Tag Archives: Johns Hopkins Medical Institute

Alumni, EVENTS, FACULTY, FEATURED, NEWS, RESEARCH, Research and Sponsored Programs, SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

Memorial Service Planned for Noted Medical Pioneer and TSU Alumnus, Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr.

April 13, 2015 Emmanuel Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – A memorial service for Dr. Levi Watkins, noted medical pioneer and TSU alum, will be held in Baltimore on Tuesday, April 21. Dr. Watkins died Friday after a massive heart attack and stroke. He was 70.

The service will be held at 1 p.m., at Union Baptist, 1219 Druid Hill Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21217. The phone number to the church is (410) 523-6880. Arrangements are being entrusted to the Redd Funeral Home, 1721 N. Monroe Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21217. (Tel: 410-523-1600).

A behind-the-scenes political figure and civil rights activist who broke many racial barriers, Dr. Watkins was the first black chief resident of cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was known as much for fighting the injustice faced by African-Americans as for his groundbreaking medical work, such as the creation and implantation of the Automatic Implantable Defibrillator (AID). The device detects irregular heart rhythms and shocks the heart back to life.

“Dr. Levi Watkins changed the world with his passion for medicine,” said TSU President Glenda Glover. “The University family extends sincerest condolences to the Watkins family during this difficult time. Dr. Watkins not only impacted the field of medicine, but he also inspired African-Americans to become doctors as he broke down the color barrier at two of the nation’s leading medical institutions. TSU will always remember his service to others, professional achievements, and dedication to his alma mater. He leaves a tremendous legacy that will surely inspire our students and others that follow in his footsteps.”

According to the Baltimore Sun, Dr. Watkins was outspoken yet humble. He never took his success for granted and worked tirelessly to help create the next generation of African-American doctors and activists.

Screen Shot 2015-04-13 at 8.56.58 AM — Levi Watkins Class Photo 1965-1966 (Courtesy Photo)

Dr. Watkins was born in Kansas, the third of six children, but grew up in Alabama, where he got his first taste of the civil rights movement. He met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the age of 8 when he and his family attended Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, where Dr. King was the pastor.

He attended Tennessee State University as an undergraduate, studying biology. He then made history at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where he became the first African-American to study and graduate from the school with a medical degree. It was an experience he described over the years as isolating and lonely, but would be the first of many milestones.

After graduating from Vanderbilt, Dr. Watkins started a general surgery residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1971, where he became the first black chief resident of cardiac surgery. He left Baltimore for two years to conduct cardiac research at Harvard Medical School before returning to Johns Hopkins.

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University

With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 42 undergraduate, 24 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

Alumni, EVENTS, FACULTY, FEATURED, NEWS, RESEARCH, Research and Sponsored Programs, SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

TSU Mourns the Death of Medical Pioneer, Alumnus Levi Watkins, Jr.

April 9, 2015 Emmanuel Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Tennessee State University is deeply saddened over the death of Dr. Levi Watkins, Jr., a 1966 graduate of the University. He was 70. The TSU alumnus revolutionized the medial world with the creation and implantation of the Automatic Implantable Defibrillator (AID). The device detects irregular heart rhythms and shocks the heart back to life.

Dr. Watkins enrolled at Tennessee State in 1962, majoring in biology and graduating with honors. He was also elected student body president at the TSU. In 1966, following graduation, he became the first African-American to be admitted to and to graduate from Vanderbilt’s School of Medicine. Dr. Watkins went onto become the first black chief resident in cardiac surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital after medical school. Watkins fought for equal opportunities in education throughout his career, increasing minority enrollment at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine by 400 percent in four years.

In February 1980, Dr. Watkins performed the world’s first human implantation of the automatic implantable defibrillator and would go on to develop several different techniques for the implantation of the device. Watkins also helped to develop the cardiac arrhythmia service at Johns Hopkins where various new open-heart techniques are now being performed to treat patients at risk of sudden cardiac death.

In 2013, Dr. Watkins retired from John Hopkins after four decades. He received the Thurgood Marshall College Fund award for excellence in medicine in 2010.

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331
About Tennessee State University

NEWS

TSU Scientist Collaborates with Johns Hopkins Researchers on Brain Disorder Study

August 30, 2013 Emmanuel Freeman

Dr. Brenda S. McAdory, a cell and neurobiologist at TSU, prepares beta 2 chimaerin samples in her lab to be injected into mice, as part of her study with Johns Hopkins scientists on “axon pruning” or the removal of excess nerve cells on the brain. (photo by Emmanuel Freeman, TSU Media Relations)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are two major diseases that affect millions of Americans. Studies show nearly 2.4 million American adults have schizophrenia, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, while 8 to 10 percent of all school-aged children born in the United States suffer from ADHD, a common behavioral disorder.

But understanding the exact causes of diseases like these, which affect the nerve cells in the brain, have been debated for nearly a century. Scientists think they may finally be closing in on answers.

A Tennessee State University scientist, working with other researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute in Baltimore, said through a normal process called “axon pruning,” which is the removal of “excess” nerve cells in the brain, the causes of these diseases could be eliminated.

Dr. Brenda S. McAdory, a cell and neurobiologist and associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, explained that, during development, nerve cells make more connections with each other than are needed, therefore, some connections must be removed for the brain to function or communicate efficiently.

“If these connections are not removed, then a human may display certain brain disorders such as Schizophrenia and/or attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder,” said McAdory, who for the second year in a row, has been awarded a summer visiting professorship at Johns Hopkins, under the sponsorship of the American Society of Cell Biology.

Working in the lab of Dr. Alex Kolodkin, a renowned Howard Hughes Professor of Neuroscience, McAdory and her fellow scientists studied the role of the protein beta 2 chimaerin in axon pruning that occurs in mice during postnatal development.

“The results of our studies indicate that beta 2 chimaerin does indeed play a role in axon pruning, the lack of which has been linked to diseases such as schizophrenia and ADHD. Our task now is to determine how beta 2 chimaerin leads to axon pruning,” said McAdory. “Once we understand the molecules inherent in causing this disorder, then we can begin to work for a cure or treatment.”

She said, as part of the relationship with the Johns Hopkins Medical Institute, a portion of the cutting-edge research will be continued at TSU involving biology students.

“This collaboration will give our students resources at Johns Hopkins that could lead to opportunities for graduate studies, as well as grant opportunities for funding at TSU in other areas of molecular biology,” McAdory added.

The TSU professor was one of only four chosen nationwide in a competitive selection process for the nearly nine-week (June 3 – Aug. 9), $17,500 ASCB visiting professorship award. Results of the nine-week visiting professorship will be presented in an oral mini-symposium at the annual meeting of ASCB in New Orleans in December.

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John A. Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university and is a comprehensive, urban, coeducational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top Universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912 Tennessee State University celebrates 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu