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The idea that technology will change medicine is as old as the electronic computer itself. Actually, even older. In 1945, Vannevar Bush, the man with the vision for the National Institutes of Health, foresaw a Memex computer program that would allow access to past books and records. A lone physician searching for a diagnosis in far-flung case histories was one of the applications Bush imagined.

Medicine is an information intensive industry. Yet there’s still no medical Memex. Even though the Internet teems with health information, study after study shows that medical care often differs greatly from what the guidelines say—when there are guidelines. Doctors frequently rely on their own experience, rather than the experience of millions of patients who have seen thousands of doctors. Not only is the past lost, the present is missing. How many times has a patient received a drug that causes an allergic reaction, just because that information is not available at the time it is needed?

The University System of Maryland played a role in launching or propelling about 180 startup companies in fiscal 2013, according to a new report from the university system.

The companies’ ties to a state university varied — some licensed technology developed at a university, others leased office space at a university research park and took advantage of the resources there, and still others were heavily coached and mentored by university experts.

When GlaxoSmithKline made a clean sweep of Human Genome Sciences execs last year following its $3.6 billion buyout of the Rockville biotech, one big question (among many) was where would they land?

At least two have found their way back into Maryland biotechs. Last month, former HGS chief commercial officer Barry Labinger joined Anthrax-vaccine-maker Emergent BioSolutions as head of its bioscience division. And on Thursday, pre-IPO biotech MacroGenics announced the appointment of David Stump, formerly executive vice president for research and development at Human Genome, to its board of directors.

Sure, Johns Hopkins University is known for its medicinal prowess, but what better way to increase the university’s influence on the health care sector than by cosponsoring an accelerator aimed toward spurring the growth of more health information technology companies.

Johns Hopkins announced its plans  to work with DreamIt Health Baltimore on Wednesday, a four-month long boot camp for innovators in the health IT business. Teaming up with BioHealth Innovation and DreamIT Ventures, Johns Hopkins will be powering the accelerator designed to fast-track promising ideas aimed at solving problems in America and abroad.

Arizona State University and Mayo Clinic announced today that Mayo will become a technology transfer participant to join Arizona Furnace, the startup accelerator that supports entrepreneurial teams using designated research discoveries and intellectual property as the basis for new companies.

As ASU and its current partners prepare to launch the second application season for AZ Furnace, Mayo Clinic will provide access to high potential technologies in their extensive intellectual property vault. These technologies, as well as those from ASU, Northern Arizona University and Dignity Health in Arizona, will be made available to entrepreneurs interested in using those discoveries to create products, services and new companies.

To us, biomedical research is not an abstract idea funded by wasteful government spending. It is work done by driven and passionate young people like ourselves who want to save lives — but that work requires money, resources, and time.

We are a group of graduate students at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Medical Scientist Training Program, earning our joint MD-PhD degrees with the goal of becoming physician scientists. We aim to be well versed in both scientific research methods and clinical practice so that we can expand and improve medical care, save lives, decrease the cost of health care and drive medicine forward. Thus far, the discussion surrounding the sequestration has lacked the perspective of trainees in biomedical research and the implications that budget cuts have had on our training and future careers.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore, has broken ground on its largest building ever, a $305.4 million, 10-story, 428,970-square-foot biomedical research facility called the Health Sciences Facility (HSF) III. University of Maryland President Jay A. Perman, MD, was joined by Gov. Martin O’Malley, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, and several hundred invited guests at a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 17 on the site of the new building ý the old dental school facility on North Pine Street.

“This is a proud day for the University of Maryland, Baltimore,” Dr. Perman told the crowd. The campus has expanded from 1.9 million square feet in 1975 to occupy 5.9 million square feet in 2013, he noted. “The University of Maryland, Baltimore, the University System of Maryland’s founding campus, has experienced robust growth in recent years. The Health Sciences Facility III further strengthens our footprint in west Baltimore and, as a result, our economic impact on the city and the state. We’re privileged to be able to help revitalize our critical important Baltimore neighborhoods and the state of Maryland as a whole, and at the same time, enable biomedical research and education that has the potential to save lives.”

The Tech Council of Maryland (TCM), Maryland’s largest trade association for bioscience and technology companies employing more than 200,000 in the region, today announced that Philip Schiff, formerly chief strategy officer of the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), has been named CEO.

“Maryland has a dynamic technology sector, which has been leading the state’s economic recovery during the past few years,” said Doug Doerfler, chairman of TCM’s Board and founding president and CEO of MaxCyte, Inc. “Phil understands the major role our enterprises play today, and will use his extensive experience managing a national association, combined with his understanding of complex technology, to execute TCM’s vision and lead critical advocacy efforts on behalf of Maryland’s technology entrepreneurs for the future.”

Rockville biotechnology company Emergent BioSolutions plans to buy a Gaithersburg building and move its 112 employees at its headquarters there, as well as add 133 jobs over the next five years, executives said Monday.

As part of the deal, the Gaithersburg City Council was expected to consider awarding a $250,000 economic development grant to Emergent during its meeting Monday evening.