Dear UMB Community,

In my recent President’s Message, I talked about the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) core values of innovation and discovery, and one of my priorities is to expand and grow our collaborations. I want to share with you an exciting announcement of how we are innovating and partnering through the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower).

The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) is the joint recipient of $4.75 million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a new Center for Medical Innovations in Extended Reality (MIXR). UMSOM faculty are partnering with University of Maryland, College Park computer scientists and engineers and University of Michigan physician-scientists to establish MIXR.

MIXR will help accelerate the development of virtual reality, augmented reality, and other immersive media technologies — referred to as “extended reality” — for use in clinical trials and eventually widespread use in medical care. MIXR will receive expertise and funding from Google, Microsoft, and Meta (formerly known as Facebook), among others, to develop, test, and certify extended reality technologies for use in medicine and health care.

The award is part of NSF’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program, designed to jump-start breakthrough research by enabling close and sustained engagement among industry innovators, world-class academic teams, and government agencies. You can learn more about MIXR here.

I’m proud of the collaborative team working to provide better outcomes for patients through extended reality. It’s a great example of UMB’s commitment to innovation and discovery and our mission to improve the human condition.

Sincerely,

Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS

President