Medical & Clinical
Medical researchers and clinicians across the Â鶹´«Ã½ are rapidly responding to improve diagnosis and treatment of patients who have been affected by COVID-19.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded a $900,000 grant to the Division of Genomic Epidemiology and Clinical Outcomes in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health to conduct research to identify the most effective measures for COVID-19 infection control in healthcare settings, including hospitals and long-term care facilities.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Scientists in the School of Pharmacy conducted molecular-level investigations of three coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV), examining a viral protein that plays a key role in the ability of the virus to replicate itself once inside the body. This protein also plays a role in defeating the host’s immune system, so it provides a particularly attractive target for potential drug treatments.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Researchers have begun participation in the Phase 3 clinical trial of an investigational COVID-19 vaccine co-developed by scientists at Moderna Inc. and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This clinical trial is a key step toward final approval of a vaccine to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Fei Han, a senior data scientist at the Hilltop Institute, and Zachary D.W. Dezman, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the School of Medicine, have received a COVID-19 Accelerated Translational Incubator Pilot award for research to help predict and reduce patients’ risk of being hospitalized due to COVID-19. Their project will expand the Hilltop Pre-AH Model™, a preventative risk model, to determine individual-level risks of hospitalization among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries.
Towson University
Professor Vonnie Shields has contributed to an international survey of COVID-19 patients designed to help prioritize the limited supply of testing materials for the disease. Working with the newly formed Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research, Dr. Shields has analyzed data related to COVID patients’ smell and taste and chemesthetic sensations.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Researchers evaluated several human antibodies to determine the most potent combination to be mixed and used as a promising anti-viral therapy against the virus COVID-19. Matthew Frieman, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and his team identified a cocktail of two antibodies that is now being tested in a new clinical trial to determine whether the therapy can improve the outcomes of COVID-19 patients.
University of Maryland, College Park
Assistant Professor Margaret Scull and Professor Jeffrey DeStefano from the University of Maryland’s Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics have teamed up to develop an aptamer (small piece of nucleic acid that binds tightly to target proteins) with the potential to block COVID-19 infections. Scull’s lab is developing a complex cell model of the human airway, which will be used to test several different aptamers developed by DeStefano.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
The Center for International Health, Education and Biosecurity (Ciheb) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute of Human Virology was awarded $4 million from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support COVID-19 response activities in Botswana, Nigeria, Malawi, and Mozambique.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have begun testing an experimental stem cell therapy developed by Mesoblast Limited to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients with moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) who are on ventilators to help them breathe.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Scientists developed an experimental diagnostic test for COVID-19 that can visually detect the presence of the virus in 10 minutes. It uses a simple assay containing plasmonic gold nanoparticles to detect a color change when the virus is present. The test does not require the use of any advanced laboratory techniques for analysis.
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Robert Figliozzi, research and development director at IES Life Sciences and University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) doctoral candidate, manages collaborative research between IES, UMES and the USM. He is IES’ lead scientist in developing a test to detect COVID-19 infection in pre-symptomatic individuals, and measure the severity of the infection and the risk of experiencing a fatal cytokine storm.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Gen1E Lifesciences has spent the last two years developing a therapeutic drug treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is now the leading cause of death as a result of COVID-19. The company acquired an exclusive, worldwide and all-fields license to UMB's specific and function selective p38a kinase inhibitor program.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have begun testing the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as a therapy to prevent infection and symptoms in individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19-positive individuals. The trial is significant because it focuses on preventing rather than treating COVID-19.
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
UMBC Professor Katherine Seley-Radtke is the principal investigator on a study to evaluate flexible nucleoside analogues with potent activity against epidemic and endemic human coronaviruses and obtaining critical data needed to move these potent compounds toward clinical trials.
University of Maryland, College Park
Researchers are helping to evaluate and develop new drugs to treat the novel coronavirus by performing molecular and genetic characterization and utilizing a physiologically-relevant model of human airway epithelium.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Through a national study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, School of Medicine researchers are participating in a test to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment for COVID-19-positive adult patients with pneumonia.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine became the first in the U.S. to begin testing experimental COVID-19 vaccine candidates developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The research, funded by Pfizer Inc., will study the safety, efficacy, and dosing of an experimental mRNA -based vaccine.
University of Maryland, Baltimore
With funding from the State of Maryland, the School of Medicine has launched a large-scale COVID Testing Initiative to rapidly increase the state’s testing capabilities, with the goal of running 20,000 tests per day.