Innovation and Discovery

Innovation and Discovery

The University of Maryland, Baltimore fosters a culture of innovation and discovery — our faculty, students, and staff are advancing novel ideas that will improve health care, life sciences, and human and social services. Cutting-edge facilities, strategic initiatives, expert advisors, and business development services support our entrepreneurs.

Top 10 Research Enterprise

The University of Maryland research enterprise is ranked within the top 10 of public institutions by the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development Survey, the preeminent national ranking for higher education institutions engaged in sponsored research. The ranking continues the state of Maryland’s inclusion in an elite group of six states with more than one research university conducting research at or above $1 billion per year. UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park are linked together as one research enterprise called the University of Maryland in the ranking, with combined research expenditures of $1.3 billion.

Catalyst Impact

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Since 2013, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed more than $145 million in support of global health projects in the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM) Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health and Institute of Human Virology. Projects have included the development, testing, and introduction of typhoid vaccines; preventive HIV vaccine development and trials; malaria treatment and prevention activities; the Global Enteric Multicenter Study, the largest, most comprehensive study of childhood diarrheal diseases ever conducted in developing country settings; and COVID-19 research.

Medical Device Technology Lab

Established with a generous gift from Susan and William Brody and funded by the Constance and Carl Ferris Charitable Foundation, a medical device prototyping lab was created at UMSOM.

Equipped with 3D printers, the lab allows physicians to produce high-fidelity anatomical models of patient organs and skeletal features, based on data from computerized tomography (CT) scans, helping them and their patients make better informed decisions for management of disease.

A partnership with the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices provides staff support for developing 3D prototypes of medical devices and technologies. These prototypes help strengthen research while de-risking and validating concepts, building a foundation for higher-value financing.

Entrepreneurial Focus in Pharmacy

In 2017, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy launched its trademarked Pharmapreneurship program, which exemplifies the school’s commitment to supporting and best positioning faculty, staff, and students to achieve their career aspirations and address our nation’s health care challenges.

development spending and No. 17 overall nationally

Investing in UMB Discoveries

Strategic investment initiatives support our technologies and ventures at different stages, giving our researchers and entrepreneurs the funding they need to launch startups and commercialize their ideas.

• $9.6 million invested

• $83.3 million in co-investment

• 13 companies

• 4 UMB startups acquired UMSOM’s Innovation Fund was established to invest in promising Maryland-based startup companies to commercialize intellectual property developed by UMSOM faculty, staff, students, and graduates. Gifts to this philanthropic fund are dedicated to advancing these technologies.

Student Entrepreneurial Support

By encouraging innovation and exposing our students to entrepreneurship, we broaden their perspective and help develop them as leaders. As they create the future of health care and human service, they will carry forward our mission to improve the human condition and serve the public good.

The University of Maryland Graduate School’s Graduate Research Innovation District (Grid) was created to provide our students with the entrepreneurial education, programming, and resources — including funding opportunities, coaching, and mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and business experts — that will prepare them to take their research and innovations to the next level. C p School of Pharmacy Dean Natalie Eddington and UMB President Bruce Jarrell cut the ribbon on the new Pharmapreneurs’ Farm in Pharmacy Hall . q Founded in 2014, Breethe raised more than $16 million in funding , including investment from UMB, and was acquired by Abiomed in April 2020. The device received Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance in October 2020 and is now being used clinically. It was developed at UMSOM by Bartley P. Griffith, MD, the Thomas E. and Alice Marie Hales Distinguished Professor of Transplant Surgery (pictured below right), and Zhongjun Jon Wu, PhD, the Peter Angelos Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurial Surgical Science (pictured below left).