UM School of Medicine Establishes Three New Endowed Professorships through Maryland E-Nnovation Awards and UMB Matching Funds

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, announced today that the School of Medicine has been awarded $2 million in matching funds from the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund (MEIF), administered by the Maryland Department of Commerce. The funds, totaling $4 million when combined with matching qualified funding, will enable the establishment of three endowed research professorships.

“These matching grants will support some of the most significant areas for biomedical innovation, discovery, and commercialization—where Maryland is leading the way,” said Mark T. Gladwin, MD, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean. “This funding will enable us to build on our success in advancing xenotransplantation, discover innovative cancer therapies, and establish a new center to develop novel treatments for our warriors living with Sickle Cell Disease in Maryland, Nigeria, and globally.”

Added UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS: “These endowed professorships support research in very meaningful areas of public health. Attracting the most innovative researchers also enables us to maintain leadership and a competitive edge in critical areas of health sciences research.”

To continue the school’s impact in xenotransplantation, commerce has awarded $750,000, matched by $750,000 in qualified funding from the University of Maryland Surgical Associates, P.A., to support the Bartley P. Griffith, MD Professorship in Surgery, Transplantation, and Innovation in the Department of Surgery. The funding will allow the School of Medicine to recruit an internationally recognized surgeon-scientist and innovator specializing in cardiothoracic surgery and heart and lung transplantation, with a focus on new applications towards clinical use and potential commercialization.

“We are thrilled to have this new funding to give us a competitive edge to recruit a true innovator who can help us continue our world-class efforts to advance the field of heart and lung transplantation,” said Christine Lau, MD, MBA, the Dr. Robert W. Buxton Chair of Surgery and professor of surgery at UMSOM.

Commerce also provided $500,000, matched by $500,000 in qualified funding from Brown Capital Management, to support the Brown Capital Management, LLC Professorship in Sickle Cell Disease. This position will lead the University of Maryland Sickle Cell Disease Center (UMSCDC), a multidisciplinary Center of Excellence to enhance and expand the treatment, education, and research programs for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) in a community with a high prevalence of the disease. The endowed professorship will be fully dedicated to improving care and finding a cure for SCD.

Finally, Commerce provided $750,000, matched by $750,000 in qualified funding from Dr. Mordecai and Ellen Blaustein to support the Mordecai P. Blaustein, MD and Ellen B. Blaustein Faculty Scholar in Physiology. This position will allow an innovative physician-scientist specializing in research of biological systems on cellular and molecular mechanisms with a strong emphasis on integrative membrane physiology. This will give the newly created Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Drug Development a competitive edge with a focus on commercialization of scientific discoveries.

“We will be looking for a new faculty member with a strong background in basic research on fundamental physiological mechanisms and a passion for developing potential new drug therapies,” said Stuart Martin, PhD, Interim Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Drug Development and Deputy Director at the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC).

Four other local colleges and universities in the state joined the Maryland Department of Commerce in endowing a total of $17.9 million to fund nine new research professorships. The schools receiving matching funds are: the University of Maryland, College Park; Bowie State University; Johns Hopkins University, and Washington College.

The endowments were made through the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative (MEI), a state program created to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields at the colleges and universities. All five schools including UMB raised a total of more than $9.1 million in private funding for the positions and Maryland Commerce approved matching grants of $8.75 million to support the endowments.

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 46 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 winner 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 nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has more than $500 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 population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 students, trainees, residents, and fellows. The School of Medicine, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity (according to the Association of American Medical Colleges profile) is an innovator in translational medicine, with 606 active patents and 52 start-up companies. In the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Medical Schools, published in 2023, the UM School of Medicine is ranked #10 among the 92 public medical schools in the U.S., and in the top 16 percent (#32) of all 192 public and private U.S. medical schools. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit: medschool.umaryland.edu