Director's Message
Welcome! Launched in 2023, the University of Maryland Medicine Institute for Neuroscience Discovery (UM-MIND) formally integrates the strong community of esteemed neuroscientists at University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) under one cohesive umbrella and provides an integrated space on the 6th floor of the state-of-the-art HSF-III research building in the heart of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) campus. Our multi-department, multi-disciplinary institute represents a wide array of neuroscience faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, and staff working to solve the most pressing problems in neuroscience in a manner that impacts patients in our local community and beyond.
Neuroscience has long been an area of research strength at UMSOM. Our researchers are at the forefront of discoveries in the use of focused ultrasound to improve treatments for brain cancer; identifying a novel role for the claustrum in cognitive control; and understanding how brain pericytes direct blood flow in a manner that may be altered in Alzheimer’s disease, among countless other areas. Building on our depth and breadth of exceptional neuroscience faculty, UM-MIND will work to facilitate interaction between basic and clinical scientists, accelerating the discovery of novel therapies and offering new hope for patients.
It is an exciting time to be a neuroscientist at UMSOM. With new institutes such as ours, the Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine, and the Institute for Health Computing, combined with the existing Institutes for Genome Sciences and Human Virology as well as strength in the departments of Anesthesiology, Neurology, Neurobiology, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Physiology, Psychiatry, and Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, and prominent research centers such as the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, Center for Shock, Trauma, and Anesthesiology Research, and the UM Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, we are poised for many scientific breakthroughs – while still maintaining the warm, collaborative, and welcoming environment that has always been a defining characteristic of the neuroscience community on our campus.
Feel free to explore our website to learn more about the fascinating work and collaborative initiatives happening at UM-MIND. I look forward to the many exciting discoveries that are sure to come.
Margaret M. McCarthy, PhD
Director, UM-MIND
James and Carolyn Frenkil Dean’s Professor
Department of Pharmacology