School Of Medicine

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will honor the work of Stephen Pitcairn on Wednesday, almost three months after the researcher was fatally stabbed while walking to his Charles Village apartment. In addition to a slideshow tribute at the school of medicine, Pitcairn's lab colleagues, the school's dean and presidents of Hopkins past and present — University President Ronald J. Daniels and former president William C. Richardson — are scheduled to reflect on the young man's life.

Henry M. Seidel, who successfully combined the role of pediatrician, educator and medical school dean and in doing so became a figure beloved and revered by generations of students at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, died Wednesday of lymphoma at his Columbia home, where he had lived for 40 years. He was 87. During his nearly seven decades at Hopkins, Dr. Seidel became an indispensable presence at the institution. He had a lasting influence that was felt by his fellow pediatricians and former medical students who sought his wisdom long after they had left East Baltimore and established their own careers.

Paul Schenker, a retired Baltimore surgeon who had been the oldest alumnus of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and City College, died Monday of heart failure at Sinai Hospital. He was 106. He was born in Baltimore, the son of Russian immigrants. His father was a tailor and his mother was a homemaker, and he was raised in the 1900 block of E. Pratt St. As a youngster, he sold newspapers on street corners. "He remembered selling newspapers the day the Titanic went down," said a daughter, Donna M. Shapiro of Pikesville.

Essential tremor is a neurological problem that results in tremors (shakiness), usually of the hands and arms, writes Dr. William Weiner, professor and chairman of neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of the school's Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center. * There is no known cause for essential tremor, although it sometimes runs in families. The onset of the tremor can be in adolescence or later in life. Most people with essential tremor experience very gradual worsening of the tremor over decades.

Ravens center Matt Birk has agreed to donate his brain and spinal cord tissue to a widening study of brain trauma. The Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Boston University School of Medicine announced Monday that Birk, Lofa Tatupu of the Seattle Seahawks and Sean Morey of the Arizona Cardinals are the first active NFL players to make plans to donate their brains after death. More than 150 former athletes, including 40 retired NFL players, are in the program's brain donation registry.

Dr. Worth Bagley Daniels Jr., a retired prominent internist and Baltimore philanthropist, died of congestive heart failure July 9 at his Roland Park home. He was 84. Dr. Daniels, the son of physician parents who both graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1924, was born in New York City and raised in Washington. He was the grandson of Josephus Daniels, publisher of the Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer, who was secretary of the Navy during World War I. A 1942 graduate of St. Albans School in Washington, Dr. Daniels attended Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The American Academy of Otolaryngology is urging people not to use cotton swabs to clean their ears. With the public going to the pool or the beach, keeping ears in a "swab-free zone" may be easier said than done. Dr. Howard W. Francis, an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine's Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, explains the purpose of earwax, the potential damage caused by the use of cotton swabs and the safest alternatives for cleaning your ears: * Earwax (cerumen)

Dr. Charles A. Barraclough, a retired physiologist and neuroendocrinologist from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, died of cancer April 19 at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Towson resident, who lived in the Campus Hills community for more than 46 years, was 82. Born in Vineland, N.J., Dr. Barraclough was raised in Hammonton, N.J. He graduated from Hammonton High School and then earned a degree in biology in 1947 from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. After two years pursuing a music career, Barraclough earned master's and doctorate degrees in endocrinology from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

* MidAtlantic Cardiovascular Associates is expanding its women's cardiovascular program with additional locations in Catonsville and Rosedale. Dr. Shannon Winakur will oversee cardiovascular care at the Catonsville location, 3449 Wilkens Ave., and Dr. Dawn Kershner will oversee cardiovascular care at the Rosedale location, 9105 Franklin Square Drive. Winakur received her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed her fellowship in cardiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Travel season is approaching, and those flying to Europe or heading to the West Coast can expect to experience jet lag. The fatigue, stomach upset and disorientation that occurs is normal, says Dr. Andrea Meredith, assistant professor of physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She offers some suggestions on how to deal with the discomfort. Why do people feel so crummy when they move across time zones? Jet lag, which is what you are referring to, is a disruption of the circadian rhythms.