University of Maryland, Baltimore

10/20/2026

UMB kicked off Founders Week with a rousing night of Broadway in Baltimore to help support the umbcurescholars program featuring Norm Lewis, Felicia Curry and guests Denise Koch and Joy Thomas Moore, Peabody award-winning author and mother of Gov. Wes Moore.

10/19/2026

Founders Week 2026: David J. Ramsay Entrepreneur of the Year Graeme Woodworth, MD, FAANS, FACS

The University of Maryland School of Medicine neurosurgeon stands at the leading edge of innovation in treating brain cancer with focused ultrasound, extending lives and giving patients hope for better outcomes.

Woodworth’s research aims to improve the outcomes of patients with brain cancer by developing innovative therapies and therapeutic delivery approaches in neuro-oncology that ultimately will be applied to malignancies in other human organs.

He designed and led the first U.S. clinical trials to test the safety and feasibility of using focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier to treat brain tumors. This work set the foundation for Lotus Neuro, a company that is advancing focused ultrasound and drug combination therapies for brain diseases such as glioblastoma and Alzheimer’s disease.

The difficulty of treating brain cancer is high because surgery alone cannot remove all of the tumor due to what Woodworth called “invasive tentacles” woven into the fabric of the brain, where removing them would harm the patient’s brain functions.

“In neurosurgery, we walk that tightrope of getting as close as we can to taking out everything we possibly can but without causing a new functional deficit,” he said. “So that conundrum of trying to remove as much as possible yet knowing we’d never get all of it through surgery was the problem, but it was a problem I wanted to commit myself to solving.

“Therefore, getting drugs to reach those distant brain tumor cells that are so deeply connected with the brain, and to treat them successfully — again, without hurting the brain at the same time — became the challenge.”

Woodworth is the Howard M. Eisenberg, MD Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery and Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, at UMSOM.

He also is director of the Brain Tumor Program at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, co-founder and co-director of the University of Maryland Medical System Neuroscience Network, and a member of the executive committee of the University of Maryland-Medicine Institute for Neuroscience Discovery.

10/19/2026

Flu season is coming. Your questions are welcome.

What’s going around? How does it spread? What symptoms should you watch for? How can you help protect yourself and the people around you?

Whatever your question, the University of Maryland, Baltimore's infectious disease experts are here to help.

For several years, people around the world have turned to UMB for trusted answers about COVID-19. With more than 250,000 site visits and over 600 questions answered by UMB experts, that commitment continues to grow.

The UMB Academy of Lifelong Learning COVID Forum is expanding its scope to cover a broader range of infectious diseases and will now be known as the Infectious Disease Forum.

With insight from dozens of UMB experts, you can get clear, reliable information when questions arise.

ALL is here to serve the public — wherever you are. https://www.umaryland.edu/lifelong-learning/infectious-disease/

10/15/2026

How can health care providers prepare to discuss ketogenic diets for mental health care?

Deanna L. Kelly, PharmD, BCPP, director of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, is studying how to help clinicians understand this emerging approach — including its potential benefits, risks and practical challenges.

Kelly, a professor of psychiatry specializing in mental illness research, led a pilot study of “Live It ~ Launch It,” a training program on ketogenic metabolic therapy, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate dietary approach.

Among 40 health care professionals who completed an educational course, 25 also tried the diet for four weeks with expert nutrition guidance. Combining education with firsthand experience increased clinicians’ confidence in discussing the therapy and understanding challenges their patients may face.

Ketogenic metabolic therapy is being investigated as a complementary treatment for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. This study examined clinician training; larger, longer-term trials are still needed to establish its effectiveness in mental health care.

Explore Kelly and her team’s findings: https://www.umaryland.edu/news/archived-news/october-2026/can-a-ketogenic-diet-be-used-to-help-treat-mental-illness.php

10/14/2026

Founders Week 2026: Public Servant of the Year Ramsay Koury, DMD

In 2010, Ramsay Koury, DMD, was a dentist who had never thought about becoming a professor, but a trip to Honduras and a nudge from a University of Maryland School of Dentistry student changed the course of his career.

Koury had been inspired to go to dental school while attending Juniata College in central Pennsylvania and accompanying his cousin, Robert Zimmerman, on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Koury assisted Zimmerman, a dentist, and a team of practitioners for two weeks in providing oral health care services such as tooth extractions.

“After graduating dental school at the University of Pittsburgh, I did many mission trips, mainly to Honduras, enjoying the ability to help others in need,” said Koury, who met five UMSOD students on one of the trips and enjoyed the experience working with them.

“One of the students encouraged me to come and teach at the school,” Koury said. “I had never considered teaching, never wanted to return to a dental school, and did not want to live in a big city again. However, I came in for an interview, worked in a clinic with students, and knew I had found my true calling.”

Koury served as an instructor of operative dentistry for two years as a volunteer member of the UMSOD Dean’s Faculty, then joined UMSOD full time in 2013 after 24 years in private dentistry in the Harrisburg, Pa., area. Over the past decade-plus, he has made his mark not only as a teacher, but also as a mentor and leader of the Mission of Mercy program since 2016.

