University Of Maryland School Of Medicine Plans To Launch Major New Global Health And Vaccine Institute; Building On Longstanding Worldwide Leadership In Malaria Research And Vaccine Development
New Centers/ Directors Announced as Part of New Institute
BALTIMORE, April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that the School of Medicine (UM SOM) plans to establish a major new Institute for Global Health (IGH), bringing together decades of UM SOM research, treatment and vaccine development around the world, and expanding the School’s platform as the premier, leading center for global health research, treatment and prevention. The new Institute will focus on vaccine development and malaria research, and will house the UM SOM’s reconfigured Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) as well as a newly-formed Center for Malaria Research (CMR).

The new Institute will assemble some of the most prominent scientists and researchers in the fields of malaria research and vaccine development. Myron Levine, MD, DTPH, the Simon and Bessie Grollman Distinguished Professor and Founding Director of the CVD, will serve as a senior advisor to the IGH, and will become the UM SOM’s Associate Dean for Global Health, Vaccinology and Infectious Diseases; Christopher Plowe, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, and of Epidemiology and Public Health, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the UM SOM, will become the Founding Director of the IGH and the Director of the new CMR. Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, newly-recruited physician-scientist, will become the Deputy Director of IGH and the Director of the CVD. Dr. Neuzil is now Professor of Medicine and Global Health at the University of Washington and is considered one of the world’s leaders in vaccinology. She directs worldwide vaccine access and delivery at PATH, an international nonprofit global health organization based in Seattle.

“This will truly be a landmark initiative for the School of Medicine,” said Dr. Reece, who is Vice President for Medical Affairs at the University of Maryland and John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “As a result of the tireless work of Dr. Levine, Dr. Plowe and others, we have continued to grow our global presence now in 35 countries around the world, including research and treatment facilities in Mali, Chile, Malawi and now emerging in Myanmar. This new Institute will enable us to leverage all of the tremendous work that has been done, and will have a powerful and lasting impact on global health.”…