June 09, 2025 | Holly Moody-Porter
The University of Maryland School of Medicine Celebrates its 216th Graduating Class
UMSOM Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, who is also Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor, presided over the ceremony. During his address to the class, he reminded graduates of the significance and impacts of recent breakthrough innovations in medicine like gene-editing therapy, a rapidly evolving advancement that was used to successfully treat an infant with a rare, life-threatening genetic disorder at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Paul Offit, MD, ’77, an internationally recognized vaccine expert and distinguished alumnus of UMSOM returned to campus to deliver this year’s keynote address. A groundbreaking innovator in medicine, he is best known as the co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq, which is universally recommended for infants by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is also the Director of the Vaccine Education Center and a Professor of Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
As a leading voice in the national conversation about immunizations, Dr. Offit spoke to differences in generational challenges with infectious diseases from polio to the current measles outbreak and the growing fight for trust in vaccine science.
“When immunization rates fade, it’s the most contagious human infection that comes back first,” he said. Measles, far and away, is the most contagious of the infections. In the last 50 years, child deaths have been reduced by 75 percent, and 60 percent of that is from the measles vaccine. This is not a disease that you want to see come back.”
He offered a path forward in the fight that the new physicians and community can support.
“We need to make it more real, when you hear statistics like 1,100 children are suffering from measles, it’s just a statistic. You need to find a way to make those stories come alive. We need to get our voices out there.”
Many graduates like Franklin Ning, MD, PhD, ’25, who completed the Medical Scientist Training Program at UMSOM are prepared to join the pursuit of scientific discovery and work to build trust in medicine.
He will complete his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) along with several members of the graduating class like Pharibe Pope, MD, ’25. She will complete her training in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at UMMC.
“As a Baltimore native, I am grateful that I get to continue serving the community that raised me and to learn from all of the amazing healthcare professionals here at Maryland,” she said. “Above all, I hope that I will be a physician who helps my patients feel heard, safe, and empowered in their medical decision making.”
This year, the Class of 2025 matched at 70 healthcare organizations across 21 states. Some graduates are excited to take the lessons they have learned at UMSOM and apply them to patient care in new cities.
“The biggest piece of advice that I have received and will carry into residency is to: “just breathe”,” said Donald De Alwis, MD, ’25, who will complete residency training in Anesthesiology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. “There might be a lot going on at once, but if you take a moment for yourself, you can be there for your patients and you can make better decisions because of it.”
Graduate Luisa Silva, MD, MPH, ’25, will move to Boston to complete residency in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. After residency, she hopes to pursue an endocrinology fellowship and work in women’s health to address endocrine disorders in pregnancy.
“The end of this chapter is a little bittersweet, but I am excited to put what I’ve learned to use to help my patients and to advocate for them,” she said. “I am eager to see all that my classmates accomplish. They are all so incredibly talented and intelligent. I am just extremely proud of all of us.”
Learn more about where the Class of 2025 is headed next here.
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Contact
Holly Moody-Porter
Sr. Media & Public Relations Specialist
hmoody@som.umaryland.edu
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