In 2023, 35 Discovery Awards were given to interdisciplinary faculty teams across twelve units of Johns Hopkins. From minimizing cancer cell polyploidy and maximizing cancer cell death with low dosage stochastic treatment to reimagining Johns Hopkins’ midcentury science television show, these Discovery Awards are solving complex problems and expanding the horizons of knowledge.

Altogether, the winning project teams—chosen from 191 proposals—include 115 individuals representing 10 Johns Hopkins entities.

Longitudinal Real-Time Monitoring of Effects of Microplastic Exposure on Cellular Behaviors and Signal Transduction in the Lung Tissue – Yun Chen, INBT associate researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chuan-Hsiang Bear Huang (Medicine) and Enid Neptune (Medicine).

Mechanical and Immune Atlas of Acral Skin to Address Acral Melanoma Metastasis and Anti-PD-1 Resistance – Vito Rebecca (Public Health), Shawn Kwatra (Medicine), Luo Gu, INBT associate researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Pei-Hsun Wu, INBT associate research professor.

Personalized Intestinal Reconstruction Without Surgery – Samuel Alaish (Medicine), Sung Hoon Kang, INBT associate researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Axel Krieger (Engineering).

Structural Mechanisms of Receptor Activation – Kalina Hristova, INBT core researcher and professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Edward Twomey (Medicine).

Targeting a New Pathway to Treat Metastatic Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer – Jennifer Kavran (Public Health), Utthara Nayar (Public Health) and Jamie Spangler INBT affiliate researcher, and assistant professor and the William R. Brody Faculty Scholar in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

View the full list of recipients and project on the Johns Hopkins Discover Awards website.