UM School of Medicine Awarded $3.5 Million in Federal Funding to Expand Medical Countermeasures Program

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, announced  today that UMSOM  faculty scientists have been selected as key contractors by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), for the federal agency’s Radiation Nuclear Animal Model Development program. The $3.5 million award that Erika Davies, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, received to develop Acute Radiation Syndrome Animal Models, has a $16 million potential total. The Division of Translational Radiation Sciences (DTRS), within the Department of Radiation Oncology, will support this project.

Dr. Davies and her colleagues are working with BARDA to advance the development of radiologic and nuclear countermeasures. This is part of a broader effort to enhance national preparedness for radiation accidents and emergencies. “We’re trying to develop and test new treatments that can be used in a terror attack scenario that involves high radiation exposure,” said Dr. Davies.  “We are developing robust animal models that will translate well to humans.”

BARDA is part of the Office of the Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Currently, relatively few medical treatments are available to counter radiological and nuclear threats as FDA approval requires extensive preclinical efficacy and safety data to support drug approval. Many more such agents are needed, based on the range of options that could be employed by terrorists, the need for urgent intervention following radiation exposure, and the medical complexities of acute and chronic radiation injury.

“The DTRS is uniquely positioned to provide leading expertise in medical countermeasures research,” said William Regine, MD, the Isadore & Fannie Schneider Foxman Chair of Radiation Oncology at UMSOM. “We are bridging first-in-class radiation science with contract research to increase the likelihood of survival in a radiation or nuclear incident, while simultaneously identifying a potential new class of therapeutics for cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.”

Almost a decade ago research by DTRS faculty and staff led to the approval of the first drug to treat the deleterious effects of radiation exposure following a nuclear incident based on efficacy data generated in animal models. Animal models are especially important in preparing for radiation emergencies, because the efficacy of most experimental treatments cannot be tested in humans.

“DTRS is able to develop different experimental models through its world class ‘Good Laboratory Practice’-compliant testing facility, which houses one of the nation’s most well-equipped suites of technologies supporting radiation research,” said Dr. Gladwin who is the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean of UMSOM, and Vice President for Medical Affairs at University of Maryland, Baltimore. “Our faculty’s collaborative expertise from across the broadest spectrum of countermeasure investigations, allow the rapid configuration and implementation of solutions-oriented approaches to even the most difficult challenges.”

The work with BARDA will include multiple individual projects that draw on changing configurations of DTRS experts, instrumentation, and specialized resources, as well as on collaborations with other UMSOM and University of Maryland, Baltimore investigators.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world — with 46 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs, and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic, and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has more than $500 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 students, trainees, residents, and fellows. The School of Medicine, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity (according to the Association of American Medical Colleges profile) is an innovator in translational medicine, with 606 active patents and 52 start-up companies. In the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Medical Schools, published in 2023, the UM School of Medicine is ranked #10 among the 92 public medical schools in the U.S., and in the top 16 percent (#32) of all 192 public and private U.S. medical schools. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu