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BBJ: UMB's Medical School Gets $20 Million from Medical Device Inventor

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Famous local inventor Robert E. Fischell is gifting $20 million to the University of Maryland School of Medicine in support of biomedical research.

The gift will be used to establish the Robert E. Fischell Center for Biomedical Innovation at the medical school, and provide funding for a planned new 450,000 square foot research building on the school's Baltimore campus. It will also support research funds and endowed professorships for the new Fischell Center.

“Increasingly, the solutions to our most complex health problems will be found at the intersections of medicine, engineering and business,” E. Albert Reece, dean of the School of Medicine, said in a statement. “This generous gift from Dr. Fischell will elevate the [School of Medicine] as a national leader in making innovative discoveries and developing new medical technology in ways that will have direct benefit to patients around the world.”

Fischell, known for inventing medical devices, is a nationally-acclaimed technology entrepreneur. He holds more than 200 patents, including for devices like coronary artery stents, the implantable heart defibrillator and implantable insulin pump, as well as nearly 30 patents on orbiting spacecraft. In 2015, he was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors, and in 2016, he received the National Medal for Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama.

Click here to read the rest of the story via Baltimore Business Journal