Maryland Commerce Supports Hood College Biomedical Research and Training Center with $500k Endowment

Hood College is proud to announce it has received further funding from the Maryland Department of Commerce to support the College’s Biomedical Research and Training Center. Hood was awarded $500k in addition to the $510k received last spring.

This endowment, matched by private donations, will fund a director for the new center. The director will be responsible for program development and student recruitment as well as strengthening ties with the local and regional community, specifically the biomedical sector.

“We at Hood are thankful for these important funds to allow us to establish the executive director position for our future Biomedical Research and Training Center within the Hodson Science and Technology building,” said Hood College President Andrea E. Chapdelaine, Ph.D. “With this new position, the College will be well positioned to positively impact biomedical and biomanufacturing workforce development in Maryland. Working in tandem with other campus constituents, the executive director will strengthen and grow our partnerships with regional industry leaders, biomedical research organizations and other higher education institutions.”

The Maryland Department of Commerce endowed a total of $16.4 million for eight different institutions across Maryland to fund new research professorships. The endowments were made through the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative (MEI), a state program created to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields at the colleges and universities.

In total, institutions raised more than $8.2 million in private funding for each chair, while Maryland Commerce approved matching grants of $8.2 million to support the endowments.

“Maryland is consistently one of the top-ranked states for innovation, and our colleges and universities are critical drivers of cutting-edge research and bold new ideas,” said Maryland Commerce Secretary Mike Gill. “We’re thrilled to support the groundbreaking and forward-thinking work being led by our higher education institutions.”

The Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative was created by the General Assembly during the 2014 legislative session and has provided $74.1 million in funding to leverage $80.7 million in private donations. The funding can be used to pay salaries of newly endowed department chairs, staff and support personnel in designated scientific and technical fields of study; fund related research fellowships for graduate and undergraduate students; and purchase lab equipment and other basic infrastructure and equipment.

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