MPower Partnership Announces $3M in Seed Grants for Collaborative Research

17 joint UMCP-UMB projects target vital topics.

By Maryland Today Staff | Maryland Today

From fighting emerging disease outbreaks to addressing gun violence and seeking solutions to opioid addiction, a slate of newly funded joint projects involving researchers from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) and University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) promises to tackle the grand challenges of our time.

The Joint Steering Council of the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower), a formal collaboration between UMB and UMCP to leverage the strengths of both institutions, announced seed funding ranging from $49,000 to $250,000 for 17 targeted, jointly led projects in six key research areas.

The council reviewed and ranked 52 submissions, awarding a total of $3 million to kick-start new research in areas of paramount importance to the state and the nation.

“These seed grant awards highlight the outstanding interdisciplinary and high-impact research faculty in Baltimore and College Park are conducting to address the most complex challenges society is facing,” said Gregory F. Ball, vice president for research at UMB and UMCP. “My hope is that these grants strengthen current collaborations, promote new ones and lead to future funding opportunities to support innovative and transformative research.”

Here’s look at the winning projects:

Artificial Intelligence and Medicine

• “AI Discovery and Sensing for Biomarkers of Chronic Pain,” Robert Ernst, professor, School of Dentistry, UMB; and Pamela Abshire, professor, A. James Clark School of Engineering, UMCP
   
• “Applying Natural Language Processing to Electronic Health Records to Prevent Infections with Highly Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria,” Katherine Goodman, assistant professor, School of Medicine, UMB; and Phillip Resnik, professor, College of Arts and Humanities, UMCP

Read the full story in Maryland Today.

Photo by John T. Consoli.