COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) announce five new programs as signature projects of the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State, a collaboration between the state of Maryland’s two most powerful public research institutions. 

The strategic partnership leverages the sizable strengths and complementary missions of both campuses to strengthen Maryland’s innovation economy, advance interdisciplinary research, create opportunities for students and solve important problems for the people of Maryland and the nation.

Each year, the partnership adds to its portfolio of signature projects that enhance the two campuses’ missions to collaboratively address our nation’s most pressing issues and serve as economic engines for the state. A distinguishing feature of these new projects is that they would be unattainable or difficult to achieve by UMB or UMCP acting independent of each other. The projects were selected for their ability to grow beyond the initial MPowering the State funding, and to be sustainable through external funding sources. The new programs include:

The Maryland Blended Reality Center will capitalize on the growth of virtual and augmented reality and develop innovative new uses, combining the advanced computing, visual capture and display resources at UMCP with the clinical data, biomedical and patient care at UMB. The center will be led by Amitabh Varshney, Ph.D., Professor and Director, University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, UMCP; and Sarah Murthi, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery, School of Medicine, UMB.

• The Opioid Use Disorders project will combine UMB and UMCP’s expertise in preclinical, clinical and policy areas to address the opioid epidemic in the state of Maryland and the nation, with the goal to better understand opioid use disorder, develop treatment strategies and create recommendations for treatment research and education. The project will be led by Asaf Keller, Ph.D., Professor, Anatomy & Neurobiology, School of Medicine, UMB; and Eric Wish, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director, Center for Substance Abuse Research, UMCP.
• The Health Informatics and Data Science partnership will develop a health informatics specialization within the Bachelor of Science in Information Science degree at UMCP, and will explore other degrees and pathways between existing programs to educate the next generation of health informatics professionals. The partnership will be led by Keith Marzullo, Ph.D., Professor and Dean, College of Information Studies, UMCP; Jane Kirschling, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, Dean and Professor, School of Nursing, UMB; and Mark Reynolds, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.A., Dean, School of Dentistry, UMB.
• The Center of Excellence in Cochlear Implants will combine the strengths of both institutions to provide educational training, clinical services and basic and translational biomedical research on cochlear implants, and usher in an era of personalized hearing rehabilitation. The center will be led by Rochelle Newman, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Hearing & Speech Sciences, UMCP; Matthew Goupell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Hearing & Speech Sciences, UMCP; Nicole Nguyen, Au.D., Director of Clinical Audiology, Department of Hearing & Speech Sciences, UMCP; Ronna Hertzano, M.D., Associate Professor, Otorhinolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, UMB; and David Eisenman, M.D., Associate Professor, Otorhinolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, UMB.
• The Policing Partnership program will create a collaborative, inter-campus effort to address and aim to improve relationships between local police departments and community residents; and expand research, business development and educational opportunities in the field. The program will be led by Gregory Ball, Ph.D., Professor and Dean, College of Behavioral & Social Sciences, UMCP; Bonnie Thornton Dill, Ph.D., Professor and Dean, College of Arts and Humanities, UMCP; Lucy Dalglish, J.D., Professor and Dean, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, UMCP; Gerald Wilkinson, Ph.D., Professor and Interim Dean, College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, UMCP; and Donald Tobin, J.D., Dean and Professor of Law, Francis King Carey School of Law, UMB.

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