FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: OCTOBER 27, 2005
Contact: Becky Ceraul rceraul@som.umaryland.edu 410-706-7590
Ellen Beth Levitt eblevitt@umm.edu 410-328-8919

RESEARCH FUNDING SOARS AT UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE WITH A 24 PERCENT INCREASE IN FY05

In spite of the heavy competition for funding medical research and limited sources of funding, the University of Maryland School of Medicine has continued to generate a steady and significant increase in its research funding. In fiscal year 2005 (July 1, 2004-June 30, 2005), grant and contract awards to faculty and researchers at the school jumped to $350 million from $281 in fiscal year 2004. This 24 percent increase is the largest in the school’s history.

“The University of Maryland School of Medicine has become a top ranked research institution,” says Donald E. Wilson, M.D., M.A.C.P., Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland and Dean, School of Medicine. “This year’s increase reflects the innovation and caliber of our basic and clinical researchers.”

Because of its success in generating research dollars, the University of Maryland School of Medicine is ranked 8th among 75 public medical schools in external research funding and 20th among all 126 medical schools in the country. The National Institutes of Health remains the School of Medicine’s largest funding source with well over $200 million from the NIH alone in FY05.

Several large grants were awarded to the University of Maryland School of Medicine in FY 2005 from federal sources and private organizations. In July 2004, the School of Medicine recruited 23 biomedical scientists from the American Red Cross, who brought with them more than $10 million in annual funding from the National Institutes of Health. It also established the Center for Health Disparities in July 2004 with $4.7 million from the NIH. Multi-million dollar grants were awarded during the year to renovate critical cancer research laboratory space, to study the effectiveness of education on improving the health of patients diagnosed with either hypertension or diabetes, and to vaccinate children in Africa against a bacteria that causes fatal meningitis and other serious infections.

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This page was last updated on: September 8, 2006.