In “Baltimore Sun” op-ed, UMB leader details the University’s efforts to fight COVID-19 and calls for increased funding of research and academic research institutions.
In an op-ed for The Baltimore Sun published Monday, Sept. 6, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, said that the funding of research at academic research institutions such as UMB must be a national priority.
“According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, government funding for academic research institutions in the United States ranks 24th out of 36 nations as a share of gross domestic product. Couple that with skepticism and misinformation about research and science, and we are facing an uphill battle,” Jarrell wrote.
UMB is committed to the battle, Jarrell wrote, detailing efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic at the University: performing vaccine trials at the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health; setting up a statewide testing process at the Institute for Genome Sciences; administering 40,000 vaccine doses at UMB’s Vaccination Clinic; caring for COVID-19 patients; supporting the local community; and more.
Jarrell, who was selected as UMB president last September after an eight-month interim term, wrote, “Looking back, it’s apparent that the progress UMB made in the fight against COVID-19 was possible because of our strong foundation as an academic research institution.”
He added, “I have a renewed energy to make sure that research is possible, to prepare for what’s coming next, to identify the next cures and to prepare the next generation of health care, human services and other professionals. I call for greater funding of research and academic research institutions because the results for the greater good are immense.”
You can read the op-ed at the link below.
(In photo: President Jarrell participates in a COVID-19 vacccine trial conducted by the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health.)