming to Baltimore. Meeting planners will receive a $1,000 educational credit that can be used by the individual planner to maintain membership in an industry association, participate in an industry certification program or attend educational events.

In addition, to assist planners in reducing their meeting's bottom line, several Baltimore hotels are also offering a 4 percent rebate off the master account for new meetings booked before June 2010.

Participating hotels include:
· Baltimore Marriott Waterfront
· Baltimore's Tremonts
· Hampton Inn at Camden Yards
· Harbor Magic Hotels
· Hilton Baltimore
· Hyatt Regency Baltimore
· InterContinental Harbor Court
· Renaissance Harborplace Hotel
· Sheraton Baltimore City Center
· Sheraton Baltimore North
· Sheraton Inner Harbor

The new incentive program is now underway and concludes on June 30, 2010 or on the date on which a total of 50,000 hotel room nights are booked for the downtown Baltimore hotel district, whichever occurs first. Additionally, in order for a booking to satisfy the promotion's 1,000 room night requirement, it must be held before December 31, 2012.

Source: Visit Baltimore
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Sheppard Pratt has received $725,000 from the federal government to administer a three-year statewide initiative to provide job training and support services to a total of 1500 low-income, mentally ill Marylanders.

The Workforce Development Initiative for the Mentally Ill uses evidenced-based practices to give individuals with mental illness the knowledge and skills they need to increase employment and decrease symptoms of mental illness. Approximately 10 to 15 percent of individuals with severe mental illness are employed, even though data suggests that 60 to 70 percent of those individuals want to work. Research shows that when these individuals receive evidence-based supported employment services 60 percent become competitively employed.

The federal monies complete the public-privat partnership launched to fund the initiative, which will also receive $6.4 million in funding from the State of Maryland and $1.7 million from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. The Weinberg grant was conditioned upon securing the final 8 percent, or $725,000, in funding from another source.

"For a number of years, I have known about the good work of Mosaic Community Services and our Sheppard Pratt Health System and what they have done for those with mental and intellectual challenges to have a way to a better life," says Senator Mikulski, who played a significant role in opening up the fed's wallet. "Now this cutting-edge workforce initiative will help people move into the workplace and find success there. The result is good for individuals receiving these services, good for employers and good for Maryland's economy."

Simply having a job has been shown to be an effective form of treatment, producing greater stability and decreasing mental illness symptoms among these individuals. This, in turn, helps reduce the need for more expensive publicly-funded mental health care, netting substantial savings for taxpayers. The workforce initiative also includes technical assistance to state and private healthcare agencies with the goal of project replication in other areas of the state and across the country.

"This project is the best example of a public-private partnership in the interest of helping individuals with disabilities become productive citizens," says Dr. Steven S. Sharfstein, president and CEO of Sheppard Pratt Health System. "Sheppard Pratt, the State of Maryland, the Weinberg Foundation and now the Federal government have joined together in this state wide effort which will impact families, businesses and individuals and promote recovery from mental illness. Sheppard Pratt, a not-for profit comprehensive behavioral health care system, is proud to lead this initiative."

Source: Senator Barbara Mikulski
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Sen. Ben Cardin have scored $4.6 million in stimulus funding for job training in renewable and energy efficient industries in Maryland through the Department of Labor (DOL).

The grant has been awarded H-CAP, Inc to provide enhanced skills training to job seekers and entry-level environmental service workers for new and emerging green jobs in the healthcare industry. The project will operate in Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Prince George's County in Maryland, as well as counties in New York, California and the District of Columbia.

"This funding is exactly what the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act is all about - creating and sustaining jobs today and preparing for the jobs of tomorrow," says Sen. Mikulski. "This grant will give Marylanders the opportunity to get the training they need to find and keep a job, while also helping to make sure that health care in Maryland is environmentally friendly."

"This Partnership is funded with recovery dollars and it is an investment in our future � a future in which our state and nation will become more energy efficient and independent and one that will create new, green jobs that will help grow our economy," adds Sen. Cardin.

H-CAP, Inc. will partner with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Maryland as well as Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), a coalition that promotes environmentally-friendly healthcare practices, to train approximately 3,000 job seekers. The project will also develop new curricula that will cover the role of environmental service workers in green healthcare, the development of cross-industry green jobs and green career pathways for entry-level workers.

Source: Senator Barbara Mikulski
Writer: Walaika Haskins

Gov. Martin O'Malley hopes to create a new tax credit he believes will boost smart and sustainable growth in Maryland's historic areas and existing communities well-served by transit and infrastructure. The Sustainable Communities Tax Credit program, $50 million, three-year program, will help create construction and rehabilitation jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and spur economic development with each project.

The new program will replace and improve upon the 14-year-old Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit program, which is set to expire in June.

"The program represents the best of public investment and private enterprise as we continue to seek ways to fuel economic growth and create jobs," says Gov. O'Malley. "The success of the program in recent years cannot be understated. These projects will help revitalize historic communities, strengthen a green economy throughout our State, and create new construction and rehabilitation jobs in every corner of Maryland."

The existing Heritage Tax Credit has invested more than $347 million in Maryland revitalization projects since 1996. Those projects have produced more than $1.5 billion in total direct rehabilitation expenditures by owners and developers. Coupled with wages, both construction and new jobs, and State and local revenues generated, this equates to more than $8.50 in economic output for every $1 invested by State government.

A report last year by the non-profit Abell Foundation concluded that commercial projects over the life of the program have employed roughly 15,120 people, earning $673.1 million in 2009 dollars. The state's tax credit investment in labor-intensive building renovation has generated 1,850 more jobs than would have been created had the same funds been used for new construction, the foundation reported.

The governor also revealed the latest recipients of some $5 million in Maryland Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credits for four projects in Central Maryland. Receiving awards. They include:

• Union Mill in Baltimore City: $2,920,000 tax credit for $20,000,000 project by Seawall Development Company to turn vacant manufacturing structure into residential and commercial space.

• Proctor House in Bel Air: $100,000 tax credit for $500,000 project by Kelly Financial Group, LLC to turn vacant/storage space into commercial offices.

• Two projects at the National Park Seminary development in Silver Spring: $800,000 tax credit for $4,000,000 project by the Alexander Company to turn vacant gymnasium into 12 residences. And $1,180,000 tax credit for $5,900,000 by the Alexander Company to turn vacant space and utility structures into 15 residential units.

"New legislation for 2010 seeks to strengthen the effectiveness of the tax credit program as an incentive for smart and sustainable growth," says Maryland Secretary of Planning Richard E. Hall, who chairs the Governor's Smart Growth Subcabinet. "By expanding program eligibility and coordinating it more closely with related state programs, the tax credit will benefit more communities across the state as a critical redevelopment and revitalization tool. One of Maryland's most effective Smart, Green & Growing tools should not be allowed to sunset this year."


Source: State of Maryland, Department of Planning
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The city recieved a $6.37 million dollar energy stimulus package from the U.S. Department of Energy. Mayor Sheila Dixon announced that $1 million of the funding would be allocated to a Community Energy Grant Program. The program will enable community organizations and non-profits to perform cost-saving energy improvements in neighborhood buildings and facilities. Applications for the program will become available in early Spring 2010.

"With the new stimulus funds we have received, the City will be able to advance further towards becoming a cleaner, greener and sustainable city," said Mayor Dixon.

The stimulus funds will be used to fund 18 program activities ranging from community projects and renewable energy to new energy financing structures. The majority of the funds, over 30 percent, will be put to use in the community, to create new initiatives and to fill funding gaps or shortfalls in existing energy programs. For instance some of the grant will be used to supplement the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge (BNEC), a program that helps households reduce energy use.
 
A new Baltimore Commercial Energy Challenge will be implemented for greener and more energy efficient buildings. A youth energy conservation component will be added to the existing summer YouthWorks program. Plans also include installation of City building retrofits for utility cost savings.

The DGS Energy Division estimates that once all programs are fully implemented, 500 jobs will have been created or retained by this stimulus package.

A total of 18 projects will be funded under the $6.37 million award:
o Community Energy Conservation Grants,
o Baltimore Neighborhood Energy (BNEC) Challenge,
o Youth Energy Conservation and Efficiency Training,
o Home Energy Conservation,
o Residential Plan for Energy Efficiency,
o Baltimore Commercial Energy Challenge,
o Energy/Climate Action Plan,
o District Heating Expansion Feasibility Analysis,
o Sustainable Energy Utility,
o Conversion of Biomass to Biofuel,
o City's Trash Hauler Fleet Fuel Efficiency,
o City Building Retrofits,
o Energy Efficiency Model Office,
o Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) meter,
o Nitrogen Tire Filling,
o Diesel Particulate Filter(DPF) Regeneration,
o And studies of Geothermal Energy and Flextime.

