University of Maryland School of Medicine


The University of Maryland School of Medicine, located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S., is the medical school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System. Established in 1807 as the College of Medicine of Maryland, it is the first public and the fifth oldest medical school in the United States. It was also the first medical school to institute a residency training program. UMB SOM's campus includes Davidge Hall, which was built in 1812, and is the oldest building in continuous use for medical education in the Northern Hemisphere.
In addition to an degree, the UMB SOM offers PhD programs through the Graduate Program in Life Sciences. It also offers several joint degree programs: a Medical Scientist Training Program MD/PhD, a joint MD/DDS, the MD/MPH program, and the PhD/DPT.
The University of Maryland School of Medicine was ranked 12th in U.S. News and World Reports 2021 rankings of "Best Medical Schools: Primary Care", and 34th in "Best Medical Schools: Research"., the school offered admission to 6.3% of applicants. Since 2006, the medical school dean has been E. Albert Reece.

History

Chartered as the College of Medicine of Maryland in December 1807, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was the founding school of the University System of Maryland and the only public medical school in the U.S. at the time. It is the fifth oldest medical school in the country after the medicals schools at Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Its founding by Nathaniel Potter and John Beale Davidge was part of an influx of professionals to Baltimore and the rapid urban development that immediately followed the American Revolution. By the late 1780s, there was public discussion about the need for "medical reform and suppression of quackery". A group of physicians made several short-lived attempts at starting medical schools around the turn of the 19th century, and were finally successful in 1807 when the Maryland state legislature passed the Medical College Bill, authorizing the formation the College of Medicine of Maryland. In 1812 it was rechartered as the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Davidge Hall, built in 1812 and still in use today, is the original building of the College of Medicine of Maryland. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest building in continuous use for medical education in the United States. In the 1950s, the building was named after John Beale Davidge, one of the founders and the first dean of the College of Medicine of Maryland.

Research

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have made several milestone discoveries in the field of biomedical research and therapeutics. Recent discoveries include the development of aromatase inhibitors for the treatment of breast cancer by the lab of Angela Brodie, and the discovery of calcium sparks as drivers of heart contraction by the lab of Jonathan Lederer.
The School of Medicine is a research-focused academic institution, with $537 million in extramural research funding in 2018. A large portion of that research funding comes from the federal government of the United States., over $148 million in research grants from the NIH were attributed to the parent university of the School of Medicine. Focus areas of the University of Maryland School of Medicine's research include cancer research, cardiovascular research, neuroscience, and virology.
The School of Medicine has extensive operations in research education. Together with the Graduate Program in Life Sciences, the school provides research teaching and oversees the award of Ph.D. degrees across multiple research tracks. The School of Medicine is one of only 50 medical institutions in the United States to offer a Medical Scientist Training Program.
The School of Medicine has launched several research centers and institutes dedicated to specific fields of research:

The Institute of Human Virology

The Institute of Human Virology was formed in 1996 as a research institute of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, headed and co-founded by Robert Gallo, the only recipient of two Lasker Awards for the discovery of the first human retrovirus, and the discovery of HIV as the cause of AIDS. IHV operates in a dedicated building on the UMSOM campus next to the University of Maryland Medical Center as a partnership between the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore, the University System of Maryland and the University of Maryland Medical System.

The Institute for Genome Sciences

Launched in 2007, the Institute for Genome Sciences is an internationally recognized genomics research center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. IGS investigators use genomic and bioinformatic tools to research genome function in health and diseases and work in interdisciplinary collaborations with biomedical investigators. IGS is led by Dr. Claire M. Fraser-Liggett. Research areas include: Bioinformatics, Cancer Genomics, Functional Genomics, Human Genetic Variation, Infectious Diseases, Organismal Diversity and Evolution, Human Microbiome Project, Plant Genomics, and Microbial Community Ecology. Investigators at IGS work on Disease Ontology research, the Data Analysis and Coordination Center for HMP, and other grants. IGS is one of the Genome Sequencing Center for Infectious Diseases centers designated by NIAID.

The Institute for Global Health

The was established in 2015 and is dedicated to improving global health by conducting innovative, world-leading research around the world. The IGH develops new and improved ways of diagnosing, preventing, treating, controlling and eradicating diseases of global impact. Such diseases include malaria, Ebola and vaccine-preventable infectious diseases such as measles. The IGH includes the and the .

Maryland Psychiatric Research Center

The MPRC was established on the grounds of Spring Grove Hospital as a result of public interest in the research pioneered there on the use of the psychedelic compound LSD in Schizophrenia research. The first of this series of experiments, which came to be known as the Spring Grove Experiment, began in 1955 in cottage 13 of the hospital grounds. The study was largely conducted by the members of the Research Unit of Spring Grove State Hospital, and became the largest study on psychedelic drugs in psychiatric research. After the study gained media publicity, research funding was made available and Spring Grove was rebuilt into the MPRC, a division of the department of Psychiatry of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Currently, MPRC hosts over 20 clinical and basic research faculty that form its core research program into psychiatric disease. MPRC is also the editorial seat for the Schizophrenia Bulletin, a peer-reviewed medical journal dedicated to schizophrenia research.

Departments

Clinical