Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Before his death in 1873, Baltimore financier and philanthropist Johns Hopkins appointed a 12-member board of trustees to carry out his vision for a university and hospital that would be linked to each other by a medical school, which was at the time a radical idea.

The Johns Hopkins University was established first, opening in 1876. Construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital began in 1877 with the razing of the site formerly occupied by the city's mental asylum, and took twelve years to complete. By the time the hospital opened in 1889, only six of the original twelve trustees appointed by Hopkins were still alive. Despite having already recruited the necessary faculty, the board no longer had enough funds to establish the medical school.^[4]

Four of the original trustee's daughters, led by Mary Elizabeth Garrett, spearhead a nationwide fundraising campaign to secure funding for the medical school. The campaign was stipulated on the condition that the remaining trustees agree to open the medical school to both men and women, as women were generally excluded from medical education in the 1890s. When the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine officially opened its doors in 1893, there were three women in its first class.^[5]

The founding physicians of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, sometimes referred to as the "Big Four", were pathologist William Henry Welch (1850–1934), the first dean of the school and a mentor to generations of research scientists, Canadian internist William Osler (1849–1919), who was perhaps the most influential physician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the author of The Principles and Practice of Medicine (1892), surgeon William Stewart Halsted (1852–1922), who revolutionized surgery by insisting on subtle skill and technique and strict adherence to aseptic technique, and gynecological surgeon Howard Atwood Kelly (1858–1943), credited with establishing gynecology as a specialty and being among the first to use radium in the treatment of cancer.^[6]

 

The School of Medicine, along with the Johns Hopkins Hospital (the School of Medicine's primary teaching hospital), Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and School of Nursing, are located on the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus in East Baltimore.^[7]

The wider Johns Hopkins Medicine system includes several other regional medical centers, including Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center on Eastern Avenue in East Baltimore, Howard County General Hospital near Ellicott City, Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., and Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.^[8] Together, they form an academic health science center.

According to the Flexner Report, Hopkins has served as the model for American medical education.^[9]

Its major teaching hospital, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, was ranked the top hospital in the United States every year from 1991 to 2011 by U.S. News & World Report.^[10] In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked Hopkins #2 medical school in the U.S. for Research, and #92 for Primary Care. U.S. News also ranked Hopkins #1 in Anesthesiology, #1 in Internal Medicine, #2 in Obstetrics and Gynecology, #4 in Pediatrics, #3 in Psychiatry, tied at #3 in Radiology, and #1 in Surgery.^[11][12]

Upon matriculation, medical students at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine are divided into four colleges named after famous Hopkins faculty members who have had an impact in the history of medicine, Florence Sabin, Vivien Thomas, Daniel Nathans, and Helen Taussig. The colleges were established to "foster camaraderie, networking, advising, mentoring, professionalism, clinical skills, and scholarship" in 2005.^[13]

In each incoming class, 30 students are assigned to each college, and each college is further subdivided into six molecules of five students each. Each molecule is advised and taught by a faculty advisor, who instructs them in Clinical Foundations of Medicine, a core first-year course, and continues advising them throughout their four years of medical school. The family within each college of each molecule across the four years who belong to a given advisor is referred to as a macromolecule. Every year, the colleges compete in the "College Olympics" in late October, a competition that includes athletic events and sports, as well as art battles and dance-offs.^[14]

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is led by Ronald J. Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University, and Theodore DeWeese, dean of the medical faculty and chief executive officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Kevin Sowers serves as president of Johns Hopkins Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine.

As of 2024, 29 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Johns Hopkins University as faculty, fellows, residents, or graduates, with 15 out of the 29 being associated with the School of Medicine specifically, including 14 out of the university's 17 laureates for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and 1 out of the university's 3 laureates for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Two laureates, Peter Agre and Gregg Semenza, are current faculty at the School of Medicine.^[15]

The 1985 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Two of the six founding members of the organization, Bernard Lown (M.D. 1945) and James E. Muller (M.D. 1969) were graduates of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.^[16]

• Gregg L. Semenza – Professor of Genetic Medicine (1990–present), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2019
• William Kaelin Jr. – former resident, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2019
• Carol Greider – Bloomberg Distinguished Professor (2014–2020), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2009
• Richard Axel – M.D. 1971, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2004
• Peter Agre – Bloomberg Distinguished Professor (2014–present), M.D. 1974, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2003
• David H. Hubel – Neuroscience Fellow (1958–59), former resident, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1981
• Torsten Wiesel – Assistant Professor (1958–59), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1981
• Hamilton O. Smith – Professor of Microbiology (1973–1998), M.D. 1956, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1978
• Daniel Nathans – Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics (1967–1999), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1978
• Haldan Keffer Hartline – M.D. 1927, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1967
• Francis Peyton Rous – M.D. 1905, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1966
• Joseph Erlanger – Associate Professor of Physiology (1904–06), M.D. 1899, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1944
• Herbert Spencer Gasser – M.D. 1915, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1944
• George Whipple – Associate Professor in Pathology (1910–14), M.D. 1905, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1934

• John Jacob Abel, pharmacologist, founder and chair of the first department of pharmacology in the U.S.
• Rexford Ahima, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor and diabetes researcher^[17]
• Lawrence Appel, C. David Molina Professor of Medicine and Director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research^[18]
• Jeremy M. Berg, former director of biophysics and biophysical chemistry and co-author of the Biochemistry textbook
• John Shaw Billings, a Civil War surgeon who pioneered hygiene
• Alfred Blalock, developed field of cardiac surgery, including the Blalock–Taussig shunt
• Mary Blue, neurobiologist and computational neurologist
• Otis Brawley, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for oncology and Associate Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center^[17]
• Rachel Brem, diagnostic radiologist, technologies for diagnosis of breast cancer^[19]
• Max Brödel, medical illustrator who illustrated for Harvey Cushing, William Halsted, and Howard Atwood Kelly
• William R. Brody, former radiologist-in-chief, former president of Johns Hopkins University (1996–2009), former president of the Salk Institute (2009–2015)
• Karen Carroll, infectious disease pathologist and medical microbiologist, professor of pathology and Director of the Division of Medical Microbiology
• Ben Carson, pediatric neurosurgeon, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

   

• Arturo Casadevall, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Molecular Microbiology & Immunology and Infectious Diseases^[17]
• Caroline August Chandler, associate professor of pediatrics
• Patricia Charache, microbiologist and infectious disease specialist
• Nilanjan Chatterjee, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Molecular Microbiology & Immunology and Infectious Diseases^[17]
• Rama Chellappa, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence^[17]
• Christopher Chute, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Health Informatics^[17]
• Nathaniel C. Comfort, associate professor in the Institute of the History of Medicine, Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology at the Library of Congress John W. Kluge Center, author of The Tangled Field: Barbara McClintock's Search for the Patterns of Genetic Control
• Lisa Cooper, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Equity in Health and Healthcare, James F. Fries Professor of Medicine^[20]
• Thomas Stephen Cullen, helped establish the first gynecologic pathology laboratory and advanced understanding of endometriosis and other gynecologic conditions
• Harvey Cushing, considered the "father of modern neurosurgery" who identified Cushing's syndrome and the Cushing ulcer
• Walter Dandy, neurosurgeon and the namesake of the Dandy–Walker syndrome
• George Delahunty, physiologist and endocrinologist and the Lilian Welsh Professor of Biology at Goucher College
• Paul Englund, Professor of Biological Chemistry and National Academy of Sciences inductee best known for his research on African trypanosomiasis, or African sleeping sickness
• Andrew Feinberg, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Epigenetics^[17]
• Catherine Clarke Fenselau, biochemist and mass spectrometrist
• Irwin Freedberg, former director of the school's dermatology department
• Jessica Gill, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Trauma Recovery Biomarkers
• Rachel Green, Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics and National Academy of Sciences inductee whose research focuses on ribosomes and their role in protein production^[21]
• Jeremy Greene, William H. Welch Professor of Medicine and the History of Medicine
• William Halsted, considered the "father of modern surgery" and one of four founders of Johns Hopkins Medicine
• Arthur D. Hirschfelder, apprentice under William Osler and Johns Hopkins' first full-time cardiologist
• Howard A. Howe, polio researcher
• Ralph H. Hruban, pancreatic cancer expert who authored over 700 peer-reviewed manuscripts and five books and was recognized by Essential Science Indicators as the most highly cited pancreatic cancer scientist in the world^[22]
• Richard Huganir, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Neuroscience and Brain Sciences
• Kay Redfield Jamison, psychologist and psychiatry professor and author of An Unquiet Mind^[23]
• Patricia Janak, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Associative Learning and Addiction
• Leo Kanner, "father of child psychiatry" who first described autism in Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact, published in 1943
• Howard Kelly, gynecologist credited with establishing gynecology as a specialty
• Kenneth W. Kinzler, professor of oncology and director of the Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins University at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Harry Klinefelter, rheumatologist, endocrinologist, and namesake of Klinefelter syndrome
• William B. Kouwenhoven, electrical engineer who developed the external defibrillator and helped develop cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• Albert L. Lehninger, former chairman of the school's biological chemistry department and author of 'Principles of Biochemistry, a widely-used textbook
• Ellen MacKenzie, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Trauma Recovery and Rehabilitation Health Services
• Kathryn McDonald, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Health Systems, Quality, and Safety
• Paul R. McHugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins
• Victor A. McKusick, developed the field of medical genetics, namesake of McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, and founder of OMIM
• Adolf Meyer, first psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins
• Vernon Mountcastle, neuroscientist and Lasker Award winner
• Victor Assad Najjar, pediatrician who first described Crigler–Najjar syndrome
• William Nyhan, pediatrician who first described Lesch–Nyhan syndrome
• William Osler, considered the "father of modern medicine", discovered Osler–Weber–Rendu syndrome, a hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia
• Erika Pearce, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Immunology and Cellular Metabolism
• Eliana Perrin, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Primary Care
• Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa, William J. and Charles H. Mayo Professor and Chair of Neurologic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic, former Johns Hopkins neurosurgery faculty member
• Mark C. Rogers, first director of the pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1977, authored Rogers' Textbook of Pediatric Intensive Care
• Florence Sabin, anatomist and namesake of Sabin College at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Steven Salzberg, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Computational Biology and Genomics
• Geraldine Seydoux, Huntington Sheldon Professor in Medical Discovery and Vice Dean for Basic Research^[24]
• Solomon H. Snyder, neuroscientist and Lasker Award winner
• Charlotte Sumner, neurologist
• Kathleen Sutcliffe, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Organizational Theory and Patient Safety
• Helen B. Taussig, founder of pediatric cardiology, developed Blalock–Taussig shunt, namesake of Taussig College at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Vivien Thomas, the surgical technician who was the driving force behind the successful creation of the Blalock-Taussig Shunt procedure, later renamed the Blalock-Taussig-Thomas shunt, and the namesake of Thomas College at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Thomas, an African American, did not initially receive rightful credit due to racial discrimination. His story was detailed in the 2004 HBO documentary Something the Lord Made^[25]
• Thomas Turner, microbiologist, archivist, and former dean of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Chi Van Dang, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Cancer Medicine
• Victor Velculescu, cancer genomics pioneer and entrepreneur
• Bert Vogelstein, oncologist and pioneer in cancer genetics, first explained the role of p53 in cancer
• Ashani Weeraratna, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Cancer Biology
• Myron L. Weisfeldt, cardiologist and former William Osler Professor of Medicine and chairman of the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• David B. Weishampel, paleontologist and author of The Dinosauria
• William H. Welch, pathologist known as the dean of American Medicine, and the first Dean of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Sheila West, El-Maghraby Professor of Preventive Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute^[26]
• Carl Wu, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor for Chromatin Biology and Biochemistry
• Hugh Hampton Young, urologist and former Johns Hopkins chair head of urology
• Elias Zerhouni, radiologist and former director of the National Institutes of Health

