Courtesy of aids.gov

This is one of those great hold-your-breath moments…

Could we have found a cure to Aids?

The world is watching Mississippi as doctors reported on Sunday night that they cured a toddler born with HIV. 

The girl was born two and a half years ago to a mother who was unaware of her HIV status. She was immediately tested for HIV after being born prematurely, and was placed on an “aggressive treatment” plan within 30 hours. 

Though the test results showed positive, her virus had nearly disappeared.

The treatment continued off and on until she stopped receiving medication at eighteen months. Half a year later, she returned for a check-up and the virus was still untraceable.

This is not the first case of a functional cure — a middle-aged man from Berlin named Timothy Brown was cured of HIV when he received a bone-marrow transplant for leukemia. His donor who was genetically immune to the virus.

After the results are confirmed, the next step is for doctors to replicate the treatment. Approximately 3 million children currently live with HIV. Most of the 330,000 children born with HIV were born in poor countries, where only 60% of infected mothers receive prenatal treatment. 

In the words of Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health,

You could call this about as close to a cure, if not a cure, that we’ve seen.

Eun-Shim Nahm, PhD, RN, FAAN Associate Professor, OSAH Program Director, Nursing Informatics School of Nursing University of Maryland

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 12, 7:10 pm Location: ITE 456, UMBC

Abstract: The aim of the presentation is two-fold. In the first part, the domain of nursing informatics within health care informatics will be introduced. The unique roles and practices of informatics nurse specialists will be discussed within the framework of the recent national health information technology initiatives. In the second part, current trend in consumer health informatics and selected applications in practice and research will be discussed.

Brief Bio: Dr. Eun-Shim Nahm is an Associate Professor and the Program Director for the Nursing Informatics program at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON). Her research focuses on the use of technology-based interventions to promote health and to manage chronic illnesses of older adults. She has conducted various studies in this field, including qualitative, measurement, theory testing, and usability studies, as well as randomized controlled trials. She has developed and successfully implemented multiple online health behavior interventions for adults aged 50 and older and their caregivers. Dr. Nahm is the recipient of multiple grant awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Her most recent R01 grant project, "Dissemination of a Theory-Based Bone Health Program in Online Communities," is supported by the National Institute of Nursing Research. She has published more than 35 peer reviewed journal articles and five book chapters in her area of expertise. She also has given numerous presentations at regional, national, and international scientific conferences. At the UMSON, Dr. Nahm teaches graduate level nursing informatics courses and doctoral-level research courses and has mentored many master's and doctoral students.

A new Washington Post poll, published this weekend, explores Marylanders’ views on Governor Martin O’Malley in the context of a potential future run for president. O’Malley received mediocre marks in some areas of the poll, which the authors note could be due to his work on polarizing issues, including same-sex marriage.

“He’s taken some very gutsy positions on some controversial issues,” said UMBC political science professor Thomas F. Schaller. “My suspicion is that’s poisoned the well and brought him down some.” read the full article at the Washington Post.

Charlotte Keniston, an imaging and digital arts (IMDA) graduate student, has been selected as a featured artist in Maryland Art Place’s upcoming project, THIRTY: 30 Creative Minds Under 30.

Find out more at Maryland Art Place’s website.

“THIRTY is a series of monthly talks featuring thirty emerging Baltimore artists under the age of thirty. All of the participants use a diverse range of creative practices, from visual art to performance, curatorial, community art, design, film, photography and technology to create visual experiences.”

A recent visit by students of Mount Hebron High to the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture’s current exhibition, For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights, was featured in an article in the Arbutus Patch.

Read “Local High Schools to Visit UMBC Exhibition Thursday” at Patch.com.

The high school group, is one of several to visit the exhibition, in a project in which visiting students are encouraged to create their own “social justice-inspired artwork” following the visit. A collection of the student artwork is currently scheduled to be displayed in April 2013.