ICTR Pilot Grant Awardee News
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

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable) |
Project Type |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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

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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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

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 |
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Amed Ouattara, PhD, MSc, PharmD UMB School of Medicine, Department of Medicine |
Innovative Collaboration Pilot Grant |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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

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 |
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 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 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) |
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Marianne Cloeren (SOM) Jodi Frey (SSW) |
|
Ivy Dick (SOM) Michael Nestor (Hussman Institute) |
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David Dreizin (SOM) Alan Yuille (JHU) |
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Jeffrey Fink (SOM) Lee-Ann Wagner (SOM) |
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David Marcozzi (SOM) Daniel Gingold (SOM) |
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Vincent Ng (SOM) Motomi Enomoto-Iwamoto (SOM) Maureen Kane (SOP) |
|
Satoru Otsuru (SOM) Janette Harro (SOD) Masahiro Iwamoto (SOM) |
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Robert Reed (SOM) |
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Gloria Reeves (SOM) |
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Cynthia Renn (SON) Turhan Coksaygan (SOM) |
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Joseph Scalea (SOM) |
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Abraham Schneider (SOD) Anthony Kim (SOM) Jeffrey Winkles (SOM) |
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Julia Slejko (SOP) |
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Sui-Seng Tee (SOM) Jace Jones (SOP) Liqing Yu (SOM) |
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Sharon Tennant (SOM) |
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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

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable) |
|
Iyabo Obasanjo, PhD Associate Professor |
|
Marianne Cloeren, MD, MPH Associate Professor Jodi Frey, PhD, LCSW-C, CEAP Associate Dean for Research |
|
George Jay Unick, PhD, MSW Professor
|
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

Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable) |
|
Iris Cardenas, PhD, LSW Assistant Professor |
|
Jennifer Klinedinst, PhD, MPH, RN, FAHA Associate Professor Sarah Holmes, PhD, MSW Assistant Professor |
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

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 |

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
|
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 |
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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. 
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Lead PI/Co-PI (if applicable) |
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Roberto Kalil, MD Professor, Principal Investigator UMB School of Medicine Department of Medicine, Nephrology |
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Sui-Seng Tee, PhD Assistant Professor UMB School of Medicine Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine |
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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 |
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UMB ICTR
The University of Maryland, Baltimore collaborates with Johns Hopkins University for the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA).