Source: Baltimore City
Writer: Walaika Haskins

East Baltimore Development Inc., (EBDI) was awarded a $12 million grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies to launch the Elev8 Balitmore project, a comprehensive program that seeks to improve educational and social outcomes for middle-school aged children by providing critical support structures for families and the communities in which they live.

Formally known as The East Baltimore Integrated Service in Schools (East Baltimore ISS), Elev8 is a project of East Baltimore Development Inc (EBDI), the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Baltimore Community Foundation. The key components of Elev8 Baltimore are derived from proven models for learning, health, and family supports locally and across the country. The EBDI's  goal is to strengthen the quality and increase the quantity of services available to students and their families through local and national partnerships.

The grant will enable the project to work with selected local schools to develop school-specific plans for delivery of full services for after school learning, comprehensive school-linked health services, and student and family supports to middle grades students and their families. It will enable participating schools, including Collington Square School for the Arts, Dr. Rayner Browne Academy, Tench Tilghman Elementary/Middle School, and East Baltimore Community School, with access to local and national professionals with a proven track record with adolescents; cross-school collaboration supported by a Network Director at EBDI and an Elev8 Coordinator
at each school; opportunity to share best practices and engage in local advocacy to improve local and state
approaches to learning, health and supports for adolescents and their families.

As part of the Elev8 Baltimore planning, EBDI is designing a new pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school and reaching out to four existing neighborhood schools as potential sites for Elev8 Baltimore implementation. The prospective schools are located within a mile of one another creating opportunities for sharing resources and services and establishing a meaningful safety net for children, families and neighborhood residents. Similar to the neighborhood demographics, each of the existing neighborhood schools are designated Title I and serve predominantly African American students. Below is a brief description of each school.

School hours at participating schools will be extended by some 50 percent, with the day extended either before or after typical school hours. They will also offer summer educational program lasting at least three to four weeks and Saturday programs at least
once per month. Additional time will also be devoted to rigorous educational and cultural activities related directly to improved
academic achievement and developmental competencies, including academics, with particular emphasis on English, math and science; physical activity, particularly team sports o Culture (music, art, dance, etc.); and behavior, especially factors that are key to academic success, such as study techniques and leadership development opportunities through civic or community engagement.

Student will have access to meaningful relationships with caring, trained adults through evidence-based, school-based mentoring programs. And families will have access to preventative medical services, substance abuse education; mental health education, counseling; dental and nutrition services; and age appropriate reproductive health education. Parents will also have access to information about financial literacy, the Earned Income Tax Credit and other public programs, including child healthcare coverage and food stamps

Source: EBDI
Writer: Walaika Haskins

The long-awaited Charm City Circulator hybrid buses, Baltimore's free downtown zero-emission transportation alternative, will make its inaugural run on Monday, Jan. 11 at 11 a.m.

The Circulator will initially operate along the Orange Route, an east to west journey running through the Pratt and Lombard streets corridor. This route takes riders in a loop past the B&O Railroad Museum, the University of Maryland Biopark, University Hospital, and University of Maryland professional schools, Camden Yards and the Convention Center, Inner Harbor, and Harbor East.

The buses will run in 10-minute intervals, 7 days a week. Text alerts will let you know when the next Charm City Circulator will arrive.

Both the Green Route, which will connect Johns Hopkins Hospital with Fells Point and Harbor East, and the Purple Route, connecting Federal Hill and the Cross Street Market area with Penn Station, will launch in the spring.

The Charm City Circulator, according the manufacturer, once fully launched will be the largest fleet in the country.

In advance of the new hybrid transportations release, Mayor Dixon announced recently the implementation of bike and bus lanes along Pratt and Lombard streets between Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and President Street. The specially-stripeed reserved lanes give priority to bicyclists and buses. Although drivers will be able to use the lanes to make right turns, violators driving within the reserved lanes will receive a $90 ticket and possible points on their drivers license

Source: Charm City Circulator
Writer: Walaika Haskins.

The University of Maryland School of Medicine  has received a $30 million grant to create a center that will coordinate the research of national experts in stem cell research. The university's Michael L. Terrin, MD, CM MPH, professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine was pegged by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to lead the coordinating center, dubbed the NHLBI Profenitor Cell Biology Consortium, for a consortium of our nation's most prominent scientists in the field of stem cell research.

"This consortium was developed to bring together the best and brightest researchers from around the country, in the new and rapidly advancing field of stem and progenitor cell biology. They come from several specialties -- cardiology, hematology and pulmonary medicine. All are doing cutting edge research in this exciting new field," says Terrin.

