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The Johns hopkins DeparTmenT of neurosurgery

The human brain is an unimaginably complex organ. It contains 100 billion neurons—the same number as there are stars in our galaxy; these neurons are surrounded, sustained, and supported by at least as many, possibly trillions, of glial cells. Perceived as “command central” for the body, the brain controls virtually everything we do, from voluntary activities such as playing sports to involuntary ones such as breathing and regulating body temperature. We depend, utterly and completely, on our brain.

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Brain and spinal diseases exact a tremendous toll on individuals and society.

Approximately 17,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with primary brain cancer each year; many more are diagnosed with tumors that have metastasized to the brain from elsewhere in the body. Stroke, for example, is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in our country, impacting not only the patient but also family, friends, neighbors, and other loved ones. Chronic pain is a devastating condition that impairs one’s ability to work, perform simple daily tasks, and to live a normal life. Each year, an estimated 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury, and 52,000 of these individuals die. These high-impact conditions and devastating events are the domain of Neurosurgery.

The challenges of brain surgery are daunTing…When something goes wrong in the brain—such as a brain tumor, stroke, traumatic head injury—we look to medical experts to rescue us. Brain surgery is the only hope for patients with certain conditions including aggressive brain tumors, blood clots in the brain, cerebral bleeding or infection, and cerebral aneurysm. Neurosurgery also offers hope for patients facing intractable symptoms such as severe nerve or facial pain (such as trige minal neuralgia), and it is used to implant electronic devices for certain otherwise untreatable brain diseases (notably Parkinson’s Disease or severe epilepsy).

The Johns hopkins DeparTmenT of neurosurgeryrising To The challenge

a call To acTion

Rising to the Challenge: The Campaign for

Johns Hopkins will raise unprecedented

levels of support to attract, sustain, and

further empower the people of Johns

Hopkins—our students, faculty, and

researchers—who through their work

improve the lives of millions around the

world. Together with our philanthropic

partners we will:

AdvAnce discovery And creAtivity

through support of our exceptional faculty

and researchers. Their innovative work

drives the development of new knowledge,

new forms of expression, and new ways to

save lives and improve health, and furthers

progress across our core disciplines in

science and technology, the humanities

and arts, and public health and medicine.

enrich the student experience

by investing in scholarships and fellowships,

inspirational spaces for collaborative

learning and social opportunities, and

new programs that will enhance student-

faculty interactions, ensure diversity on

campus, link learning in the classroom

to life after graduation, and strengthen

connections between our students and

our surrounding communities.

solve GlobAl problems As one

university by creating new cross-

disciplinary solutions in crucial areas

such as sustaining global water resources,

revitalizing America’s cities, advancing

individualized health, understanding how

we learn and teach, and attacking the root

causes of global health problems.

The Johns Hopkins Department of

Neurosurgery is committed to playing a

key role in the success of the campaign.

Please join with us in this important mission.

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New, sophisticated technologies are allowing our faculty to make rapid progress, indeed breakthroughs, in brain research and neurosurgical operations.

Although neurosurgeons routinely perform superhuman feats, they remain at a comparative disadvantage relative to their peers in other disciplines. The sheer complexity of the brain, and the obstacles to peering into this black box, historically limited neuroscientists’ understanding of the brain and thus their ability to treat brain disorders. New technologies are opening a window into the brain, but our capacity to treat lags behind our abilities to see and to diagnose.

reason for hopeThe brain, some say, is the next great frontier, and we are poised on the verge of a host of discoveries. To advance the state of knowledge in neuroscience, and to improve contemporary neuro-surgeons’ capacities to help patients, the Department of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine has convened many of the best minds into a team of dedi-cated clinicians and researchers. This extraordinary pool of talent, comprising 24 faculty members, is our greatest asset.

New, sophisticated technologies are allowing our faculty to make rapid progress, indeed breakthroughs, in brain research and neurosurgical operations. Principal among the new capacities are advanced imaging technologies, which have revolutionized neurosurgical methods. Computer assisted imaging computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetoencephalography

(MEG) are some of the imaging modalities that vastly assist contemporary neurosurgeons with diagnosis and treatment. Dynamic technologies such as single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and functional MRI (fMRI) have allowed neuroscientists to view the brain’s function while people are actually thinking, feeling, and doing. Taken together, these windows into the brain are bringing the mysteries of brain structure and process into clearer and clearer focus.

acceleraTing The pace of progressThe 21st century is a time of tremen-dous opportunity for the neurosciences in general, and for neurosurgery in particular.

The needs are great: Across all ages and walks of life, patients continue to suffer the devastating consequences of brain tumors, brain disorders, and other neurological diseases. Also great, however, is the level of talent and scientific resources which we have at Johns Hopkins to support progress against brain diseases and disorders. We have made a strong start in this journey, preparing us for even greater advances in the next decade.

Our ambitious plans span the trajectory from laboratory studies to clinical trials to the treatment and care of people with brain tumors, disorders and diseases of the brain, and other neurological conditions.

