UM-BILD Accelerator Awardees are working to translate basic science research projects into commercial products that will advance patient care.
Jason Rose, MD, MBA, lead principal investigator and executive director of UM-BILD, announced the third cohort of UM-BILD Accelerator Awardees in a letter (shared below) to University of Maryland, Baltimore innovators.
Learn more about UM-BILD and the Accelerator.
I am pleased to announce the technology projects and innovator awardees that will be part of UM-BILD’s third Accelerator cohort. UM-BILD, the Baltimore Life Science Discovery Accelerator, is one of five National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research, Evaluation & Commercialization Hubs (REACH) programs. These hubs focus resources and investment into developing and commercializing University-based life science technologies. UM-BILD is a joint program of the NIH; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Morgan State University; the Baltimore Fund; and the TEDCO Maryland Innovation Initiative. These projects represent a significant step forward in UM-BILD’s mission of promoting faculty entrepreneurship and accelerating discoveries into patient-focused technology.
UM-BILD Pilot Project Grants are one-year, $75,000 awards that are dedicated to bringing promising early-stage health care-related technologies closer to the marketplace. Project teams are linked with a carefully selected industry mentor in an entrepreneurial apprenticeship, and participate in educational programming focused on technology commercialization. By facilitating innovators’ “benchtop to bedside” journeys, UM-BILD helps to address unmet clinical needs through novel technologies and solutions developed in our Baltimore ecosystem. All Pilot Project Grant applications were reviewed by UM-BILD’s external review board, a panel comprised of subject-matter and commercialization experts.
University of Maryland, Baltimore Investigators
Paul Buehler, PharmD, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Project: In vivo fiber-optic catheter to measure real-time intra-arterial oxygen saturation and blood pressure
Joseph P. Kao, PhD
Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Project: Assaying Red Blood Cell Quality for Blood Supply Management
Anthony J. Kim, PhD
Professor of Neurosurgery
Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Project: Commercialization of DART Nanotherapeutics Technology for Fn14-positive Cancers
Joseph Rabin, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Project: Trans-Esophageal Aortic Blood flow Occlusion (TEABO) to Control Non-Compressible Torso Hemorrhage
Yin Wang, PhD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Project: Scale-Up and Dose-Response Evaluation of LNP-Lurbinectedin in Small Cell Lung Cancer
University of Maryland, Baltimore County Investigators
Zeev Rosenzweig, PhD
Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Project: Multifunctional near-infrared dye-doped polymer dots for near infrared optical imaging and photodynamic therapy
Ramana Vinjamuri, PhD
Associate Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
College of Engineering and Information Technology
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Project: An integrated system for management of substance use disorder
Morgan State University Investigators
As the result of a unique collaboration between UM-BILD and the Baltimore Fund, Cohort 3 includes two Mini-Grants (three-month, $25,000 projects), each of which enables a Morgan State University professor to advance promising early-stage work and explore its applicability to a current health care challenge.
Mingchao Cai, PhD
Professor of Mathematics
School of Computer, Mathematical & Natural Sciences
Morgan State University
Project: Iterative decoupling method for poroelastic models that reduce compute times
Zheng Li, PhD
Assistant Professor of Mechatronics Engineering
Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. School of Engineering
Morgan State University
Project: Using Force-Enhanced Adhesion to Improve Nasal Drug Delivery Efficiency
UM-BILD/Maryland Innovation Initiative Awardees
UM-BILD/Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) projects are chosen jointly by the UM-BILD internal advisory committee and the executive director of the MII, and must already be working under an MII Technology Assessment grant. UM-BILD leverages MII’s funding by providing these investigators with the same mentorship and educational opportunities afforded to UM-BILD Pilot Project Grant awardees.
Ryan M. Pearson, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Graduate Program Director, PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences
Director, Bio- and Nano-Technology Center
University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
Project: Preclinical Development of IMPRINT-NP as a Novel Lung Treatment for Severe Asthma
Hongbing Wang, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
Project: New Small Molecule CN06 Boosts Chemotherapy's Anticancer Benefits
UM-BILD/Baltimore Innovation Initiative Awardees
UM-BILD is expanding its collaboration with MII to encompass the Baltimore Innovation Initiative (BII), a pilot program that supports an equitable innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem in institutions of higher education throughout the greater Baltimore region. UM-BILD extended mentorship and educational opportunities to two recent BII projects in the health care arena.
Debbie Sahlin, DNP
Founder and Executive Director
Ryan's Place Foundation
Alumna
University of Maryland School of Nursing
Project: Advancing Coordinated Care and Emerging Smart Solutions for Disabled Populations (ACCESS-DP)
Michael Tangrea, PhD
Endowed Professor of Biology and Innovation
Simon Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Loyola University Maryland
Project: Advancing precision medicine through commercialization of the micropurification technology
Congratulations to all of our new Cohort 3 awardees and to our successful Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 awardees. We are enthusiastic to see all that our new innovators will accomplish.
Lastly, UM-BILD is accepting Letters of Intent for applications through Sept. 14, 2026, for Cohort 4. All one-year, $75,000 Pilot Project Grants will begin in May 2027. To apply or learn more, please visit www.umaryland.edu/um-bild/apply. For questions or to express interest, please contact the UM-BILD team at um-bild@umaryland.edu.