Radiology

Researcher sues Hopkins, claiming discrimination BALTIMORE Alleging that her academic career and her search for a cancer cure have been illegally cut short, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has filed suit accusing the school and four employees of discriminating against her because of her race and gender. Young Hee Ko, a Korean-born biochemist and assistant professor whose success in curing liver cancer in rats was described in a Sun article Jan. 8, filed her complaint Wednesday at U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

MOST PHYSICIANS, conventional wisdom goes, make lousy businessmen. Maybe Dr. Michael Sherman is the exception. Sherman, a radiologist, successfully combined five individual radiology practices in the Baltimore area into one - Advanced Radiology - the largest physician radiology practice in the state and one of the largest in the country. Now, 10 years after he fused the groups together, Sherman, 63, is retiring at month's end. Even Sherman is surprised at what he has helped build as he walked through Advanced Radiology's headquarters in Woodlawn.

Leasure named official on judicial advisory board Howard County Circuit Judge Diane O. Leasure has been named vice chairwoman of the Maryland Conference of Circuit Judges. Prince George's County Circuit Court Judge William D. Missouri has been named chairman. The Maryland Conference of Circuit Judges serves as a policy advisory body to the Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, and to the Court of Appeals, and other judicial branch agencies in Circuit Court matters. Howard woman to direct Mercy hospital radiology Patricia A. Sheehan of Ellicott City has accepted the position of director of radiology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.

PRESIDENT Bush has said that in his second term he will enable Americans to shoulder more of their own health care financial decisions. So here's a true-or-false pop quiz: 1. Your recent brain imaging scan was shipped overseas for interpretation. 2. Disease-management programs have proved effective, but not at saving money. Do you know enough about either of these complex economic medical issues to make an informed decision about getting the most out of your medical budget? Let's start with the growing practice of reading U.S. patient scans in foreign countries, a move spurred by a shortage of U.S. radiologists, particularly trauma scans in emergency situations that occur at night.

Dr. John Howard Franz, a former chief of radiology at Maryland General Hospital, died of prostate cancer Wednesday at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. The Kingsville resident was 86. Dr. Franz was born in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton. He was a 1934 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned his bachelor's degree in 1938 from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va. He earned his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1942 and completed a residency in radiology.

Dr. Margaret Ann Tipton-Johannson, a retired Johns Hopkins Hospital radiologist and a Homeland resident, died of Alzheimer's disease March 20 at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. She was 62. She was born and raised Margaret Ann Tipton in Hickman, Ky. She attended the University of Kentucky, and earned her medical degree in radiology in 1965 from the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis. She completed an internship and residency in radiology at Methodist Hospital in Memphis.

Internet provider slates workshops on `Meet the Net' ToadNet Inc., a Severna Park Internet provider, will conduct "Meet the Net" workshops from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 19 and March 19 at its headquarters, 570 Ritchie Highway. ToadNet and non-ToadNet customers are welcome to attend the free workshops and learn how to get more out of the Internet. Registration is required. Information: 410-544-6193. Dr. Eliot Siegel honored by industry magazine Dr. Eliot Siegel of Severna Park, chief of Imaging Services for the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System, has been named One of the 20 Most Influential People in Radiology by Diagnostic Imaging magazine.

Dr. Paul Wolfe Roman, a radiologist who was chief of radiology at the former Lutheran Hospital for more than three decades, died of pneumonia Saturday at Sinai Hospital. The former Pikesville resident was 87. Born and raised in Baltimore, Dr. Roman was a 1930 City College graduate. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1933, and his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Roman enlisted in the Army Medical Corps before World War II, and during the war served aboard a troop transport in the Atlantic theater.

Officers named for professional staff at hospital Dr. Kiran J. Parikh, a surgeon trained at Goa Medical College in India and St. Agnes Healthcare in Baltimore, has been appointed president of the professional staff at Howard County General Hospital. He has been a member of the hospital's medical staff since 1985. Dr. David Nyanjom, who received his degree from Howard University College of Medicine, will be vice president, and Dr. Tuvia Blechman, who joined the staff in 1990 as director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, will be secretary-treasurer.

Saying they are losing money on each breast X-ray, some mammography centers are closing, and few new ones are opening, raising fears that women may encounter increasing difficulty getting screened. A year ago, 167 Maryland facilities performed mammograms, but the number has dropped to 150, according to the American College of Radiology, the professional group that accredits mammography centers. Nationally, the number of centers has slipped from 9,873 in March to 9,534 today , the American College of Radiology says.