University of Maryland School of Medicine

University of Maryland, Medical Building (Davidge Hall) in July, 1936

Davidge Hall in August 2011

Chartered as the College of Medicine of Maryland in December 1807,[7] the University of Maryland School of Medicine was the founding school of the University System of Maryland[8] and the only public medical school in the U.S. at the time.[9] It is the fifth oldest medical school in the country after the medicals schools at Columbia University (established May 1807), Dartmouth College (1798), Harvard University (1782), and the University of Pennsylvania (1765).[7]

Its founding by Nathaniel Potter and John Beale Davidge was part of an influx of professionals to Baltimore and the rapid urban development that immediately followed the American Revolution.[10][11][12] By the late 1780s, there was public discussion about the need for "medical reform and suppression of quackery".[13] A group of physicians made several short-lived attempts at starting medical schools around the turn of the 19th century, and were finally successful in 1807 when the Maryland state legislature passed the Medical College Bill,[14] authorizing the formation the College of Medicine of Maryland.[4][12] In 1812 it was rechartered as the University of Maryland School of Medicine.[7]

Davidge Hall, built in 1812 and still in use today, is the original building of the College of Medicine of Maryland. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the oldest building in continuous use for medical education in the United States.[7] In the 1950s, the building was named after John Beale Davidge, one of the founders and the first dean of the College of Medicine of Maryland.[4][12][15]

Beginning in 1938, the school instituted antisemitic quotas limiting Jewish applications to 14%. The school also limited the number of local applicants in an attempt to reduce the number of Jewish students, given the large number of Jewish people living in the Maryland suburban communities of Prince George's and Montgomery counties. The anti-Jewish quota system was abandoned in 1950.[16][17]

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have made several milestone discoveries in the field of biomedical research and therapeutics. Recent discoveries include the development of aromatase inhibitors for the treatment of breast cancer by the lab of Angela Brodie,[18] and the discovery of calcium sparks as drivers of heart contraction by the lab of Jonathan Lederer.[19]

The School of Medicine is a research-focused academic institution, with $537 million in extramural research funding in 2018.[20] A large portion of that research funding comes from the federal government of the United States. As of 2016, over $148 million in research grants from the NIH were attributed to the parent university of the School of Medicine.[21] Focus areas of the University of Maryland School of Medicine's research include cancer research, organ transplant research, cardiovascular research, neuroscience, and virology.

The School of Medicine has extensive operations in research education. Together with the Graduate Program in Life Sciences, the school provides research teaching and oversees the award of Ph.D. degrees across multiple research tracks. The School of Medicine is one of only 50 medical institutions in the United States to offer a Medical Scientist Training Program.[22]

The School of Medicine has launched several research centers and institutes dedicated to specific fields of research:

• Edward Brandt Jr., Professor (1981-1989), served as Surgeon General of the United States.
• Angela Hartley Brodie, Professor in the Department of Pharmacology (1979-2017), pioneered the development of steroidal aromatase inhibitors.
• Robert Dorsey Coale, Professor and Dean (1857-1915) at chemistry and toxicology. Also volunteered in the Spanish–American War
• R Adams Cowley, Professor of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery, founded the world's first Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
• Robley Dunglison, chair of materia medica, therapeutics, hygiene and medical jurisprudence (1833-1836), Thomas Jefferson's personal physician
• William A. Hammond, Chair of Anatomy and Physiology (1828-1900), the first American physician to devote himself entirely to neurology, Surgeon General of the United States Army during the American civil war.
• Paul Fiset, microbiologist and developer of the Q fever vaccine[26]
• Robert Gallo, Professor in the Department of Medicine (1996-), discovered the first human retrovirus, and that HIV was the cause of AIDS. He is the only scientist to be awarded the Lasker Award twice.[23]
• Hans Kuypers, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy (1955-1962), neurologist famous for his work in neuroanatomy.
• Walle Nauta, Professor in the Department of Anatomy (1955-1964), considered one of the founders of the field of neuroscience.[27]
• Robert R. Redfield, Professor in Translational Medicine (1996-2005), served as Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[28]
• Theodore Woodward, Professor of Medicine (1948-1981), received a Nobel Prize nomination for his role in finding cures for typhus and typhoid fever.

• University of Maryland Medical Center
• R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center
• University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Mercy Medical Center (Baltimore, Maryland)
• Spring Grove Hospital Center
• University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center
• University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center
• University of Maryland Rehabilitation & Orthopaedic Institute
• University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center
• University of Maryland Shore Medical Center
• University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center
• Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital (jointly with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine)

• College of Medicine of Maryland