Monday, July 25, 2022
University of Maryland School of Medicine Expert Co-led Novavax Trial that Led to FDA Emergency Use Authorization and CDC Recommendation
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week recommended a new COVID-19 protein-based vaccine as an option for primary vaccination of adults 18 years of age and older. The University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM) Karen Kotloff, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health, co-led the multi-center PREVENT-19 clinical trial, which studied safety and efficacy of the Novavax vaccine in about 30,000 adult study participants.
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
University of Maryland School of Medicine Faculty Member Featured on NBC Nightly News Special Report on Gun Violence in America
A University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) faculty member was featured in a prestigious national news program over the weekend highlighting the lifesaving critical care medicine practiced at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). In an extended segment called “One Night in America” that comprised half of the evening newscast for NBC Nightly News and additional coverage on MSNBC, a reporter was embedded in the trauma center from Saturday evening, July 16, into Sunday morning to document emergency trauma cases caused by gun violence. Reporters were also embedded in three other major cities showing different perspectives including police response to shootings and community support from a local street pastor.
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Nationally Renowned OB-GYN Physician-Scientist and Fetal Medicine Expert, Irina Burd, MD, PhD, Named New Chair of the UM School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductiv
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that Irina Burd, MD, PhD, a nationally-and internationally-recognized physician-scientist and academic leader who is currently Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics, and the Founding Director of the Integrated Research Center for Fetal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM), will become the next Chair of the UMSOM’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, following a national search. She will begin in her new role, October 17, 2022.
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Six-Country African Study Shows COVID-19 Can Be Dangerous in Pregnancy
A new study involving hospitalized women in six African countries from the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM) Institute of Human Virology (IHV) showed that pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, had double the risk of being admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and four-times the risk of dying in-hospital than pregnant women who did not have COVID-19.
Monday, July 18, 2022
New Genomic Research Shows Why Testing Malaria Vaccines in the Clinic is as Rigorous as Natural Exposure in the Field
Malaria is the deadliest mosquito-borne parasitic infection of humans. In 2021, after a century of research, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the world’s first malaria vaccine. That vaccine reduces the incidence of malaria infections in young children aged 5-17 months by only 30 percent, meaning that it remains critical to continue developing and testing more effective vaccines.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
UM School of Medicine to Expand Innovative Medical Education Spaces with Gift from Entrepreneurial Leader and Alumnus Maurice N. Reid, MD ’99
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that UMSOM will receive a new $1 million gift from Maurice N. Reid, MD ’99, CEO and Medical Director, ExpressCare Urgent Care Centers, bringing his total giving to nearly $2.2 million. Dr. Reid, who has been a longtime supporter the School’s initiatives, is a proud School of Medicine alumnus and member of the Dean’s Board of Visitors.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
16th Annual Student Awards Ceremony Recognizes Top UMSOM Medical Graduates
On May 18, 2022, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) held its 16th annual Student Awards Ceremony & Dinner at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards. Fourth-year medical students in the Class of 2022 were recognized for their superior academic performance and modeling extraordinary humanism, compassion, and integrity over their four-year tenure in medical school. The event also publicly recognized generous donors, many being alumni, faculty, and friends, whose financial support afforded students with the various scholarships.
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Saying Farewell to the UMSOM Class of 2022
After four years of hard work and perseverance, graduates of the Class of 2022 at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) gathered at the Hippodrome Theatre on May 19 to celebrate their official transition from medical students to physicians. This year’s ceremony was especially significant for two reasons: It was the first grand scale in-person graduation celebration since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the final commencement ceremony over which current UMSOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA would preside. The graduating class of 148 physicians, who earned medical degrees, along with others who earned combined MD/Masters and MD/PhD degrees, received their doctoral hoods in front of hundreds of family members, friends, and faculty.
Thursday, June 23, 2022
New Research Shows Mothers’ HIV Status, Breastfeeding, and the Infant Gut Microbiome Can Have Long-Term Impact on Infant Health
Babies born to women with HIV often have poorer health and under-developed growth in the early months of life than infants born to women without the infection — even if those babies don’t contract HIV during birth, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM)’s Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) and Institute of Human Virology (IHV). The study also provides new insights into why these health issues often continue throughout the babies’ lives.
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
University of Maryland School of Medicine Faculty Scientists and Clinicians Publish Findings of World’s First Successful Transplant of Genetically Modified Pig Heart into Human Patient
Six months ago, University of Maryland School of Medicine surgeon-scientists successfully implanted a genetically modified pig heart into a 57 year-old patient with terminal heart disease in a first-of-its-kind surgery. It was considered an early success because the patient lived for two months with a strong functioning heart showing no obvious signs of rejection, according to a new paper published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.