• Fuller Albright, endocrinologist who discovered Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy and McCune–Albright syndrome
• Dorothy Hansine Andersen, identified cystic fibrosis and Andersen's disease
• John Auer, physiologist and pharmacologist, namesake of the Auer rod in acute myeloid leukemia
• Stanhope Bayne-Jones, bacteriologist and U.S. Army Brigadier General
• George Packer Berry, dean of Harvard Medical School^[27]
• Denton Cooley, cardiovascular surgeon
• Daniel C. Darrow, pediatrician and clinical biochemist
• Joseph F. Fraumeni Jr., described Li–Fraumeni syndrome
• Ernest William Goodpasture, pathologist who described Goodpasture syndrome
• Alan I. Green, psychiatrist and professor at Geisel School of Medicine
• J. William Harbour, ocular oncologist, cancer researcher, Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Andy Harris, U.S. Congressman
• Tinsley R. Harrison, cardiologist and editor of the first five editions of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine
• Leroy Hood, invented automated DNA and protein sequencing, Lasker Award winner, and entrepreneur

   

• James Jude, "father of CPR" and thoracic surgeon who developed cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• William Kaelin Jr., Nobel Prize recipient and internal medicine physician
• Chester Keefer, "penicillin czar" during World War II who managed distribution and allocation of the new drug for civilian uses in the U.S., and dean of Boston University School of Medicine
• Ricardo J. Komotar, neurosurgeon and director of the University of Miami's Brain Tumor Initiative, the University of Miami neurosurgery residency program, and the University of Miami Surgical Neurooncology residence program
• Bruce Lerman, cardiologist and chief of the Division of Cardiology and director of the Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Presbyterian Hospital
• Michael Lesch, physician who first described Lesch–Nyhan syndrome
• Frederick Masoudi cardiologist, researcher, and medical academic with expertise in cardiovascular outcomes research, clinical registries, and quality measurement
• Howard Markel, pediatrician, historian of medicine, medical journalist; Guggenheim Fellow, and member of the National Academy of Medicine
• Donovan James McCune, first described McCune–Albright syndrome
• John Menkes, first identified Menkes disease
• Joanna Pearson, psychiatrist and writer
• Monica E. Peek, Ellen H. Block Professor for Health Justice and Associate Vice Chair for Research Faculty Development at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine
• Wilder Penfield, pioneer of epilepsy neurosurgery who developed the cortical homunculus
• Peter Pronovost, former anesthesiology faculty, Time 100 in 2008, authored over 800 articles and book chapters on patient safety, advisor to the World Health Organization's World Alliance for Patient Safety

   

• Mark M. Ravitch, surgeon who pioneered modern surgical staples
• Dorothy Reed, pathologist and namesake of Reed–Sternberg cell in Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Dale G. Renlund, cardiologist and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)
• David Sabatini, Howard Hughes Investigator and molecular biologist who discovered mTOR, the mammalian target of rapamycin
• Ernest Sachs, neurosurgeon
• Mark Schlissel, president emeritus of the University of Michigan
• Pamela Sklar, neuroscientist and psychiatrist
• Julie Ann Sosa, professor and chair of the Department of Surgery and the Leon Goldman Distinguished Professor of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco
• Gertrude Stein, novelist, poet, and playwright
• Rochelle Walensky, Director of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Bang Wong, creative director of the Broad Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University
• Neal S. Young, chief of the Hematology Branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Director of the Center for Human Immunology at the NIH

In July 2024, businessman and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a $1 billion gift to his alma mater Johns Hopkins University to make tuition free for all medical school students whose families make under $300,000 a year, beginning in the fall of 2024.^[28][29]

• The ABC documentary series Hopkins takes a look at the life of the medical staff and students of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System.^[30] This new series is a sequel to the 2000 ABC special Hopkins 24/7. Both Hopkins and Hopkins 24/7 were awarded the Peabody Award.^[31]
• The movie Something the Lord Made is the story of two men – an ambitious white surgeon, head of surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and a gifted black carpenter turned lab technician – who defied the racial strictures of the Jim Crow South and together pioneered the field of heart surgery.^[32]

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

• Official website  

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