Tuesday, July 06, 2021
UM School of Medicine Researchers Receive NIH Avant-Garde Award for Out-Of-Box Concept to Cure HIV and Treat Co-Existing Addiction
Linda Chang, MD, MS, Professor of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), received the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) 2021 Avant-Garde Award (DP1) for HIV/AIDS and Substance Use Disorder Research — a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Pioneer Award. This prestigious award supports researchers with exceptional creativity, who propose high-impact research with the potential to be transformative to the field.
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
University of Maryland Children’s Hospital Opens First Trauma-Informed Children & Adolescent Psychiatric Unit In Maryland
Children and teens experiencing acute mental health crises have a safe and healing space to recover in the newly-opened Children & Adolescent Psychiatric Unit at the University of Maryland Children's Hospital (UMCH). The 16-bed, state-of-the-art unit is the first in the state designed both architecturally and clinically to deliver "trauma-informed" care for children spanning 5 to 17 years old. Trauma-informed care is a framework for treating patients who have endured abuse, neglect, violence, school issues and other traumatic events—which not all, but many young patients have experienced.
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
IN MEMORIAM: Longtime UM School of Medicine Department Chair, John Kastor, MD
The Department of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine is saddened to announce the passing of former Chairman, John Kastor, MD. Dr. Kastor was recruited to the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1984 and served for 13 years as the first Theodore E. Woodward Professor of Medicine and the 11th Chairman of the Department of Medicine.
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Recycling of the Eye’s Light Sensors Is Faulty in Progressive Blindness of Older Adults, University of Maryland School of Medicine Researchers Show
With the National Eye Institute reporting that about 11 million older adults in the U.S. endure a condition that leads to progressive blindness, known as age-related macular degeneration, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers are starting to understand what goes wrong in the disease, in order to develop new therapies to treat it.
Monday, June 21, 2021
UM School of Medicine Researchers Discover Genetic Cause of Neurodevelopmental Disorder
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers identified a new gene that may be linked to certain neurodevelopmental disorders and intellectual disabilities. The researchers believe that finding genes involved in certain types of developmental disorders, provide an important first step in determining the cause of these disorders and ultimately in developing potential therapies for treating them.
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
UM School of Medicine Researchers Awarded $5 Million NIH Grant to Improve Use of Genetic Risk Scores in Diverse Populations
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have received a $5 million federal grant to pool genomic information from existing and new datasets – predominantly in African and African American populations -- in order to calculate the risk of developing specific diseases. They will use sophisticated modeling and genetic datasets to calculate the risk, known as a polygenic risk score, with an emphasis on studying people from different ancestries.
Monday, June 14, 2021
Study Links COVID-19 Public Health Efforts to Dramatic Drop in COPD Hospitalizations
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) analyzed data at the 13-hospital University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) and found public health measures designed to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus may have fostered a substantial side benefit: Hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were reduced by 53 percent, according to a new study published in The American Journal of Medicine. This is likely due to a drop in circulating seasonal respiratory viruses such as influenza.
Wednesday, June 09, 2021
Global Study of Microbes in 60 Cities Finds Each Has Unique Fingerprint of Viruses and Bacteria
Each city has its own unique microbiome, a “fingerprint” of viruses and bacteria that serves as type of city profile, according to a new study from an international consortium of researchers that included a team from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). The international project, which sequenced and analyzed samples collected from public transit systems and hospitals in 60 cities around the world, was published today in the journal Cell.
Tuesday, June 08, 2021
Nearly One in Five Patients Who Die from Unexplained Sudden Cardiac Death Have Suspicious Gene, UM School of Medicine Study Finds
As many as 450,000 Americans die every year from a sudden, fatal heart condition, and in slightly more than 1 in 10 cases the cause remains unexplained even after an autopsy. Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and their colleagues have found that nearly 1 in 5 patients with unexplained sudden cardiac death – most of whom were under age 50 – carried rare genetic variants. These variants likely raised their risk of sudden cardiac death. In some cases, their deaths may have been prevented if their doctors had known about their genetic predisposition to heart disease. The study findings were published last week in JAMA Cardiology.
Tuesday, June 08, 2021
IN MEMORIAM: UM School of Medicine Biomedical Research Pioneer and Pharmacology Professor, Laure Aurelian, PhD
The Department of Pharmacology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) is saddened to announce the passing of Laure Aurelian, PhD, Professor Emerita of Pharmacology. She was the first woman to receive a PhD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and was a pioneer who opened doors for many women to pursue research careers in biomedical science. She was also among the first women to receive independent funding from the National Institutes of Health, receiving her first R01 award in 1970.