Tuesday, July 21, 2020
University of Maryland School of Medicine Names Renowned Trauma Surgeon-Scientist, Dr. David Efron, as Professor of Trauma Surgery and New Chief of Trauma
Thomas M. Scalea, MD, the Honorable Francis X. Kelly Distinguished Professor of Trauma Surgery and Director of the Program in Trauma at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), and Physician-in-Chief at the UM R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, along with UMSOM Dean, E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that David Thomas Efron, MD, one of the leading trauma surgeon-scientists in the U.S., will become the Inaugural Thomas M. Scalea Distinguished Professor of Trauma Surgery in the Department of Surgery, Chief of Trauma and Medical Director of the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. He will begin his new position effective September 1.
Thursday, July 16, 2020
University of Maryland School of Medicine Recruits Two Preeminent Multi-Organ Transplant Professionals to Build on Legacy of Leadership in Transplantation
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean, E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, and Christine Lau, MD, MBA, The Dr. Robert W. Buxton Chair of Surgery at UMSOM, announced today the hiring of two internationally-renown transplant professionals: a surgeon scientist and a transplant scientist. The unique pair of transplant professionals provides UMSOM with a powerful combination of leadership in both clinical surgery and surgical science.
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
UM School of Medicine Researchers Identify Mechanism for Treating Cancer Cells
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have identified a surprising new mechanism that may significantly expand use of an important cancer drug, called a PARP inhibitor. These drugs are currently only approved to be used in those with certain mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes that are associated with breast and ovarian cancers. The new findings were published online last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) journal in collaboration with a group at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Thursday, July 02, 2020
UMSOM’s Office of Student Affairs Names Clinician, Educator, and Researcher Dr. Kerri Thom as New Associate Dean for Student Affairs
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, Donna Parker, MD, FACP, along with UMSOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, today announced the promotion of Kerri Thom, MD, MS, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, as the Associate Dean for Student Affairs. Dr. Thom previously served as the Assistant Dean for Student Research and Education in the UMSOM Office of Student Affairs.
Thursday, July 02, 2020
UMSOM Researchers Help Weigh Role of Human Challenge Studies for COVID-19 Vaccine Development
Members of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) Working Group, which includes Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, DTPH, the Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH Professor in Vaccinology and Director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), assessed the practical considerations and prerequisites for using controlled human infection models (CHIMs) to support development of a SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
From Tradition to Virtual Reality: Online Student Clinician Ceremony Celebrates Next Chapter of Medical Training
The Class of 2022, along with family and friends, logged on from their computers to celebrate this year’s Student Clinician Ceremony, held on Friday, June 19. Now in its 18th year, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Annual Student Clinician Ceremony marks the third year of medical education as students transition into clinical clerkships.
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
UM School of Medicine Researchers Receive Federal Funding to Rapidly Test New Treatments for COVID-19
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) will be partnering on an agreement funded by the federal government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to rapidly test hundreds of drugs, approved and marketed for other conditions, to see whether any can be repurposed to prevent or treat COVID-19. The compounds will be tested in studies using state-of-the-art technologies in the laboratory of coronavirus researcher Matthew Frieman, PhD., Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. UMSOM will receive up to $3.6 million over the next year to fund this effort.
Monday, June 15, 2020
UM School of Medicine Researchers Help Identify Potent Antibody Cocktail with Potential to Treat COVID-19
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) evaluated several human antibodies to determine the most potent combination to be mixed in a cocktail and used as a promising anti-viral therapy against the virus that causes COVID-19. Their research, conducted in collaboration with scientists at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, was published today in the journal Science. The study demonstrates the rapid process of isolating, testing and mass-producing antibody therapies against any infectious disease by using both genetically engineered mice and plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients.
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
UM School of Medicine Researchers Identify New Genetic Defect Linked to ALS
Researchers at the UMSOM have identified how certain gene mutations cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The pathway identified by the researchers may also be responsible for a certain form of dementia related to ALS. The finding could offer potential new approaches for treating this devastating condition, which causes progressive, fatal paralysis and sometimes mental deterioration similar to Alzheimer’s disease. Their discovery was published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and included collaborators from Harvard University, University of Auckland, King’s College London, and Northwestern University.
Wednesday, June 03, 2020
UM School of Medicine's Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science Receives Endowment Gift from Pivot Health Solutions; Will Advance Research and Train Next Generation of Scie
Victoria G. Marchese, PhD, PT, Chair, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science (PTRS), University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), announced that Pivot Health Solutions has given $250,000 to fund the Pivot Health Solutions Physical Rehabilitation Science PhD Education Endowment. This important gift will be used as a critical resource for PhD students in Physical Rehabilitation Science in the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science (PTRS) at UMSOM.