At the Mission of Mercy events, UMSOD practitioners and students under faculty supervision provide free oral health care services to underserved and uninsured Maryland residents, including extractions, restorative treatment, and diagnostic radiographs.

Koury, who is a clinical assistant professor and director of the Division of General Practice in the Department of Comprehensive Dentistry at UMSOD, organizes the events and coordinates student, faculty, resident, and staff involvement at sites across Baltimore, the Eastern Shore, College Park, Southern Maryland, Western Maryland, and Montgomery County.

Click the link in our bio to read more in The Elm.

10/12/2026

Founders Week 2026: Researcher/Scholar of the Year Natalie Ram, JD

The Maryland Carey Law professor’s scholarship, which has led to law and policy changes, sits at the intersection of bioethics, surveillance technology, and constitutional law.

After the Golden State Killer was identified using DNA profiles searchable in an online genetic genealogy database, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law professor Natalie Ram, JD, not only published a scholarly article, she also raised questions that helped lead to Maryland’s first-in-the-nation law that comprehensively regulates law enforcement’s use of consumer genetic data.

It is just one example of Ram’s scholarship and influence regarding genetic privacy and the law. She has studied newborn screening, also informing policy changes in several states, and wastewater surveillance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ram’s work has led her to be named the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) 2026 Founders Week Researcher/Scholar of the Year.

David C. Gray, JD, PhD, MA, the Jacob A. France Professor of Law who has written several articles with Ram, called her a generational scholar who is highly respected among scholars and practitioners.

“Professor Ram is the leading scholar writing at the intersection of bioethics, surveillance technology, and constitutional law,” said Gray, a Fourth Amendment expert who was UMB’s Researcher of the Year in 2019. “Indeed, she is largely responsible for creating the field. She has been the first to identify and pursue important legal and policy questions around genetic privacy and the relationships between public health research and law enforcement. Her work is impactful among academics, scientists, lawyers, and policymakers working in fields ranging from cold case investigations to wastewater testing.”

Maryland Carey Law Dean Renée Laurent, JD, called Ram an exceptionally innovative and influential scholar.

“Her research is reshaping national conversations about privacy, science, and the law,” she said.

Click the link in our bio for The Elm to read more about Professor Ram.

10/10/2026

Settle in for a four-part series of spooky tales: The Ghosts of Pine Street Station. 👻

University of Maryland, Baltimore Police & Public Safety delves into the history of its headquarters, which opened in 1878. It's seen a thing or two. Maybe even some spirits. Watch the videos or read the stories on The Elm.

This four-part series delves into the history of Pine Street Station, which currently serves as home to the UMB Department of Police and Public Safety.

10/08/2026

How do GLP-1's work, and what are the benefits and risks? Watch a replay on our YouTube channel of the latest edition of Face to Face with UMB President Dr. Bruce Jarrell with three guests from the University of Maryland School of Medicine weighing in and answering viewer questions. Find the link to our YouTube channel in our bio.

10/05/2026

The mummies are coming!

The University of Maryland Baltimore Health Sciences & Human Services Library will display the “Bodies of Knowledge” exhibit in the Weise Gallery from Oct. 20, 2026, to Jan. 8, 2027. The exhibit features the preserved specimens of 19th-century anatomist Allan Burns, and MUMAB (Mummy, University of Maryland at Baltimore), the product of a collaboration between anatomist Ronald “Ronn” Wade and Egyptologist Bob Brier, Ph.D.

HSHSL will host a reception for the exhibit on Oct. 28 at 4 p.m.

About The Burns Collection

In the early 19th-century, Allan Burns, a Scottish anatomist and educator, preserved anatomical specimens in a solution of arsenic, salt, and honey, allowing specimens to be used repeatedly for teaching purposes. Following Burns’ death in 1813, his specimens were sold to Granville Sharp Pattison, Burns’ pupil and chair of surgery at University of Maryland, Baltimore. After being part of a touring exhibit, the specimens are now returning to UMB.

About MUMAB

In 1994, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine undertook an extraordinary experiment: recreating the ancient Egyptian mummification process using methods described in historical sources. Wade and Brier mummified a body donor from Maryland using procedures practiced during the New Kingdom period. Periodically studied using CT scans and MRI, MUMAB has shown no signs of decay

10/04/2026

Broadway's Norm Lewis wants to see you at Broadway in Baltimore to support UMB CURE Scholars Program!

Join the University of Maryland, Baltimore for One Night Only: Broadway in Baltimore, a concert benefiting students from Baltimore City.

Featuring: Tony Award-nominated Broadway actor Norm Lewis from “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Misérables,” and Felicia Curry, Everyman Theatre resident company member and Broadway performer from “Into the Woods.” Supporting: UMB CURE Scholars Program Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, 6:30 p.m., M&T Bank Exchange at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center.

Tickets: https://www.umaryland.edu/broadwayinbaltimore