UM School of Medicine Cutting Edge Research Featured Among 'Top Things That Made the World a Better Place in 2019'

Major Scientific Advances by Dr. Samuel Tisherman and the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center Are Featured on New List Published by Wired Magazine

The University of Maryland School of Medicine is being recognized by a national news publication for groundbreaking biomedical research that “is making the world a better place.” The publication, WIRED magazine, is featuring the innovative work of UMSOM’s Samuel Tisherman, MD, Professor of Surgery, and the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center on a list of 19 items or advances recognized in 2019. 

Other items on the WIRED list include: the first woman spacewalk, fastest marathon time in history, quantum processor solving first problem that would take 10,000 years for supercomputer to solve, car battery built to go one million miles, first electric aircraft, and prevention of HIV transmission, among others.

Dr. Tisherman’s research, featured as the subject of a TED-x talk last year, focuses on the management of severe hemorrhagic shock and cardiac arrest, using an innovative technique called Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation (EPR). This technique involves infusing ice-cold saline into the aorta (the major artery carrying blood from the heart) where it circulates throughout the body to quickly drop body temperature to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

He and his collegaues are currently conducting a clinical trial of EPR, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, the coordinating center for the study. The study involves 20 participants, with 10 receiving EPR and 10 receiving standard resuscitation, to compare the outcomes of the two groups. They have hope to have results by the end of next year. Thomas Scalea, MD, the Honorable Francis X. Kelly Distinguished Professor in Trauma Surgery and Director of the Program in Trauma, is a co-leader of the study.

The research has also been featured nationally and internationally in the New York Times, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Newsweek, Forbes, New Scientist and Times of London.

“Trauma patients who lose so much blood that the heart stops very rarely survive, even with blood transfusions and CPR,” said Dr. Tisherman. “We have developed EPR using hypothermia to decrease the body’s need for oxygen and blood flow to see if we can buy time to save these patients who are dying in front of us. We are currently looking at the safety and feasibility of the EPR cooling technique. Our main goal is to demonstrate that we can do it and that it works.” 

Dr. Tisherman came to UMSOM in 2014 from the University of Pittsburgh where he was a Professor in the Departments of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery. He received his MD degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1985 and completed his residency training at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh.

In the UMSOM’s Center for Critical Care and Trauma Education, Dr. Tisherman is expanding the educational programs within the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center and the University of Maryland Medical System. This includes the development of novel simulation programs to train multi-professional teams in the optimal management of the most critically ill and injured patients. With funding from the Department of Defense, he is also studying trauma surgical skill retention and refresher techniques.

“We greatly appreciate the national recognition of this important work, which is revolutionary in many ways” said Dr. Tisherman. “It is certainly gratifying to be included on a list of major innovations that are making the world a better place.”

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 45 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time recipient of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research.  With an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically based care for the nearly 2 million patients each year. The School has over 2,500 students, residents, and fellows, and more than $540 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total workforce of nearly 9,000 faculty, staff, trainees and students. The combined School and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8^th highest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu