Hugh Grosvenor Calkins MD

Jeff Tornheim, M.D., MPH, is a member of the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network, and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.Dr. Tornheim graduated with a B.A. in International Development and Economics from Brandeis University, received his medical and public health degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, completed a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine and a clinical fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Prior to completing his medical education, he worked on strengthening health systems for returning refugees to South Sudan, studied the epidemiology of pneumonia and diarrhea in Kenya with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) International Emerging Infections Program, studied adherence to latent tuberculosis treatment at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the Bureau of TB Control, and volunteered in an East Harlem free clinic. During his public health degree, he evaluated the impact of water policy on rates of pediatric diarrhea as well as Chagas Disease epidemiology and treatment in Bolivia through the Fogarty International Clinical Scholars Program. His interest in clinical outcomes for underserved populations has led to research, teaching, and clinical practice in Bolivia, India, Kenya, Peru, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, and the United States.His current NIH-supported research explores the application of whole genome sequencing, drug level testing, transcriptional and metabolomic profiling, and biomarker assessments to improved health outcomes in the treatment of adults and children with drug resistant tuberculosis in India.

Ahmad Marashly, M.D., is a pediatric epilepsy specialist helping children of all ages manage epilepsy symptoms. He has advanced expertise in surgical treatment of epilepsy that doesn’t respond well to medications (refractory epilepsy). Dr. Marashly works with pediatric epileptologists, neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists and neuropsychologists to evaluate each child and determine if surgery is the right treatment. He follows the patient from evaluation through surgery and post-surgical care to ensure the best possible outcome.Dr. Marashly is an assistant professor of neurology in the Department of Neurology and medical director of the pediatric epilepsy surgery program at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Marashly sees patients in the Baltimore metropolitan area. He received his medical degree from Damascus University and completed a pediatric residency at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. He continued his training by completing several fellowships, including a pediatric neurology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and epilepsy and clinical neuropsychology fellowships at University Hospitals of Case Medical Center in Ohio.Dr. Marashly’s research interests include epilepsy surgery outcomes, hemispherectomy, electroencephalography, semiology, the role of functional MRI in pediatric epilepsy surgery, and brain mapping. He is a member of the American Epilepsy Society, the Child Neurology Society and the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Consortium, and has published his research in numerous medical journals.

As instructor of oncology and pediatrics, Llosa’s research focus is the immunotherapy of sarcomas.My research focuses on understanding how the immune system interacts with cancer cells from sarcoma tumors. Sarcoma is a type of cancer that can occur in various locations in the body. Sarcoma is the general term for a broad group of cancers that includes tumors that form in the bones and in the soft (also called connective) tissues. Sarcomas affect people of all ages and some, such as Rhabdomyosarcoma, Neuroblastoma, Ewings sarcoma and Osteosarcoma, are more common in children and young adults. Treatments for sarcoma vary depending on tumor type, location and other factors. I concentrate in the immunotherapy of sarcomas. Immunotherapy (also called biologic therapy or biotherapy) is a type of cancer treatment designed to boost the body's natural defenses to fight the cancer. It uses materials either made by the body or in a laboratory to improve, target, or restore immune system function. Immunotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, stopping cancer from spreading to other parts of the body, or helping the immune system increase its effectiveness at eliminating cancer cells. There are several types of immunotherapy, including monoclonal antibodies, non-specific immunotherapies, and cancer vaccines. My specific area of interest is the use of drugs that target immune system checkpoints. The immune system has checkpoints to keep itself from attacking other normal cells in the body. Cancer cells sometimes take advantage of these checkpoints to avoid being attacked by the immune system. CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 are checkpoint molecules found on immune system cells (T cells) that can be blocked with drugs leading to a general raise in the immune system of the patients which helps it attack cancer cells. These types of drugs are currently being given to patients with melanoma (skin cancer), lung cancer and kidney cancer with great success and they have been found to shrink advanced tumors in many people. The best part of the treatment is that many of these tumor responses have been long-lasting so far, and the side effects are generally less serious than when using chemotherapy. Larger clinical trials are now studying both drugs, both alone and/or in combination with other treatments. My task is and will continue to be using the same type of approach for attacking sarcomas and hopefully obtained the very promising results and long lasting responses observed with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in other types of cancer.