Science Market Update

Nearly one million American’s live with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The direct and indirect costs of Parkinson’s, including treatment, social security payments and lost income, total nearly $25 billion per year in the United States. Medications alone average $2,500 per year per patient. Currently, there is no definitive test for PD and, while there are treatments, there is no cure. With the help of over $7.7 million in NIH funding, the Director of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson’s Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins, Ted Dawson M.D., Ph.D. hopes to change that.

Half of all sexually active young people will acquire a sexually transmitted disease by the age of 25. According to the Center for Disease Ccontrol (CDC) there are 20 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections (STI) each year. There are more than 110 million Americans currently living with a STI. The direct medical cost to the U.S. healthcare system from these infections is nearly $16 billion every year. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University recently received a $5.1 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to develop a faster and more accurate diagnostic tool for STIs. This device could radically change how sexually transmitted infections are tested and treated.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore is currently constructing a massive collaborative research building on its medical campus, the first new research facility since 2003. The Health Science Facility III will be UMD Baltimore's largest research building by far once construction completes in December 2017. This facility will house researchers from the schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dentistry to catalyze collaboration between these schools and continue to secure UMD Baltimore's spot as one of the top research institutions in the country. This $305.4 million construction project, which broke ground in 2013, will create 428,970 square feet of space spread over 10 stories. This building will feature two adjoining towers to incorporate both wet and dry research lab space. Around 70,000 square feet of this space will be solely dedicated to wet lab research for approximately 92 principal investigators, accounting for just over 1/6 of the total space in the building.

“When this facility opens, our students and research scientists will have access to the most cutting-edge of scientific facilities, as well as easier access to each other, encouraging collaboration across disciplines,” said William E. “Brit” Kirwan, Ph.D., chancellor of the University System of Maryland. “We are excited that research scientists from our School of Medicine will be able to advance their collaborative research and discovery efforts with colleagues across the Campus and the University System unimpeded by space limitations. We hope to see new, interdisciplinary partnerships develop, leading to a better understanding of human health and disease and a fully comprehensive education for our students.”

University officials and campus scientists are excited for the potential the establishment of this collaborative facility has for the University of Maryland's contributions to the research community. Fields of study expected to especially benefit from this interdisciplinary workplace include Genome Sciences, Personalized and Genomic Medicine, Cancer Biology, Cardiovascular Science, Brain Science, Stem Cell Biology, and Infection/Inflammation Science among many other areas. 

 (Artistic rendering of HSFIII courtesy of pharmaceutical-technology.com)

“With this groundbreaking, we are ushering in a revolution in biomedicine, here at the School of Medicine, where fundamental research and advancement in technology converge to create new pathways and new opportunities for science and technology to dramatically impact the health and well-being of the citizens of Maryland, and the region, while positively impacting the economy of our state,” said E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Within the portals of this building will be conducted robust collaborative research that will expand across the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus where School of Medicine investigators will engage collaboratively with other colleagues across the campus and beyond – especially scientists at the School of Dentistry and the School of Pharmacy.”

Most exciting, though, is the announcement that space in Health Science Facility III has yet to be assigned by university officials. By keeping laboratory benches unassigned during construction, the university aims to recruit new, interdisciplinary researchers to house these new life science labs to truly evoke a feeling of youth and energy throughout the facility once it opens for occupancy in January 2018.

Learn more about the state-of-the-art research and innovations happening at the University of Maryland, Baltimore with the following articles:

Baltimore Researchers Identify Dangerous E. coli Strains

Baltimore Biorsearchers Receive $10.7 Million for STD Research

UMD Baltimore Creating New $15.2M Genome Center for Infectious Diseases

(Image taken at 2015 BioResearch Product Faire™ Event at UMD Baltimore™ Event at UMD Baltimore)

Biotechnology Calendar, Inc. has been producing highly reputable life science trade shows at more than fifty research universities across the U.S. for over twenty years. These shows bring hundreds of researchers in search of the best new tools together with lab supply companies.

If you are interested in exhibiting your laboratory supplies to, and connecting with, researchers at UMD Baltimore, we invite you to join us at our upcoming Baltimore event. The 2nd Annual BioResearch Product Faire™ Event at the University of Maryland, Baltimore will be held on June 8, 2016. 

To learn more about participating at this Baltimore event, visit the link below: 

Escherichia coli, most commonly referred to as E. coli, is a common form of bacteria found in the environment, foods, and the intestinal tracts of animals. E. coli is very diverse, with some strains being harmless while others can cause a wide range of illnesses, including urinary tract infections, diarrhea, and pneumonia. With hundreds of thousands of deaths caused by E. coli each year, scientists have been diligently working to better understand this bacteria. 

With the assistance of a 5-year, $10.7 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), researchers from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and the University of Maryland School of Medicine will work together to study the causes, prevention, and treatment methods for 2 commons STD's: Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. This grant renews a previous 5-year, $12 million grant Baltimore researchers received to study STDs. (Image courtesy of Acroterion, via Wikimedia Commons).

The University of Maryland, Baltimore Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) recently received a grant of $15.2 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) to establish a new research center. This 5 year award will be used to establish the IGS Genome Center for Infectious Diseases. 

The new center will be led by an interdisciplinary team of University of Maryland, Baltimore researchers from the Institute of Genome Sciences, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and the Center for Vaccine Development who will study pathogens and their hosts using different genomic techniques to gain a better understanding of how pathogens cause harm. In the IGS Genome Center for Infectious Diseases, researchers will be able to study pathogen biology, virulence, drug resistance, immune invasion, and host-microbiome interactions using different genomics and bioinformatics approaches. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia).

There are currently 14 operating Proton Therapy Treatment Centers around the United States, and in 2015 a new center in Baltimore will be completed. The University of Maryland Baltimore, in collaboration with Advanced Particle Therapy LLC of San Diego, began constructing a $200 million Proton Therapy Cancer Center in 2012 that is on track to begin treating patients in 2015. Once completed, the new center will be the first Proton therapy Center in the Baltimore-Washington area, and only the 5th center of this type on the East Coast.