The Johns hopkins DeparTmenT of neurosurgeryrising To The challenge

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expertise in providing individualized care to patients with all types of brain tumors. Work within the Brain Tumor Center is organized by specialized Centers of Excellence, each devoted to a specific tumor type or neurosurgical approach. We seek philanthropic funds to support significant progress in five Centers of Excellence, which are focused on: glioma, meningioma, metastatic brain cancer, skull base tumor, and pituitary tumor.

• A proposed multidisciplinary Neurosurgery Spine Institute will focus on improving the clinical care of patients with spinal disorders. By coordinating the key divisions involved in the care of most spinal patients—orthopedics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and biomedical engineering—we intend to improve the delivery of care for our patients. Collaborative research within the Institute will study complex spinal problems and pursue methods for enhancing clinical outcomes, surgical techniques, and instrumentation and devices used in spinal surgery.

creaTing The besT possible research environmenT Research flourishes when outstanding scientists are provided with the resources, facilities, and support to think freely and expansively, and when they have at their disposal all of the “tools” necessary to explore, experiment, study, and test novel ideas. An optimal scientific environment is thus a critical ingredient to research success in neurosurgery.

lAborAtory spAce. Our growing research programs need additional laboratory space, in order to move forward with research that we believe holds greatest promise for advancing the science underlying neurosurgery. We envision new or improved, state-of-the-art spaces at our East Baltimore, Bayview, Suburban, and Sibley campuses.

institutes And centers. To spearhead brain research in the most productive way possible, we plan to establish or expand the following research institutes and centers focused on neuroscience. Each one of these entities represents a multi-disciplinary research powerhouse with potential for global impact. Their core functions will be to conduct leading research, promote interaction and collaboration among investigators, synergize with other centers, support young researchers, aid in the development of new technologies, and pioneer new and promising treatment approaches for neurosurgical diseases.• The Johns Hopkins Comprehensive

Brain Tumor Center is one of the largest brain tumor treatment and research centers in the world. Our multi-disciplinary faculty is internationally renowned for their

improving paTienT care Providing the best possible patient care is the motivating force behind all efforts in the Department of Neuro- surgery. We are continually seeking ways, through research and patient-centered supportive care, to optimize patients’ outcomes and experiences. For example, we recently established a Neurosurgery Access Center (akin to an enhanced “call center”), the mission of which is to improve efficiency of and access to neurosurgical care. The Center streamlines the interface between patients, referring physicians, and surgeon-scientists in Hopkins Neurosurgery. It will design and implement patient safety initiatives in the Hopkins operating rooms, intensive care unit (ICU), emergency department, radiology, and neurosurgery inpatient service. And it will disseminate discoveries made at Hopkins to other corners of the world, coordinate neuroscience teaching programs world-wide, and conduct global neuro surgical medical missions to underserved areas.

supporTing our scienTisTs Endowed chairs are the most coveted of positions in academic medicine, for they allow the holders to truly focus on their work, to plunge into their research with undiluted vigor, and to devote time to their students and trainees. We aim to establish a series of endowed professorships, for clinical and research divisions in Neurosurgery. These endowed chairs will allow our most brilliant and accomplished faculty the freedom to lead, engage in research, innovate and discover, and teach, mentor, and train junior neurosurgeons, while providing excellent patient care.

The Johns hopkins DeparTmenT of neurosurgeryrising To The challenge

W. STAnley AnderSon, A PHySiciST-Turned-PHySiciAn, HAS STudied A device cAlled

neuroPAce THAT SHorT-circuiTS ePilePTic SeizureS by deTecTing AbnormAl

elecTricAl PATTernS in THe brAin.

The concept of Neurosurgery began at Johns Hopkins.

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In the same place where modern medicine was born, the concept of Neurosurgery also began and took root. In being first to surgically—and successfully—remove a human brain tumor, Hopkins surgeon Harvey Cushing single-handedly ushered in the field of modern neurosurgery. From that time forward, Johns Hopkins neuroscientists have led the field with advances in research, new teaching techniques, and improvements in patient care.

Today, our scientists are on the cusp of numerous breakthroughs:• Novel medication delivery systems,

such as ones using microchips and nanotechnology

• With the goal of controlling, preventing, and eliminating pain, the Neurosurgery Pain Research Institute was established in 2011 to transform the way neurosurgical pain is understood and treated. Affiliated faculty are working to derive new insights into how the body and brain modulate pain, which in turn will catalyze the development of new methods for overcoming a longstanding and seemingly intractable challenge—pain.

• Established by the world renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson, the Center for Pediatric Neurosurgery will continue to benefit children with brain tumors and neurological disorders through cutting-edge basic and clinical research. This Center will

The Johns hopkins DeparTmenT of neurosurgeryrising To The challenge

set the stage for discovery of cures for children afflicted with deadly and disastrous diseases, for which we currently lack effective treatments.

• Through a proposed Cerebrovascular Center, clinical faculty will provide the best prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for patients with a wide range of cerebrovascular disorders. Further research will focus on specific conditions—stroke, carotid artery disease, subarachnoid hemorrhage, arteriovenous malformation, vasospasm—and their genetic basis.

Why Johns hopkins?Performing more than 4,000 operations a year, the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery is one of the largest clinical departments of neurosurgery in

the world. For generations, our physician-scientists have been researching, developing, and delivering the latest and best methods of treatment for disorders related to the brain, head, and spinal column. U.S.News & World Report has consistently ranked the Department as the #1 Neurosurgery Department among American hospitals.

The opening of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1889, followed four years later by the opening of the School of Medicine, marks the advent of modern medicine in the United States. The Hopkins model firmly established the concept of combining research, teaching and patient care—to best advance the science underlying care, and to best serve patients.

Alex coon iS one of A HAndful of SurgeonS in THe uniTed STATeS uSing boTH TrAdiTionAl neuroSurgicAl And endovASculAr TecHniqueS.

Each one of these entities represents a multidisciplinary research power-house with potential for global impact.

• Personalized brain tumor vaccines• Modification of brain stems cells

such that they seek out and destroy tumor cells

• Treatment for chronic pain through stimulation of the brain from outside the scalp

• Intact removal of chordoma and application of drugs that have stopped tumor growth in mice

• Creation of less advasive surgical procedures such as endoscopy skull base surgery where tumors are removed through the nose

• Control of blood cells that threaten the brain, using compounds that counter inflammation and help prevent stroke

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strokes And Aneurysms: We developed a new surgical method that allows for the clipping of aneurysms on both sides of the brain; this allows patients to undergo only one operation, instead of two. We also developed nitric oxide-releasing polymers which can be used to potentially decrease blood vessel spasms and strokes after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

nerve tumors: We developed surgical techniques that remove extremely painful nerve tumors. We invented techniques to repair damaged nerves by splicing in nerves from an arm or leg to restore some, and sometimes all, of the otherwise lost function. Thanks to this procedure, some patients who were told they would never walk again are now able to do so.

hydrocephAlus: We enhanced a life-saving medical device—an antibiotic-impregnated shunt used to treat pediatric hydrocephalous. This invention cut the procedure’s infection rate to almost zero.

Our knowledge of the brain is still limited, but thanks to amazing technologies and brilliant minds, we are learning fast. In increasing our knowledge, there is no more vital area to explore than the brain. Philanthropic support will enable us to move nimbly and creatively, to rapidly advance the science, and to bring new discoveries into clinical practice—to help the many thousands of people affected each year by spinal, nerve, and brain-related diseases.

philanThropy plays a criTical rolePhilanthropy can catalyze scientific and clinical breakthroughs. The breakthroughs in Neurosurgery highlighted below were directly supported by private philanthropy during our last capital campaign.

brAin tumors: We developed a dime-size polymer wafer that can be implanted in the brain to release chemotherapy directly to malignant cells. This innovation minimizes side effects, allows the strongest possible treatment to be applied right to the tumor, and vastly improves patients’ chances for survival.

The Johns hopkins DeparTmenT of neurosurgeryrising To The challenge

priority specific fundinG needs current use endowment funds needed

The Johns Hopkins comprehensive brain Tumor center

research $22,000,000 — $22,000,000

faculty — $10,000,000 $10,000,000

education $2,100,000 $3,400,000 $5,500,000

capital $5,100,000 — $5,100,000

Program $2,400,000 $5,000,000 $7,400,000

The neurosurgery Spine institute at Johns Hopkins

research $1,100,000 — $1,100,000

faculty — $10,000,000 $10,000,000

education — $3,400,000 $3,400,000

capital — — —

Program $500,000 — $500,000

The neurosurgery Pain research institute at Johns Hopkins To Control, Prevent, & Eliminate Pain

research $2,000,000 — $2,000,000

faculty — $7,500,000 $7,500,000

education — $5,100,000 $5,100,000

capital $200,000 — $200,000

Program $200,000 — $200,000

The center for Pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins

research $1,750,000 — $1,750,000

faculty — $5,000,000 $5,000,000

education $800,000 $1,700,000 $2,500,000

capital $500,000 — $500,000

Program $250,000 — $250,000

The cerebrovascular center at Johns Hopkins

research $1,200,000 — $1,200,000

faculty — $5,000,000 $5,000,000

education — $3,400,000 $3,400,000

capital $400,000 — $400,000

Program — — —

Total $40,500,000 $59,500,000 $100,000,000

Philanthropic investments will lead to further breakthroughs in scientific understanding, and to the development of new neurosurgical treatments.

whAt will it tAke?

“i was diagnosed with a benign

brain tumor that was pressing

on my optic nerve and could

have caused me to lose my

vision. i am forever grateful

to my neurosurgeon and

honored to support the world’s

best neurosurgeons in their

efforts to attack life-altering

conditions in our body’s most

complex organ.”

Josh Fidler,

Chairman, Neurosurgery

Advisory Board

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Rising to the Challenge: The Campaign for Johns HopkinsThe Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery

rev. 03/03/14

100 North Charles Street, Suite 429Baltimore, Maryland 21201410-516-6234rising.jhu.eduhopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery