In his second academic year, the dean is overseeing UMSOM’s numerous groundbreaking partnerships and innovations. Read more about him in the latest issue of “CATALYST” magazine.
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark Gladwin, MD, says one of his greatest passions is working in an academic environment.
“There is an opportunity here to meet with such a diverse range of leaders, influencers, faculty, students, staff, and alumni. I couldn’t be more excited to start every day,” Gladwin said when he started his tenure in August 2022.
A leading heart, vascular, and lung physician-scientist, Gladwin maintains an active research group and is currently the principal investigator on three National Institutes of Health-funded research grants and a clinical trial grant. He also serves as the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor, UMSOM, and vice president for medical affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).
Gladwin has overseen UMSOM as it has undertaken numerous groundbreaking partnerships and innovations, including the establishment of the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing, led by UMB and the University of Maryland, College Park, in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical System and Montgomery County, Md.
“Our vision is for this to become the East Coast Silicon Valley for health computing,” Gladwin said when the institute was announced in 2022 by the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State.
In late 2022, Gladwin announced plans to launch a neuroscience institute called the University of Maryland-Medicine Institute for Neuroscience Discovery (UM-MIND) that will accelerate translational research of the brain by facilitating interaction between basic and clinical scientists and enhancing collaborative research across UMSOM and UMB. In addition, UMSOM received one of the largest gifts in its history in early 2023 to establish the Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine.
Also this year, UMSOM faculty members performed their second historic xenotransplant (and the second in the world) of a genetically modified pig heart into a living patient with end-stage cardiovascular disease at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
CATALYST magazine sat down with Gladwin as he began his second academic year at UMSOM to talk about his goals for the school, his research, and the future of medicine.
What has been your most rewarding experience during your tenure as UMSOM dean so far?
My most rewarding experience so far has included the privilege of learning about all the amazing departments, centers, institutes, programs, accomplishments, and various aspects of our talented school. I did a listening tour last fall, where I began to learn about what I call UMSOM’s “shock and awe” list. That list includes: our historic xenotransplants, the mix-and-match study for COVID-19 vaccines, our COVID-19 testing laboratory, our malaria research, our radiation oncology research, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in patient care, focused ultrasound, orthopaedic trauma, our Amish research study, and our kidney transplantation program. Not to mention, almost every time I open my hard copy of The New England Journal of Medicine, I find another one of our faculty members with a published article. We had 12 articles from UMSOM faculty in the span of a year. It is extremely rewarding to lead a school with such immense talent.
Read the rest of the questions with Dean Gladwin in the latest issue of CATALYST magazine.
You can read the Fall 2023 issue of CATALYST magazine, which highlights UMB's Center for Violence Prevention and its executive director; the University's three new deans; UMB's many innovations such as the School of Pharmacy training students to administer long-acting injectables; community initiatives such as the Community Engagement Center's workforce programs; UMB’s sustainability efforts to install a weather station; and much, much more!