Congratulations to the 2026 UMB ICTR Pilot Grant Awardees!

ATIP (Accelerated Translational Incubator Pilot) Grant Awardees

From a total of 42 applications, 14 one-year, milestone-driven ATIP pilot grants were awarded.

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

2026 ATIP Awardees Collage

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Project Type

Chenchen Zhang, MB, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Julie Dunning Hotopp, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Jorge Almodovar, PhD

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering

Ryan Pearson, PhD

University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

 

Shuo Chen, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health

Yang Wang, PhD

University of Maryland School of Nursing, Pain and Translational Symptom Science

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Bing Guo, PhD, MD, BM

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Yiqun Xie, PhD

University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Geographical Sciences

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Nileshkumar Dubey, BDS, PhD

University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Division of Cariology and Operative Dentistry 

Vivek Thumbigere-Math, BDS, PhD 

University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Division of Periodontology, Department of Advanced Oral Sciences & Therapeutics

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Mohan Tulapurkar, Dr. rer. nat

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Marc Simard, MD, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Min Yu, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology & Physiology

Anthony Kim, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Summer Thompson, PhD, MS

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry

Daniel Roche, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Dirk Mayer, Dr. rer. nat.

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine

Brian Polster, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Marie-Christine Daniel, PhD

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Hongbing Wang, PhD

University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Achuth Padmanabhan, PhD 

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Biological Sciences

Xiaoxuan Fan, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Kai Sun, PhD

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Information Systems

Alison Miller, ScD, MPH, RN, FAAN

University of Maryland School of Nursing, Family and Community Health

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Ang Li, PhD

University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Florence Doo, MD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Roumen Vesselinov, PhD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health

William Teeter, MD

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant

 

From a total of 22 applications, 12 one-year, milestone-driven ATIP pilot grants were awarded.

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

Collage of 2025 ATIP Awardees

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Project Type

Maricel Kann, PhD

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Biological Sciences

Samuel Rosner, MD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Peter Phalen, PsyD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry

Jay Unick, PhD, MSW

UMB School of Social Work

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

 

Zafar Zafari, PhD, MS

UMB School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Tao Ma, PhD MD

UMB School of Dentistry, Department of Diagnostic Radiology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

David Benavides, PhD, MD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Neurology

Maureen Kane, PhD

UMB School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Shiming Yang, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology

Konstantinos Kalpakis, PhD

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Prajwal Ciryam, PhD, MD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Neurology

Seth Ament, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Institute for Genome Sciences

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Yuanyuan Li, PhD, MD

University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Nutrition and Food Science

Amber Kleckner, PhD, MS

UMB School of Nursing, Department of Pain and Translational Symptom Science

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Jiachen Zhuo, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine 

Joyce Teixeira da Silva, PhD

UMB School of Dentistry, Department of Neural and Pain Sciences

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Barbara Juarez, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology

Pavlos Anastasiadis, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Dong Li, PhD

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

Zhekang Ying, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Daniel Deredge, PhD

UMB School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Joel Chua, MD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

 

From a total of 34 applications, 14 one-year, milestone-driven ATIP pilot grants were awarded.

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

Slide of ATIP awardees

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Project Type

Man-Kyo Chung, DMD, PhD

UMB School of Dentistry, Neural and Pain Sciences

Cynthia Renn, PhD, RN, FAAN

UMB School of Nursing, Pain and Translational Symptom Science

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Yifan Yuan, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology

Konstantin Birukov, MD, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Medicine and Pulmonary

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

 

Anthony Kim, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery

Bruce Yu, PhD

UMB School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Aaron Ciner, MD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology

Jason Molitoris, MD, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Tim Luetkens, MD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center

Arpita Upadhyaya, PhD

University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Physics

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Amed Ouattara, PhD, MSc, PharmD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Kimberly Claeys, PharmD

UMB School of Pharmacy, Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR)

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Hongshuo Song, MD, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, IHV

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Douglas Frey, PhD

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering

Kashif Munir, MD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Bing Ma, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences

Tracy Hazen, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Ze Wang, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Sharon Tennant, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, CVD

Srinivasa Raghavan, PhD

University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Sui-Seng Tee, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Edward Bernat, PhD

University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Psychology

Fadia Shaya, PhD, MPH

UMB School of Pharmacy, Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant

 

From a total of 16 applications, 9 one-year, milestone-driven ATIP pilot grants were awarded.

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

ATIP 2023 Awardees Collage

 

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Project Type

Sandeep Devabhakthuni, PharmD, BCPS-AQ

UMB School of Pharmacy, Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Miroslaw Janowski, MD, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine

Dirk Mayer, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

 

Feng Jiang, MD, PhD
UMB School of Medicine, Department of Pathology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Raya E. Kheirbek, MD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine

Brock Beamer, MD

UMB, School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine

Kristin Watson, PharmD

UMB School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Alexander Ksendzovsky, MD, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery

Weizhen Xie, PhD

University of Maryland, College Park

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Achuth Padmanabhan, PhD
University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Biological Sciences

Xiaoxuan Fan, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Ryan Pearson, PhD

UMB School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Svetlana Chapoval, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Chamindi Seneviratne, MD
UMB School of Medicine,

Department of Psychiatry

Weihong Lin, PhD

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Psychiatry

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Stefanie N. Vogel, PhD

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Robert Ernst, PhD

UMB School of Dentistry, Department of Microbial Pathogenesis

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

 

From a total of 23 applications, 13 one-year, milestone-driven pilot grants were awarded (9 Innovative Collaboration Pilot projects, 4 Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot projects). 

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

 

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Project Type

Areck Ucuzian, Assistant Professor, SOM, Department of Surgery/Vascular Surgery

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Ritu Agarwal, Professor, UMCP, Department of Information Systems

Shana Ntiri, Associate Professor, SOM, Department of Family & Community Medicine

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/

Machine Learning Pilot Grant

 

Mary Ann Jabra-Rizk, Professor, SOD, Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences

Peter Rock, Professor, SOM, Department of Anesthesiology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Amber Kleckner, Assistant Professor, SON, Department of Pain and Translational Symptom Science

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Audra Stinchcomb, Professor, SOP, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Ze Wang, Associate Professor, SOM, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/

Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Jamie Podell, Assistant Professor, SOM, Department of Neurocritical Care

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/

Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Jaylyn Waddell, Assistant Professor, SOM, Department of Pediatrics

Aditi Banerjee, Assistant Professor, SOM, Department of Pediatrics

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Ranee Mehra, Professor, SOM, Department of Medicine

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Poonam Mathur, Assistant Professor, SOM, Medicine/Infectious Diseases

Guangming Li, Assistant Professor, SOM, Department of Pharmacology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Brajesh Lal, Professor, SOM, Department of Surgery/Vascular

Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/

Machine Learning Pilot Grant

Shimei Pan, Associate Professor, UMBC, Department of Information Systems

Joan Carpenter, Assistant Professor, SON, Organizational Systems and Adult Health

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

Jonathan Bromberg, Professor, SOM, Surgery

Bing Ma, Assistant Professor, SOM, Microbiology and Immunology

Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant

 

From a total of 26 applications,13 one-year milestone-driven pilot grants were awarded (6 Innovative Collaboration Pilot projects, 4 Community-Engaged Research projects, and 3 Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence). 

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

PI/Co-PI (Schools)
France Carrier (SOM)
Lujie Chen (UMBC)
Kelly Doran (SON)
Steven Fletcher (SOP)
Curt Civin (SOM)
Mathangi Gopalakrishnan (SOP)
Chein-I Chang (UMBC)
Yi Huang (UMBC)
Michael Domanski (SOM)
Rena Malik (SOM)
David Rasko (SOM)
Oksana Mishler (SOD)
Michael Woolley (SSW)
Tinoosh Mohsenin (UMBC) 
Mohammad Sajadi (SOM)
Elana Rosenthal (SOM)
Mohummad Siddiqui (SOM)
Recai Aktay (SOM)
Lydia Tang (SOM)
Doris Titus-Glover (SON)
George Unick (SSW)
Kelly Westlake (SOM)

 

From a total of 40 applications, 10 one-year milestone-driven pilot grants were awarded (6 pre-clinical pilot projects, 3 public health research projects, and 1 clinical research project). 

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

PI/Co-PI (Schools)
Adnan Bhutta (SOM)
Charles Hong (SOM)
Anna Birucova (SOM)
Alfredo Garzino-Demo (SOM)
Joseph Kao (SOM)
Zhe Han (SOM)
Feng Jiang (SOM)
Jace Jones (SOP)
Fei Han (UMBC - The Hilltop Institute)
Zachary Dezman (SOM)
Erin Hager (SOM)
Maureen Black (SOM)
Henry Silverman (SOM)
Kheirbek Raya (SOM)
Ester Villalonga Olives (SOP)

From a total of 35 applications, 17 one-year milestone-driven pilot grants were awarded (15 Innovative Collaboration Pilot projects, 1 Community-Engaged Research projects, and 1 Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence). 

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

PI/Co-PI (Schools)
Charles Bieberich (UMBC)
Xiang Li (UMBC)
Maria Baer (SOM)
David Kaczorowski (SOM)
Ryan Pearson (SOP)
Nevil Singh (SOM)
Sarah Dababnah (SSW)
Charina Reyes (SOM)
Ze Wang (SOM)
Scott Devine (SOM)
Achuth Padmanabhan (UMBC)
Kamal Moudgil (SOM) 
Yvonne Rasko (SOM)
Osamah Saeedi (SOM)
Nicholas Morris (SOM)
Sarah Murthi (SOM)
Micheal Armahizer (SOP)
Soobum Lee (UMBC)
Jose Bosio (SOD)
Hening Ren (SOD)
Fadia Shaya (SOP)
James Oates (UMBC)
Zachary Dezman (SOM)
Johana Diaz (SOM)
Mary McKenna (SOM)
Kim Mooney-Doyle (SON)
Daya Bagdure (SOM)

From a total of 36 applications, 19 one-year milestone-driven pilot grants were awarded (16 Innovative Collaboration Pilot projects and 3 Community-Engaged Research projects). 

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

PI/Co-PI (Schools)

Paul Antony (SOM)

Shashwatee Bagchi (SOM)

Vincent Bruno (SOM)

Marianne Cloeren (SOM)

Jodi Frey (SSW)

Ivy Dick (SOM)

Michael Nestor (Hussman Institute)

David Dreizin (SOM)

Alan Yuille (JHU)

Jeffrey Fink (SOM)

Lee-Ann Wagner (SOM)

David Marcozzi (SOM)

Daniel Gingold (SOM)

Vincent Ng (SOM)

Motomi Enomoto-Iwamoto (SOM)

Maureen Kane (SOP)

Satoru Otsuru (SOM)

Janette Harro (SOD)

Masahiro Iwamoto (SOM)

Robert Reed (SOM)

Gloria Reeves (SOM)

Cynthia Renn (SON)

Turhan Coksaygan (SOM)

Joseph Scalea (SOM)

Abraham Schneider (SOD)

Anthony Kim (SOM)

Jeffrey Winkles (SOM)

Julia Slejko (SOP)

Sui-Seng Tee (SOM)

Jace Jones (SOP)

Liqing Yu (SOM)

Sharon Tennant (SOM)

Zafar Zafari (SOP)

 

CEnR (Community Engaged Research) Grant Awardees

From a total of 8 applications, 3 one-year, milestone-driven Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) pilot grants were awarded.

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

2026 CEnR Awardees Collage

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Iyabo Obasanjo, PhD

Associate Professor
University of Maryland School of Graduate Studies

Marianne Cloeren, MD, MPH

Associate Professor
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Medicine

Jodi Frey, PhD, LCSW-C, CEAP

Associate Dean for Research
University of Maryland School of Social Work

George Jay Unick, PhD, MSW

Professor
University of Maryland School of Social Work

 

From a total of 2 applications, both Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) pilot grants were awarded.

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

Collage of 2025 CEnR Awardees

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Iris Cardenas, PhD, LSW

Assistant Professor
UMB School of Social Work

Jennifer Klinedinst, PhD, MPH, RN, FAHA

Associate Professor
UMB School of Nursing, Department of Organizational Systems and Adult Health

Sarah Holmes, PhD, MSW

Assistant Professor
UMB School of Nursing, Department of Organizational Systems and Adult Health

From a total of 6 applications, 4 Community-Engaged Research (CEnR) pilot grants were awarded.

Congratulations and wishing you great success with your research! 

Lead and Co-Principal Investigators

Slide of CEnR awardees

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Lynn Michalopoulos, PhD
Associate Professor
UMB School of Social Work
Lisa Bress, RDH, MS
Associate Professor
UMB School of Dentistry, Department of Advanced Oral Sciences and Therapeutics
Deborah Jones, DDS
Instructor
UMB School of Dentistry, Department of Advanced Oral Sciences and Therapeutics
Max Spaderna, MD
Assistant Professor
UMB School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry
Natalie Spicyn, MD, MHS
Assistant Professor
UMB School of Medicine, Department of Infectious Diseases
Stephen Thomas, PhD
Professor
University of Maryland, College Park, School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management

CEnR 2023 Awardees

 

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Omar Harfouch, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator
UMB School of Medicine
Institute of Human Virology
Darren Whitfield, PhD, MSW
Associate Professor, Co-Principal Investigator
UMB School of Social Work
Tera Reynolds, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Information Systems
Sarah Holmes, PhD, MSW
Assistant Professor, Co-Principal Investigator
UMB School of Nursing
Organizational Systems and Adult Health

 

CEnR 2022 Awardees_Inaugural Round

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Marik Moen, Assistant Professor, UMB School of Nursing, Department of Family Community Health

Marianne Cloeren, Associate Professor, UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division Ocupational and Environmental Medicine

Nathan O'Hara, Assistant Professor, UMB School of Medicine, Department of Mediciane, Division Orthopaedics

Kerri Evans, Assistant Professor, Social Work Program, UMBC

Nalini Negi, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, UMB

NSRP (Nephrotic Syndrome Research Program) Grant Awardees

 

The UMB ICTR Announced a Special Call for Applications for Pilot Grant Funding Opportunities Focused on the Physiology, Pathophysiology and/or Treatment of Nephrotic Syndrome.  NSRP 2023 awardees

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable)

Roberto Kalil, MD

Professor, Principal Investigator

UMB School of Medicine

Department of Medicine, Nephrology

Sui-Seng Tee, PhD

Assistant Professor

UMB School of Medicine

Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine 

Junyi Zhu, Dr. rer. nat., Assistant Professor 

UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine,

Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition

Haseeb Zubair, PhD

Assistant Professor

UMB School of Medicine

Department of Surgery

 


The University of Maryland, Baltimore collaborates with Johns Hopkins University for the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA).