Thursday, October 12, 2023
UM School of Medicine Researchers Provide First Statewide Prevalence Data on Two New Emerging Pathogens in Healthcare Settings
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers conducted a statewide survey of all patients on breathing machines in hospitals and long-term care facilities and found that a significant percentage of them harbored two pathogens known to be life-threatening in those with compromised immune systems. One pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii, was identified in nearly 31 percent of all patients on ventilators to assist with their breathing; Candida auris was identified in nearly 7 percent of patients on ventilators, according to the study which was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Thursday, October 12, 2023
New Research Shows How Brain Inflammation in Children May Cause Neurological Disorders Such as Autism or Schizophrenia
Severe inflammation in early childhood is a clinically known risk factor for developing autism and schizophrenia. Now, for the first time, scientists from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have discovered that inflammation alters the development of vulnerable brain cells, and this could have mechanistic links to neurodevelopmental disorders. This finding could lead to treatments for many different childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorders.
Thursday, October 12, 2023
UM School of Medicine's Kirsten Lyke Elected as Member of Prestigious National Academy of Medicine
Kirsten E. Lyke, MD, Professor of Medicine and Physician-Scientist at the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), was elected this week as a new member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). She was recognized for her pivotal research in emerging infections and human challenge models that have informed and shaped global vaccine and public health policy.
Monday, October 02, 2023
UM School of Medicine Researchers Present Interim Results on Meningococcal Vaccine for Infants and Young Children in Africa
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers, as part of the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium (IDCRC), provided an interim analysis showing that the pentavalent (NmCV-5) meningitis vaccine is safe for use in 9-month-old infants in the meningitis belt of sub-Saharan Africa. They presented their results to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization on September 26.
Monday, October 02, 2023
Internationally Recognized Thoracic Oncologist Dr. Taofeek K. Owonikoko Named Executive Director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, and University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) President & CEO Bert W. O’Malley, MD, announced today that Taofeek K. Owonikoko, MD, PhD, a distinguished physician-scientist with a global reputation in thoracic oncology, has been appointed Executive Director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). Dr. Owonikoko will join the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) as The Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Professor in Oncology in the Department of Medicine and Executive Director of the UMSOM Program in Oncology. He will also become Chief of Service at UMMC. As the lead Oncologist for both UMMC and UMSOM, he will assume the positions of Senior Associate Dean for Cancer Programs at UMSOM and Associate Vice President for Cancer Programs at University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).
Friday, September 22, 2023
UM Medicine Faculty-Scientists and Clinicians Perform Second Historic Transplant of Pig Heart into Patient with End-Stage Cardiovascular Disease
A 58-year-old patient with terminal heart disease became the second patient in the world to receive a historic transplant of a genetically-modified pig heart on September 20. He is recovering and communicating with his loved ones. This is only the second time in the world that a genetically modified pig heart has been transplanted into a living patient. Both historic surgeries were performed by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) faculty at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC).
Thursday, September 14, 2023
UMSOM Researchers Identify Important New Signaling Molecule Involved in Vascular Health
In the 25 years since the Nobel Prize was awarded for discovering the role that nitric oxide (NO) plays in the cardiovascular system, researchers have been racing to learn more about how this mysterious signaling molecule works to repair blood vessels damaged by a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular event. University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers and their Wake Forest University (WFU) colleagues today announced an important missing piece of the puzzle.
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Internationally Renowned Dermatologist and Physician Scientist Shawn Kwatra, MD, Named New Chair of Dermatology at the UM School of Medicine and Chief of Service of Dermatology at UM Medical
Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, announced today that Shawn Kwatra, MD will become the next Chair of the UMSOM’s Department of Dermatology and Chief of Service of Dermatology at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC)
Thursday, September 07, 2023
NIH Awards $13.7 Million Grant to Enhance Inclusive Excellence Among New Faculty
The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) were awarded a 5-year, $13.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enhance efforts at recruiting and training junior faculty from underrepresented groups in biomedical science. The grant comes from the NIH Common Fund, the Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) program, founded last year for the purpose of supporting efforts to hire diverse groups of early-career research faculty.
Monday, August 07, 2023
AI Transformation of Medicine: Why Doctors Are Not Prepared
As artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT find their way into everyday use, physicians will start to see these tools incorporated into their clinical practice to help them make important decisions on diagnosis and treatment of common medical conditions. These tools, called clinical decision support (CDS) algorithms, can be enormously helpful in helping guide health care providers in determining, for example, which antibiotics to prescribe or whether to recommend a risky heart surgery.