Stem cells are uncommitted cells that can change into many types of mature functional cells and can divide indefinitely. Once stem cells start to commit to a cell type, they create progenitor cells. They are partially committed in terms of the types of cells they can become and how many times they can divide.

One major goal of this research consortium is to use these stem and progenitor cells as regenerative therapy to replace damaged tissues and organs.

The researchers will share their strategies and techniques to identify and characterize how these cells differentiate. Together they will address the challenges of discovering new potential therapies.

The NHLBI believes that by sharing information and working together across traditional boundaries, consortium members will advance the field of stem cell and progenitor cell biology at a faster pace and realize the potential for new clinical therapies that much sooner.

Terrin and his on campus colleagues  will organize the collaborative efforts of the nine different research hubs in the Consortium, dividing the responsibilities of the Administrative Coordinating Center into three areas: general administration; computer systems; and biological information science.

"Our team of nationally known experts, and the facilities at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, made our proposal to coordinate this consortium unique," Terrin says. "The resources here are wonderful. I know of no other university or medical school that I would rather have behind my efforts on behalf of this important project."

The research coordination team led by Terrin is composed of individuals who will assure that the information put in the system, as well as records of samples and tissues put into registries (both physical and virtual), will be maintained. They will also ensure that important information from sources outside the Consortium is continually updated.

In addition, Terrin's team will coordinate conference calls, meetings and funding for their research projects and help the investigators publicize their results of their research.

Source: University of Maryland, Baltimore
Writer: Walaika Haskins

A neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins has unlocked the mystery of how mammals control their brain circuitry by combining a truly old school research technique with modern molecular genetics. The technique dates back 136 years and when applied to modern molecular genetics technology Dr. David Ginty has been able to see how a mammal's brain shrewdly revisits and reuses the same molecular cues to control the complex design of its circuits.

Details of the observation in lab mice, published Dec. 24 in Nature, reveal that semaphorin, a protein found in the developing nervous system that guides filament-like processes, called axons, from nerve cells to their appropriate targets during embryonic life, apparently assumes an entirely different role later on, once axons reach their targets. In postnatal development and adulthood, semaphorins appear to be regulating the creation of synapses, those connections that chemically link nerve cells.

"With this discovery we're able to understand how semaphorins regulate the number of synapses and their distribution in the part of the brain involved in conscious thought," says Dr. Ginty, a professor in the Neuroscience Department at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "It's a major step forward, we believe, in our understanding of the assembly of neural circuits that underlie behavior."

Because the brain's activity is determined by how and where these connections form, Ginty says that semaphorin's newly defined role could have an impact on how scientists think about the early origins of autism, schizophrenia, epilepsy and other neurological disorders.

The discovery came as a surprise finding in studies by the Johns Hopkins team to figure out how nerve cells develop axons, which project information from the cells, as well as dendrites, which essentially bring information in. Because earlier work from the Johns Hopkins labs of Ginty and Alex Kolodkin, Ph.D., showed that semaphorins affect axon trajectory and growth, they suspected that perhaps these guidance molecules might have some involvement with dendrites.

Kolodkin, a professor in the Neuroscience Department at Johns Hopkins and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, discovered and cloned the first semaphorin gene in the grasshopper when he was a postdoctoral fellow. Over the past 15 years, numerous animal models, including strains of genetically engineered mice, have been created to study this family of molecules.

Using two lines of mice -- one missing semaphorin and another missing neuropilin, its receptor -- postdoctoral fellow Tracy Tran used a classic staining method called the Golgi technique to look at the anatomy of nerve cells from mouse brains. (The Golgi technique involves soaking nerve tissue in silver chromate to make cells' inner structures visible under the light microscope; it allowed neuroanatomists in 1891 to determine that the nervous system is interconnected by discrete cells called neurons.)

Tran saw unusually pronounced "spines" sprouting willy-nilly in peculiar places and in greater numbers on the dendrites in the neurons of semaphorin-lacking and neuropilin-lacking mice compared to the normal wild-type animals. It's at the tips of these specialized spines that a lot of synapses occur and neuron-to-neuron communication happens, so Tran suspected there might be more synapses and more electrical activity in the neurons of the mutant mice.

The researchers tested this hypothesis by examining even thinner brain slices under an electron microscope.

The spines of both semaphorin-lacking and neuropilin-lacking mice were dramatically enlarged, compared to those of the smaller, spherical-looking spines in the wild-type mice. In wild types, Tran generally noted a single site of connection per spine. In the mutants, the site of connection between two neurons was often split.

Source: Johns Hopkins University
Writer: Walaika Haskins